Odometer at pick-up: 1,744 km
Odometer Current: 3,908 km (2,163 by Autos.ca)
Fuel Consumption: 7.14 L/100 km
Costs: $181.80 (Fuel only)

It’s been a quiet couple of weeks in the Yarkony household and that’s partly because our Toyota Corolla is so easy to live with. It gets us in to work every morning, painlessly and comfortably, though not exactly effortlessly, sips fuel, and looks like no Corolla ever before it.

Now that we’ve had plenty of time and kilometres to get familiar with the Corolla, we thought we’d talk about the drive. But before I forget, I thought I’d mention that I’ve had problems with the Bluetooth picking up and connecting to my phone sometimes. Not every time, but sometimes my phone just refuses to connect, even when I select it from the available paired phones.

Last time we mentioned that the seats are superb, but the lack of range in the steering wheel makes for a slightly awkward driving position for me. Startup is by way of a big button on the dash, and the little four-cylinder buzzes to life.

It’s quiet enough at idle, but starts to buzz and whine the harder you press it. While it does get a bit loud, and is accompanied by some tire and wind noise on the highway, it hasn’t grated on my nerves as some buzzy cars do. In fact, after passing a couple cars on the highway, I tend to settle in at high cruising speeds, something I normally forgo in underpowered cars.

Okay, perhaps underpowered is a bit harsh, but the Corolla’s 132 hp and 128 lb-ft of torque are working against 1,295 kg, and there’s no way you call a car that struggles up to speed like this fast. Adequate maybe. I don’t think that’s a surprise to anyone here.

However, the meagre power is somewhat redeemed by the responsive transmission. The Corolla’s continuously variable transmission is a flexible and efficient transmission. While not as sporty as Subaru’s more advanced applications of their CVT, the Corolla S nonetheless offers smooth and seamless (if a bit lurchy) normal operation, paddle shifters that accompany a manual mode, and a Sport mode that sharpens throttle and adjusts transmission responses, to get you into the engine’s power band (hp at 6,000 rpm and torque at 4,400) earlier and more often.

Catch up with our first reports: Long-Term Test Arrival: 2015 Toyota Corolla S and Long-Term Test Update 1: 2015 Toyota Corolla S

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