View Every Photo of the New 2020 Toyota Corolla Sedan

Buying a Toyota Corolla has always been an easy choice. Its proven reputation for reliability, efficiency, and affordability means that hundreds of thousands of Americans each year plunk down their hard-earned cash on new (and used) Corollas without thinking twice.

There's nothing about the new 2020 Toyota Corolla sedan that suggests any of this is likely to change, even if it represents the model's biggest transformation in decades. Entirely new underpinnings are in the mix—Toyota's New Global Architecture (TNGA)—as are a new optional engine and an available hybrid powertrain. But the new Corolla still sets out to do what all Corollas have done, which is get people where they need to go, reliably and efficiently.

As with the new Corolla hatchback, what's most commendable about the Corolla sedan is the vast, across-the-board improvement over its predecessor.

It looks better, drives better, and feels better inside—not that there was really anywhere to go but up from the outgoing Corolla sedan's lackluster driving dynamics, cheap interior, and wonky exterior design.

Don't be fooled by the new car's wheelbase, which, at 106.3 inches, is the same as before. The TNGA platform is new to the sedan.

We found the sedan to be a bit more comfortable and settled than the Corolla hatchback, which is pitched as sportier and has a shorter wheelbase.

Toyota's compact sedan and hatchback continue to cash in on their strong reputation for reliability. Sales were up 5 percent but it finished the year behind its rival the Honda Civic.

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The engine is willing to rev to the upper reaches of the tachometer, but we did sometimes miss the torquey midrange punch of the Corolla's turbocharged competitors, especially when this 2.0-liter is lashed to a continuously variable automatic transmission, which exacerbates its buzzy nature at higher revs.

Speaking of fuel efficiency, the XSE that we sampled didn't distinguish itself in everyday driving. Our average fuel economy over 900 miles amounted to 24 mpg, about the same as a Mazda 3 sedan (25 mpg) and a VW Jetta GLI (25 mpg) that we recently tested.

It did, however, deliver in our 75-mph highway fuel-economy test, returning a solid 41 mpg. That bested the performances of the Mazda and Jetta by 3 mpg and 5 mpg, respectively.

2020 Toyota Corolla XSE sedan

2020 Toyota Corolla XSE sedan

2020 Toyota Corolla XSE sedan

2020 Toyota Corolla XSE sedan

2020 Toyota Corolla XSE sedan

2020 Toyota Corolla XSE sedan

2020 Toyota Corolla XSE sedan