.::sports and home: Toyota Corolla Furia Concept::.

Toyota Corolla Furia Concept With a name like the Furia, even Toyota could resist from including a few playful puns during the press conference at the 2013 Detroit auto show. Toyota USA’s vice president and general manager, Bill Fay, described the Corolla Furia concept car as a “fury of energetic design elements.” This time around, however, this is purely an exterior design study. In fact, a peek inside the heavily tinted windows revealed an interior pulled from the current-gen model. Fay did mention that the Corolla will likely be developed and engineered by the folks in Japan since the compact is a global car. The Avalon, for example, was a completely American effort, from its design to production. The 2013 Toyota Avalon surprised us with its bolder-than-expected design, and judging by the Toyota's latest effort, the Corolla Furia concept that's making its debut at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show, the next-generation Corolla may hold some interesting design changes as well.

Toyota Corolla Furia Concept

Toyota Corolla Furia Concept

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Toyota Corolla Furia Concept

The concept is our first preview of the upcoming Corolla, which may at last diverge from the mediocre designs of the last two Corollas and finally take a visual risk or two. Highlighting the Corolla Furia's exterior are full LED headlights and 19-inch wheels with orange and carbon fiber accents. LED accent light "eyebrows" extend all the way toward the center of the car's front end, and are complemented by vertical LED light strips at the corners of the front fascia. We see a little Avalon influence in the large grille, but the Furia concept has more sharply defined sheetmetal. There are carbon fiber accents everywhere, and even an upward kink in the rear side window design. A subtle character line runs through both door handles and, from the side, we can't help but see a resemblance to the Suzuki Kizashi sedan. From behind, the refined taillights stretch to the center of the car and the dual exhaust outlets are integrated into the sheetmetal. That the Corolla Furia concept has any styling at all suggests Toyota may be ready to give the next Corolla even just a little bit of curb appeal. Ultimately, though, Toyota likely understands that what has kept the Corolla near the top of the sales charts for so many years isn't just style, but substance. And if the Corolla Furia concept gives us any indication, the next Corolla may have a larger interior. Compared to the 2013 Toyota Corolla, the Corolla Furia concept is 1.9 inches longer, 1.6 inches wider, 1.6 inches shorter and, perhaps most significantly, rides on a wheelbase that's 3.9 inches longer. If the next-gen Corolla sedan has an extended wheelbase compared to the current car, rear-seat room and trunk space could see noticeable increases. This could help the Corolla better compete against compacts like the 2013 Nissan Sentra, which the EPA considers a midsize car because of its considerable passenger and cargo volume.

Though the Corolla Furia concept is merely an exterior design study -- the car has no no interior or powertrain -- expect the next-generation Corolla to see minor increases in EPA-rated fuel economy; the 2013 Corolla is currently near the bottom of the class. With so many compact cars trying to distinguish their designs from the pack, Toyota may have finally decided to add a little style with the basic Corolla substance that has served the automaker so well. So imagine the Furia with smaller wheels, more ordinary paint, and less sleek headlights and you may have a good idea of what the 2014 or 2015 Toyota Corolla will look like.