Toyota’s UK has developed a modified Corolla Trek for use with the Derbyshire constabulary. The hybrid has been outfitted incorporating feedback from officers, with the force now evaluating the vehicle for future 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. The Trek, which is
essentially a rough-and-tumble version of the estate, was selected to address
some of the shortcomings of the standard car.
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.
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. With the blues-and-twos fitted to this Corolla Trek, Toyota hopes that
this model will prove to be an even stronger proposition for police use.
