The Fun New Corolla Hatchback Puts the Toy in Toyota

The Toyota Corolla Hatchback’s cheerfully modern design, its fleet of high-tech options and the soothing distraction of a manually shifted car will have you wanting to work on your heel-and-toe footwork, says Dan Neil

HERE’S A LITTLE JEWEL box of antiquarianism: A hatchback, a real hatchback economy car, with a naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine bolted to a six-speed manual transmission (a CVT automatic is an $1,100 option). All you car guys who would bag on our little 168-hp friend here, understand that the young person who buys the new Toyota Corolla Hatchback knows how to drive a stick shift, which puts him or her among the elite of their cohort. Maybe 20% of the U.S. population knows how and most of them are boomers who’d rather not. Among those under 25, a reasonable guess might be 10%? Anyway, it will be a small number...