I Drove the 2025 Toyota Corolla FX Sedan – Here's My Brutally Honest Review

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2 days ago

Vader's economy ride
The Toyota Corolla is the Methuselah of compact cars. Now in its 12th generation, spanning 56 years, the Corolla soldiers on when others, like the Ford Focus and the Mitsubishi Lancer, died years ago. The 2025 Toyota Corolla, now eight years into its current generation, is still a pretty hot seller. For this model year, the Corolla sedan gets a new FX trim, one that promises sportier and stealthier looks without any changes to power or performance. It's a noticeable departure from the regular Corolla's generally bargain looks. Our week-long tester was priced at $29,728, including $1,135 delivery, processing, and handling. Read on for our unabashed look at this new trim on Toyota's aging compact sedan.
The FX's dark bits add some sinister without speed
Toyota took the Corolla SE trim and added some dressier features to create the FX. The FX's dark details include a gloss-black mesh grille, a uniquely styled black FX spoiler, 18-inch satin-black finished alloy wheels with Y-shaped machined accents, gray metallic rocker panels, a black roof, black mirror caps, and black exterior badging. If it all looks a tad familiar, there's some definite resemblance to the 2024 Corolla Nightshade, sans bronze wheels. You can choose the Corolla FX in grey, white, or black, with the first two colors having contrasting black metallic roofs.
It all goes nicely with the dark window trim, giving the FX more of an attitude, or as much attitude as a non-GR Corolla should have. Details you might not notice immediately are the black wheel caps and lug nuts, the dual chrome-tipped exhaust, the black shark-fin antenna, and the LED DRLs and accent lighting from the XSE. The FX also borrows the XSE's 225/40R18 tires, which offer a bit more grip than the stock 205/55R16s.
The Corolla's cabin gets mildly tweaked
The Corolla's cabin is starting to look and feel dated, but shy of giving it leather or even faux carbon fiber, Toyota saw fit to give the SX special 'Moonstone Premium Fabric' (aka, light gray) seats with racy orange stitching. The result is a two-tone-ish appearance with some textured fabric on the bolsters, although a darker fabric would've made the orange stitching pop a bit more. The seats are comfortable and supportive, but the manual adjustability is for the birds. We found it hard to get into the right position without some fussing. The rear seats provide 34.8 inches of legroom, enough for adult-sized people but not while sitting behind tall adults. The seat bulge in the middle position is manageable enough for a third person to sit for short periods of time.
As you would've guessed for this price point, the Corolla has a lot of hard and cheap-looking plastics throughout. The dearth of good storage space in the front row is a sore spot. There are no open cubbies in the center stack, so you have to put your keys in the cup holder, and good luck getting two drinks on the go with hopes of putting anything else in there. The door pockets are, sadly, only big enough for small water bottles. The wireless phone charger is a nice standard feature on the FX, but it's placed so close to the underside of the dash and way out in front of the shifter that you'll find yourself accidentally leaving your phone behind more often than not.
The biggest addition to the FX's interior is the larger 10.5-inch touchscreen infotainment system that's significantly larger than the stock 7-inch screen on lower trims. It runs the brand's latest operating system, which is simple and fairly intuitive. Voice commands worked pretty well when we used the navigation system, which was only made annoying by the female voice pronouncing 'avenue' as 'avi-NYOO' when giving out directions. We miss the single-volume knob adjacent to the driver on the smaller screen, now replaced by three thin buttons that match the piano black frame. Who thought that was a good idea? At least there are still decent physical climate controls parked right below the center vents.
Behind the wheel
Under the hood of every Corolla is a naturally-aspirated 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine mated to a CVT that only drives the front wheels. Unlike Corolla Hybrid trims, you cannot upgrade to all-wheel drive. Total output is 169 horsepower and 151 lb-ft of torque. 60 mph comes in about 8 seconds. Cruising speed on the highway is very good, but you have to get over the droning that's impossible to ignore. Mash the gas, and you're met with a muffled but pronounced wheezing that seems inversely proportional to the tepid rate of acceleration. Again, it's smooth on the highway, but the journey to 60 mph (or more) is a noisy one.
On the bright side, the lightweight 3,070-pound Corolla FX is fairly nimble. Its lowered suspension, no doubt, contributes to this, but it doesn't move the needle much in terms of overall driving dynamics. While we wouldn't call it fun to drive, the Corolla is a pleasant commuter that's efficient even in non-hybrid guise. We were able to manage 32 mpg almost exclusively in Sport mode, which should satisfy some drivers' needs, at least.
No matter what Toyota does to make its Corolla look angrier, the driving results remain the same. It's sensible, smooth, safe, and efficient. If you're asking for more than that, shop elsewhere. The Corolla sells like gangbusters because it does a few things well, but thrilling drivers is not one of them. The FX trim is really for buyers who want to look racy without making any sacrifices in the areas where the Corolla shines.
Final thoughts
Even with a sportier and darker aesthetic in the FX trim, there's no mistaking the Corolla for a sporty vehicle. It's a sensible sedan whose reputation for reliability precedes itself. The FX's main competition, the Honda Civic, is more rewarding to drive and has a far better cabin experience. It might be slightly down on power compared to the Corolla, but the Civic is more responsive and provides better feedback. The Corolla will get its 13th generation sometime in 2026, and it should provide just about more of everything if rumors are true.
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