2011 Toyota Corolla LE

The Toyota Corolla should be any automaker's dream car, especially for the accounting department. The basic formula is this: Start with a tidy but not extravagant package that has earned a reputation for safety, value, and reliability. Then, make only the slightest of changes to limit superfluous development costs that would significantly affect the consumer price. Is that a brand-new powertrain and a totally redesigned suspension sitting in the lab? Maybe they'll see use in a couple more years, buddy.

Understand that Toyota has little reason to break the trend. Through March 2011, the Corolla was the top-selling C-segment car in the United States. It's up 18.7 percent for the year, and comfortably leads the Honda Civic by close to 12,000 units. And guess what - it's not incentives solely driving sales. According to TrueCar, Toyota isn't even in the top five for manufacturers offering the biggest discounts this year. What makes this little car a sales success?

2011 Toyota Corolla Rear Three Quarter 2
It's certainly the antithesis cutting edge. Let's examine why.

First off, it's not fast. The Corolla LE you can buy here is powered by a 1.8-liter inline-four developing 132 horsepower and 128 pound-feet of torque. In my past, I've spent extensive time with a 2002 Corolla LE. It also had a 1.8-liter, though it made slightly less power -- 125 horsepower and 125 pound-feet. It wasn't fast then, and it isn't fast now. Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised the two mills sound so similar to each other.

2011 Toyota Corolla Side In Motion

Back in 2002, I enjoyed the normalcy of a four-speed automatic, complete with an overdrive button (remember those?) on the side of the shifter. Nine years later, there are still four gears. This time around, the transmission is called an "Electronically Controlled automatic Transmission with intelligence." The overdrive button is gone. But the shift gate design is modern and the auto seems to swap gears more quickly than its elder model. There's some progress.