Toyota’s UK manufacturing arm has developed a modified Corolla Trek for use with the Derbyshire constabulary. Officer feedback was used to outfit the hybrid. The force is now reviewing the vehicle and making improvements.
The Corolla is locally manufactured at the Burnaston plant, so presumably, it’ll be easy for the engineers back at Toyota Manufacturing UK to keep track of progress while maintaining the vehicle and obtaining performance data and user feedback.
The evaluation of the Corolla Trek follows on from tests of a “blue light-spec” Corolla Touring Sports. Trek, which is an essentially rough-and–tumble version, was chosen to correct some shortcomings in the standard vehicle.
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While it doesn’t feature the option of all-wheel drive, the standard Corolla Trek features a 20mm increase in ride height, underbody protection, and some extra body cladding. But, with damage caused by driving over speed humps or high curbs a factor officers saw in use, the new car has been fitted with a “rough-road” pack, increasing ground clearance even more. Derby police also asked for built-in satellite navigation, parking sensors, a dog guard for the load space, and steel wheels – including a full-size spare.
“Derbyshire Police appreciate the opportunity to operate this locally built bespoke product,” said Terry Hitchcock, Derbyshire Police’s Fleet Manager. “We are looking forward to seeing how the vehicle performs in this role, particularly with the hybrid power as we start to move away from the traditional standard diesel and petrol cars.”
There was no word on whether this particular Corolla Trek had any performance enhancements, but the standard 2.0 liter self-charging hybrid features 120 hp driving the front wheels via a CVT gearbox. Toyota believes that this Corolla Trek model will make it a more attractive option for police.
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