In the automotive world, Toyota is often the manufacturer to beat, as it usually wins the crown for whichever division it has a vehicle in. However, Nissan has toppled its rival with the 2022 Nissan Sentra. In a surprising twist no one saw coming; the Sentra beat out the much-loved Toyota Corolla for Consumer Reports’ Best Small Car award.
Consumer Reports best cars of 2022
Every year, consumer reports publishes the prize for the best cars of the year. For 2022 there have been a few changes, such as an AEB highway speed requirement and the addition of two points to a vehicle’s overall score if it has an active driver monitoring system.
The 2022 Nissan Sentra won the small car division, while the Nissan Rogue Sport won the subcompact SUV. For the small SUV division, the Subaru Forester managed to beat the competition, largely due to the addition of the Wilderness trim.
The Honda Accord’s hybrid option won it the award for best mid-size sedan. Speaking of hybrids, the Toyota Prius and Prius Prime stood out thanks to the impressive 52 mpg range.
Toyota managed to take another win in the two-row SUV division with the Toyota RAV4 Prime. No one was surprised when the Kia Telluride received the midsize three-row SUV.
The Honda Ridgeline won the compact pickup and the Ford Mustang Mach-E won the electric vehicle. The Lexus RX topped things off with the luxury midsize SUV.
The 2022 Nissan Sentra was a real surprise
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The Nissan Sentra has officially overthrown the Toyota Corolla. Consumer Reports was very impressed with the Sentra and gave it an overall rating of 77.
The 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine is very impressive for such an affordable vehicle, and the acceleration is unbeatable. The interior is also hard to compete for the price range.
Speaking of price, the 2022 Nissan Sentra has a starting price of $19,510 and tops out at $22,100. It gets 22 mpg city, 44 mpg highway and 32 mpg overall, which will also help keep the budget price low.
The standard Safety Shield 360 offered by Nissan is what tipped the balance in favor of the Nissan Sentra and helped it dethrone the Toyota Corolla, which has held the title of best small car ever since. consumer reports for two years now.
Toyota Corolla fell
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The Toyota Corolla failed to win the title for 2022. However, it did win the award for best small car in consumer reports in 2020 and 2021.
The 2022 Toyota Corolla received an overall rating of 73 from Consumer Reports. Although slightly lower than the Nissan Sentra, it played a part in the Corolla’s loss.
Other factors that contributed to the Corolla’s downfall were the slow and raspy engines of the hybrid and gasoline versions. The base engine is a 1.8-liter four-cylinder generating 139 hp and 126 lb-ft of torque, with an optional 2.0-liter four-cylinder producing 169 hp and 151 lb-ft of torque.
Another hard-to-ignore source of annoyance is the transmission, which tends to roar even when the accelerator pedal is only lightly depressed. There is also less headroom in the rear than in previous models.
Consumer Reports was impressed that Toyota Safety Sense 2.0 is standard, but the lack of blind-spot warning and rear cross-traffic warning without an upgrade helped lower the score for the Corolla.
Even though the Corolla gets 23 mpg city, 45 mpg highway and 33 mpg overall, which is slightly better than the Sentra, it wasn’t enough to win the 2022 award.
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