Toyota’s UK manufacturing arm 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.
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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. 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.
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