2023 Toyota Corolla Cross Atmos Hybrid Review

For some, even though there’s plenty of options, Toyota’s SUV lineup in Australia has a big hole in it. There’s the all-conquering RAV4 with its two-year waitlist on the larger size with the cute-but-small Yaris Cross at the small end, with the coupe-like C-HR sitting in the middle. What does one do if a RAV4-sized SUV is not needed but a Yaris Cross is too small and a C-HR is too impractical? We can’t believe we’re saying this either but there’s finally an answer: the Corolla Cross. Is the top-spec 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross Atmos Hybrid 2WD all the Toyota small-to-mid SUV you could want? Let’s find out.

Perhaps not unsurprisingly for this SUV-dominated market, there are a few competitors to the Corolla Cross: the Kia Seltos is the main rival, but the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross and Mazda CX-30 are also in consideration. All of these cars are still considered small SUVs, but they’re larger than their Stonic, ASX and CX-3 respective siblings.

Price & Equipment: 7.5/10

While the Corolla Cross range is priced from $33,000 plus on-road costs for the entry-level GX petrol, we tested the second-from-top Atmos Hybrid 2WD, which is priced at $46,050 plus on-road costs (around $50,500 drive away). The petrol Atmos is priced $2,500 cheaper if you don’t want a hybrid.

Standard kit on the top-spec Atmos includes automatic LED lighting, automatic wipers, 18-inch alloy wheels, roof rails, keyless entry and start, an automatic boot with kick-to-open functionality, heated and auto-folding mirrors, a panoramic glass roof, rear privacy glass, leather upholstery, a 10-way electrically adjustable driver’s seat, heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, dual-zone climate control with rear air vents, a 10.5-inch touchscreen with connected services, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satellite navigation with live traffic, digital radio, a 12.3-inch digital driver’s display, a nine-speaker JBL sound system, a wireless phone charger and three USB ports.

Safety kit includes eight airbags (including a front centre unit), auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian, cyclist and intersection assist, adaptive cruise control with stop and go functionality, lane keeping assistance with lane trace assist, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, safe exit assist, rear occupant alert, automatic rear braking, auto high beam, driver attention monitoring, speed sign recognition, an alarm, front and rear parking sensors, automatic parking and a 360-degree camera that has ‘see-through’ ability.

The only no-cost colour option for the Corolla Cross Atmos is ‘Glacier White’ with ‘Frosted White’, ‘Atomic Rush’ (red), ‘Jungle Khaki’, ‘ Moondust Grey’, ‘Stunning Silver’, ‘Eclipse Black’ and our test car’s ‘Lunar Blue’ costing $575 extra. Black leather is the only interior option for the Atmos.

While there are a plethora of competitors to the Corolla Cross, we consider the Kia Seltos GT-Line 2.0L 2WD (around $45,000 drive away) and Mazda CX-30 G25 Astina 2WD (around $48,500 drive away) to be its closest rivals. The Kia looks like particularly good value here at more than $5,000 less expensive than the Corolla Cross, though part of that is Toyota’s $2,500 upcharge for the hybrid system. Kia doesn’t offer a hybrid Seltos in Australia – its small hybrid SUV offering is the Niro, which is priced from around $49,500 drive away in base level S form, with way less standard equipment than the Corolla Cross Atmos.

Like-for-like, the a Corolla Cross Atmos petrol 2WD is $3,000 more expensive than a Seltos GT-Line 2.0L 2WD and it has an extra zone of climate control, two extra airbags (including a front centre unit), genuine leather upholstery, wireless smartphone mirroring, a full-length glass roof, automatic wipers and a 360-degree parking camera – though the Seltos has cooled front seats, remote start, an electric front passenger seat and a heads-up display.

The Corolla Cross Atmos petrol is cheaper than the CX-30 G25 Astina and has a panoramic glass roof, rear USB ports, a fully digital 12.3-inch instrument cluster, live services such as live traffic for the navigation system, wireless phone mirroring, two extra airbags and a wireless phone charger over the Mazda, through the Mazda has a heads-up display and Matrix adaptive high beam headlights. Overall, we think the Corolla Cross offers reasonable value compared with rivals but it is starting to get expensive, especially when a RAV4 Cruiser Hybrid is priced only $4,000 more.

Performance & Economy: 9.5/10

Under the bonnet of the 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross Atmos Hybrid 2WD is a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that’s mated to an electric motor that draws power from a new lithium ion battery. The only available transmission is an eCVT automatic. The total claimed output for the 2.0-litre hybrid Corolla Cross is a healthy 146kW, which enables it to sprint to 100km/h in 7.7 seconds.

We’ve been quite impressed with the latest generation of Toyota hybrid systems, which have finally ditched their old nickel hydride batteries for larger and newer lithium ion units. As a result, the electric part of the hybrid drivetrain is able to be used for more of the time, improving both fuel economy and performance. Even better is that the Corolla Cross will happily accelerate up to around 50km/h on electric power alone, a much higher speed than previous Toyota hybrid systems could handle. It’s also capable of reasonable highway speed electric cruising, which increases the appeal of the hybrid option to those living beyond the city – in comparison, older Toyota hybrid systems would have their petrol engines kick in far more frequently at highway speeds.

Around town, the Corolla Cross Hybrid is a quiet cruiser thanks to its electric driving capability. As long as you’re braking to fuel the battery, it will happily cruise on electric power under reasonable throttle. Open the taps and the engine kicks on with only a slight vibration and a bit of noise. Floor the throttle however, and the engine makes itself known and can be a touch loud – but thankfully due to its peppy performance, you don’t have to floor it for long, even at highway speeds. It gets up to speed quite well, and is still refined in comparison to the loud engine in the Kia Seltos.

The claimed fuel consumption for the Corolla Cross Hybrid 2WD is 4.3L/100km and on our road trip with it, we achieved 4.6L/100km – remarkable considering that higher-speed country driving is theoretically where hybrids are meant to be at their least efficient. Helping costs further is that it can run on 91RON regular unleaded fuel, but annoyingly, the fuel tank is small at just 36-litres – choose an all-wheel drive model and that grows to a more respectable 43L. While the Seltos and CX-30 have larger fuel tanks at 50-litres each, their lack of hybrid option means that you’ll empty their (larger) tanks far quicker than in the Corolla Cross – our last test of the Seltos gave fuel consumption of almost double the Toyota.

Ride & Handling: 8/10

Based on the same ‘TNGA’ platform as its siblings, including the Corolla hatch and sedan that it shares its name with, the 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross Atmos Hybrid 2WD drives mostly quite well. It’s not quite as dynamic as the regular Corolla – its steering has less feel and isn’t quite as quick – but in the class, it still drives quite nicely. The Corolla Cross’ ride quality is softer than its C-HR and Yaris Cross siblings, with a bit more suspension travel than those cars but it’s still quite comfortable.

One point of difference between front- and all-wheel drive Corolla Cross models is that the front-wheel drive car uses a torsion beam rear suspension set up – the all-wheel drive uses a more sophisticated multi-link set up and while we’re yet to drive the all-wheel drive car, we’d say that it would ride better. But unfortunately, the all-wheel drive Corolla Cross does not have a spare wheel, so many buyers will stick with front-wheel drive. Elsewhere in the Corolla Cross driving experience are well tuned active safety systems, including excellent active lane tracing assistance and traffic jam assistance as well. There’s a bit of road noise at higher country road speeds – nothing on the Seltos, though! Visibility is generally quite good, helped by large side mirrors.

Interior & Practicality: 8.5/10

Interestingly, the interior of the 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross Atmos is like both the Seltos and CX-30 in that it draws quite a lot from its small car siblings – in this case, the dashboard is nearly identical to the Corolla, though its centre console is quite different and more practical than the regular Corolla. The quality inside the Corolla Cross isn’t as good as the regular Corolla though – the soft touch dashboard facia and door tops feature, but the dashboard top is disappointingly hard plastic. Against competitors, the Corolla Cross’ cabin feels premium against the cheap feeling Seltos, but the CX-30 is in another league for quality, technology integration and interior presentation.

The Corolla Cross’ front cabin is reasonable practical though with big door bins, a reasonable box underneath the centre arm rest, two regular sized cup holders, a big glovebox and a tray underneath the dashboard with a wireless phone charger. It’s far easier to find places to store things than in the regular Corolla, though the Kia Seltos has more interior storage.

Centre of the Corolla Cross Atmos’ cabin is a new 10.5-inch touchscreen that features Toyota’s latest infotainment software. It’s well featured with live services, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satellite navigation with live traffic and digital radio – unlike the regular Corolla that sticks with a small 8.0-inch screen – has a huge 10.5-inch screen and the improved graphics and resolution are plain to see. There’s no home screen, instead, the icons on the side lead to its various features.

It’s also much quicker to touch than the previous software, though some annoying Toyota features like the strange accessing of the sound adjustments grate. The nine-speaker JBL sound system is reasonable too, though nothing special – the CX-30’s Bose system is much better by comparison. The new 12.3-inch digital driver’s display looks great, however – the graphics are crisp and it’s also quite customisable too.

The rear seat of the Corolla Cross is nicely sized with fine legroom and great headroom for six-footers. It’s well featured too with vents, reclining backrests, two USB-C ports and a centre armrest with cupholders, though only one map pocket and no door pockets either, just a bottle holder in each door. There are two ISOFIX points and three tether points too for child seats, while the doors open reasonably well for helping kids in and out. For space, it’s about equal to the Seltos and much larger than the CX-30.

The boot of the Corolla Cross Atmos Hybrid 2WD measures a reasonable 414-litres – much larger than the C-HR – with a few handy features like bag hooks and underfloor storage. Annoyingly, there’s a big ridge between the boot floor and when the seats are folded and carrying longer items is difficult as a result – there’s also a big lip between the boot opening and boot floor and a false floor would fix both of these issues. The 2WD Corolla Cross features a space saver spare wheel, unlike the tyre repair kit equipped AWD model.

Service & Warranty: 8.5/10

As with all other new Toyota products, the Corolla Cross has a five-year/unlimited km warranty with no roadside assistance. If it’s serviced at a Toyota dealership for the first five years, the drivetrain warranty is extended to seven years – and if an annual hybrid health inspection is carried out, the hybrid battery is covered for 10 years. Five years/75,000km of servicing costs $1,250, which equates to just $250 per service.

Mazda features the same five years of warranty as Toyota – though you can’t extend it like Toyota – and Kia gives you seven years from the get go. Mazda also includes five years of roadside assistance with its cars, while Kia gives you up to eight years in total if the car is serviced at a Kia dealership.

The 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross Atmos Hybrid 2WD DiscoverAuto Rating: 8.4/10

It’s taken a few years to reach Australia, but the 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross Atmos Hybrid is a really likeable small SUV. It’s got a wide range of talents: its spacious and practical cabin, a very efficient yet peppy powertrain, composed ride and handling balance and healthy standard equipment list. It’s also sized better than the C-HR and offers better value for money than the smaller Yaris Cross too.

It’s not perfect – there’s a noticeable downgrade in interior quality compared with the regular Corolla, it has a tiny fuel tank that – even with a hybrid drivetrain – impedes on range, it’s not cheap to buy and it’s not quite as dynamic as its siblings despite using the same platform. But overall, we think it’s a great offering in the small SUV segment and we’re quite surprised that Toyota hasn’t offered it in the past. We hope the company is ready for a big order bank because we think the Corolla Cross is a small SUV that will suit the lives of many Australians.