The same design concept has been adopted for the Corolla Verso’s interior as for the exterior – using the three key words: High-tech, Quality and Modernity, when drawing and designing this car from scratch.
Out goes “dark and cold� and in comes a subtle and modern aqua-green lighting, more comfortable seating arrangements, redesigned instruments and controls and a greater use of cloth and fabric in the trim. The new lighting contrasts with the larger use of metallic inserts in the centre console, making the interior of the new Corolla Verso a welcoming place to be for long or short journeys.
The uplifting and modern styling is achieved by the arch-shaped instrument panel and the unique combination of chrome accents with the new aqua-green tone. This is complemented with the dynamic 3-spoke steering wheel. Fabric with a simple but eye-catching pattern is used extensively throughout the door trimming. The fit, finish and quality of the materials used in the interior of the new Toyota Corolla Verso are yet more examples of the improvements introduced by Toyota. Gap and clearance between some components have been reduced by 90% and 40% respectively. These improvements give the cabin a more flush look.
Extensive work was also done to improve the feeling when closing the doors of the new Corolla Verso. As a result, it was defined an optimum placement for the door hinges and an air-tight seal was installed in the locking section. In addition, new door locks for both front and rear doors and the use of anti-vibration materials, strategically placed, provide an even more convincing sound and feel for the door-closing. The A and B pillars are now covered with high-quality fabric. This material has also been used for the sun visors.
The Multi-information Display has now been moved to the main instrument panel in front of the driver. The display incorporates trip information such as driving range, fuel consumption, elapsed time and average speed. The whole instrument panel is lit by an Optitron system, which gives the display a rewarding three-dimensional look, finished with protruding rings to enhance appearance.
However, the most distinguishing feature of the new Corolla Verso’s interior is the flat-folding system for the rear seats. Thanks to this unique feature, the new Corolla Verso is the only MPV in the world in which all the 5 rear seats can be flat-folded, creating a completely flat cargo space, without the need of removing any seat from the interior.
Importantly, the flat-folding system is the simplest to operate of all MPVs on the market: with only one operation it is possible to fold down each rear seat. The seats are also the lightest you can find in compact MPVs, which makes the operation even easier and possible for more people.
3rd row seat folding process
Behind the driver and front passenger, seating for three occupants has been made possible by providing ample seating width. Each seat of the second row can slide 240 mm back or forwards and recline in an angle of 30 degrees.
Further, a walk-in mechanism that allows easy access to the third row of seats has been incorporated. After pulling the shoulder lever upward, the seatback can tilt forward, which simultaneously releases the slide lock and allows the seat to move forward as well. This mechanism improves entry/exit from the back seats with the operation of a one-touch lever.
32 different seat combinations are now available in the new Corolla Verso. The result of all this excellent seating design is that the new Corolla Verso has a strong combination of versatility, ease of operation, maximised usage space and style.
The interior of the new Corolla Verso was developed to fit almost every size and shape of driver and will comfortably accommodate the heights of more than 95 per cent of the tallest European men going down to the smallest five per cent of European women. For instance, the driver’s seat, together with the steering wheel adjustments, can be set to take people from between 151 cm to 199 cm of height comfortably.
Both front seats have now a height adjustment mechanism – an uncommon feature in many cars. It can vary the seat height by 52 mm. Front seats were also improved in terms of comfort - both have new S-spring seat cushions and contour-mat seatbacks.
The new Corolla Verso has tilt and telescopic steering wheel adjustments to further enhance comfort and safety for even more driver shapes and sizes.
After an extensive background study into storage requirements, the result in the new Corolla Verso is a multitude of different storage areas including an upper and lower glove box, a centre box, console box and cup holders.
With all seats up and in place the Corolla Verso will accommodate seven people comfortably, but with the seats folded flat the car can be turned into a spacious cargo carrier. The space devoted to cargo will be 1,537 mm long and 1,374 mm wide.
High-tech features
The very latest in satellite navigation – the most advanced system in this segment – is fitted to the new Corolla Verso. In comparison with the previous version, installed in the current Corolla Verso, the new DVD full-map navigation system delivers much quicker and upgraded route search and screen scrolling capabilities, in addition to more pleasant graphics and possibility of customisation for 3 different users. The new navigation system also comes available with a compass mode, which allows the user to visualise a compass with longitude and latitude indications on the screen. In this system, map information for the entire western Europe is available in a single DVD.
The RDS-TMC (Radio Data System – Traffic Message Channel) is one of the most useful tools incorporated in the new navigation system. It receives information about the traffic conditions from the local radio stations. By doing so, the navigation system considers this data when performing route search, therefore selecting the least congested route at the moment. Besides the dynamic route guidance capability, the information is also available to be consulted by the user through map icons or a traffic information list. RDS-TMC is available in Denmark, Germany, Holland, Sweden and UK. In addition, a “turn-by-turn� navigation system is also available.
The new Corolla Verso comes with a high quality Panasonic audio system comprising built-in radio, CD-player, amplifier, and steering wheel controls. The system plays through a high output (40 W x 4 channels) amplifier and among its features are CD-Text support (displays the name of the album and sound track, when available) and Digital Signal Processor (DSP), which enhances the low and high ranges without distorting the mid-range frequencies.
For full appreciation of the sounds produced by the audio system, the Corolla Verso is equipped with six lightweight speakers using neodymium magnets which include tweeters above the instrument panel, 16 cm full-range speakers (front doors) and 14 cm full-range speakers (rear doors).
And if music is not enough for passengers in the Corolla Verso, the Toyota In-Car Entertainment system will be. Journeys just fly by when the entertainment system is running and playing DVD films in full stereo. Because it is built into the car, the full quality experience from Toyota is guaranteed.Using wide format LCD screens mounted in the front seat headrests, the best in DVD films can be enjoyed while two infrared headphones guarantee uninterrupted sound quality. In addition, the DVD player supports other formats, like VCD, DVCD, CD, CD-R and CD-RW. This system can also play MP3 files.
A remote control means everything is at fingertip control and there is even the option for connecting up several types of game console. The screens are controlled independently so passengers can enjoy films or play games together, or turn off when they choose. Expanding the system’s possibilities even further, it is also possible to plug in a video camera through an inverter cable (not included with the system).
Source: Text & photos courtesy Toyota Motor Europe
