VVTLi

[CheekySportivo]

Hi Guys,

Please excuse this post for sounding dumb but I am all new to this site and forum and am now a first time Toyota Corolla Sportivo owner :P

I have just purchased a brand new 05 Sportivo (delivery mid week!) and am yet to discover the car's true potential.

My friend owns a white 04 Sportivo and thats what made me buy myself one of these lil beasts so I have witnessed the car's incredible performance.

So when does the LIFT actually kick in?

Does it kick in with every gear change over a certain rpm?

By reading a couple of other posts in the forums there was advice NOT to use the LIFT on a new Stivo...why is that?

Why should you have to wait to bring out the car's true performance?

Any feedback is much appreciated!

:D

Cheers

[Sport1vo]

<POST REMOVED>

Edited May 8, 2005 by sport1vo

[CAP]

Lift happens above 6000 rpm. You can use it on every gearshift.

However if your car is brand spanking new, avoid using it during the first 1000km, also the engine wont go into lift if the engine is cold.

[mtbrider]

I've only ever had lift up to 4th - but hey 160kph is enough for me.

Edited March 29, 2005 by mtbrider

[Northy]

here is a flash movie of how lift actually works

http://brisbane.tocs.com.au/vvtli/vvtl_i.htm

[CheekySportivo]

This info is great guys....my knowldge on this has now sky rocketed plus I have a much better understanding of how it actually works.

Thanks sport1vo for the general details and thanks Northy for the flash movie URL.

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiice one!

[Blade Hunter]

This info is great guys....my knowldge on this has now sky rocketed plus I have a much better understanding of how it actually works.

Thanks sport1vo for the general details and thanks Northy for the flash movie URL.

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiice one!

←

I would like to add my 2 cents here.

Having read many many articles on the merits of running in. I am under the impression that in this day and age, running your motor in gently is NOT good for it, on the contrary you are more likely to develop flatspots and not unleash the true potential for your motor.

When running in, rev it up to redline, labour it up hills at 2,000rpm in 6th gear, give it a variety of driving but do bear in mind, that occasional thrash in the begining will remove any bur left on the cylinders and will correctly seal the sleves around the pistons for maximum power and efficiency.

I would suggest doing some research on what happens to a porsche motor before its sold and how the best race bike engines are built, this will give a clearer insight into why I completely disagree with the general view that running in by wrapping your motor in cotton wool is not a good thing.

I hit lift within 5 K's of the dealer, im not exactly gentle on my car but im not someone who dumps the clutch either, I push it hard but within the boundary of the mechanics of it. At my last service, they asked if I drive like a grandma because the motor was clean as a whistle. This is an 18 month old 40,000Km old car :).

[shaohaok]

This info is great guys....my knowldge on this has now sky rocketed plus I have a much better understanding of how it actually works.

Thanks sport1vo for the general details and thanks Northy for the flash movie URL.

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiice one!

←

I would like to add my 2 cents here.

Having read many many articles on the merits of running in. I am under the impression that in this day and age, running your motor in gently is NOT good for it, on the contrary you are more likely to develop flatspots and not unleash the true potential for your motor.

When running in, rev it up to redline, labour it up hills at 2,000rpm in 6th gear, give it a variety of driving but do bear in mind, that occasional thrash in the begining will remove any bur left on the cylinders and will correctly seal the sleves around the pistons for maximum power and efficiency.

I would suggest doing some research on what happens to a porsche motor before its sold and how the best race bike engines are built, this will give a clearer insight into why I completely disagree with the general view that running in by wrapping your motor in cotton wool is not a good thing.

I hit lift within 5 K's of the dealer, im not exactly gentle on my car but im not someone who dumps the clutch either, I push it hard but within the boundary of the mechanics of it. At my last service, they asked if I drive like a grandma because the motor was clean as a whistle. This is an 18 month old 40,000Km old car :).

←

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

bingo

[SILVABULLIT]

Place my vote in the Blade Hunter's box. That's pretty much how i ran mine in and for that matter every car I've owned or with a new engine.

[Buddha]

No offence to anyone here, but being mechanically inept as I am, I kinda feel that I need to follow Toyota's recommendations, in case something should go wrong and I find myself warranty-less.

I understand the comment about Porsches, but I'm just wondering if the extra attention those motors receive, as opposed to more mass-produced engines such as Toyotas, makes a difference at all? I'm wondering if the equivalent parts in a Porsche (or Ferrari or similar) are firstly manufactured with greater precision and secondly, given extra finishing and machining before being assembled, a bit like blue-printing, I guess.

I bought my last car, a '98 Starlet, new and followed Toyota's break-in recommendations, and despite a considerable thrashing from 2k onwards, the engine ran like clockwork up until when I sold it at 160k, with only regular handbook servicing and an oil/filter change every 5k from 100k onward. Our wagon also followed Toyota's recommendations, but this time I'll be giving her new oil and filters every 5k from new, because I intend keeping this one much longer (10 yrs +).

To take another tack, is it possible that maybe the break-in period is a bit cautious for hi-po engines like the VVTL-i, but the right way to go for the VVT-i engines?

This forum is certainly helping me to become less mechanically inept, anyway! :P

[Blade Hunter]

Mate its entirely your choice but consider this, why would a car company tell you exactly how to get the most out of your car and never need to take it in for repairs??. If they keep you going back, they keep your money sliding across the table to them.

I used to get serviced at Toyota at almost 300 bucks a time, they always told me I needed injector services and everything, they charged me a fortune, I went to a local mechanic for my most recent service and he reckons my car is in beautiful condition and that you should only service your injectors every 80 - 100 thousand.

He also said that its most likely they simply shove one of those stupid blocks in the fuel tank and call it an injector service and charge me an extra 100 bucks for it.

All up my most recent service at the mechanic's was $68, slightly different to $300, this is why I no longer trust anything that comes out of the dealers mouth's :).

[CAP]

True, this is the last year my car is getting serviced at Toyota, once it's out of Warranty it goes straight to my regular mechanic - who works in front of me in my Garage.

He actually specialises in Injector Cleaning and also states (depending on make and model) Injectors only need cleaning every 70,000 to 100,000 km's.

I refuse it every time Toyota states it needs to be done.

[Blade Hunter]

Mate you do know that getting services outside of the dealer doesn't void your warranty don't you. They like you to think that but all it voids is the dealer provided "extended" warranty which usually makes your warranty have an extra 4 years on it but I figure its built Toyota tough, if nothing has gone wrong in the first 3 years, nothing is going to go wrong :).

I still have another 18 months of warranty yet I don't get dealer services :).

[Buddha]

I used to have the Starlet serviced by my local Ultra Tune after I tried to find a Toyota dealer I was happy with. With the Corolla being a bit more hi-tech, I thought I'd try the dealer route again, but with only some success (10k was done by a Lexus dealer recommended by Danthuyer, $20 cheaper than the Toyota service centres that are part of the same dealer group).

I was talking to a mate's father who has just stopped selling new cars ... he said he never would have said this to anyone while he was in the car game, but he said he would go with Ultra Tune, they'll do just as good a job as a dealer, plus, even if Toyota dispute a warranty issue, Ultra Tune guarantee their work anyway.

Really, at the end of the day, as long as the car is serviced according to recommendation, I'm happy.

[lucio_libre]

It kicks in at 6200rpm, contrary to people believing its 6000rpm.

[Danthuyer]

It kicks in at 6200rpm, contrary to people believing its 6000rpm.

←

Correct as my shift lights first stage kicks in at exactly 6000RPM and it is on for a fraction of a second before the addiction begins ;) then its a quick ride to the second stage..........and so on and so on :D

[05Corolla]

hey,

i just got a normal corolla..

n noticed that its just VVT-i without the L

does that mean that it doesnt have the high cam lobes for high rpm?

could someone explain the diff.. or give me some sites i can read from about them?

[CAP]

1zz-fe

VVTi - Engine has variable valve timing, allowing the engine to alter the timing of the valves operating across the rev range.

2zz-ge

VVTLi - Engine has variable valve timing and lift, as well as varying the timing of the valves across the rev range, this engine can also alter the lift and duration of opening of the valves at high revs.

[Azza]

hey,

i just got a normal corolla..

n noticed that its just VVT-i  without the L

does that mean that it doesnt have the high cam lobes for high rpm?

could someone explain the diff.. or give me some sites i can read from about them?

←

VVT-i = Fun

VVTL-i = Orgasm

[Azza]

I used to have the Starlet serviced by my local Ultra Tune after I tried to find a Toyota dealer I was happy with.  With the Corolla being a bit more hi-tech, I thought I'd try the dealer route again, but with only some success (10k was done by a Lexus dealer recommended by Danthuyer, $20 cheaper than the Toyota service centres that are part of the same dealer group).

I was talking to a mate's father who has just stopped selling new cars ... he said he never would have said this to anyone while he was in the car game, but he said he would go with Ultra Tune, they'll do just as good a job as a dealer, plus, even if Toyota dispute a warranty issue, Ultra Tune guarantee their work anyway.

Really, at the end of the day, as long as the car is serviced according to recommendation, I'm happy.

←

What you'll find though Buddha is that, as mentioned on previous threads, Toyota can only then disput the warranty should the fault be caused as a direct result of the work/repair/alteration.

With that being said, if Ultra-Tune use Brand-X engine oil, and Toyota recommend Brand-Y, then your engine overheats, then Toyota are correct in disputing the warranty, and yes, Ultra-Tune's own service guarantee would be responsible as it was theire oil that was used in contradiction to the manufacturer's specifications.

If this situation was to occur, and I admit it may be an extreme scenario, then Toyota will then refuse all warranty on tha actual engine where future faults occur as a result from the overheat.

My main concern with people like Ultra-Tune, Auto Leaders, Roadside Auto Care etc, is that you never know what brand of lubes and filters they are using (this comes from when I was getting pricing for serviceing on my AE112R Levin where they just outright wouldn't tell me). For this, if Toyota Service doesn't tell me, at least I can be safe in the knowlege that they are using their own recommendation (regardless of what it is....)

As for pricing though, I never found non-Genuine servicing much cheaper unless you went to your local Mechanic. Ultra-Tune, Auto Leaders, Roadside Auto Care etc never actually appeared much cheaper when I got quotes for servicing for the Levin.

Another main criticism I have for them also, is their lack of enthusiasm to do non-warranty work in warranty periods. A friend of mine has a 2003 Renault Megane (I know it's a crap car) and she drives pretty hard, and at 50,000k's, she needed new brake rotors and pads as well as getting the discs machined. We spoke to a couple of these guys for quotes as her local Renault dealer offered what appeared to be a fairly hefty sum, and the only guys from the above mentioned networks that would actually do the work, said that they don't supply these parts and we would have had to do this.

This to me spells D-O-D-G-E-Y... For us to do this, they are saying that they then also hold no responsibility if the part is faulty. They don't have to re-do any work or anything. If the brakes still are stuffed, then all they have to say is that we supplied faulty parts, exhonerating themselves from warranty obligations.... nopt happy with that.

With all that said, this issue I think becomes a personal preference issue, and my comments have been spoken from personal experiences. With that, I will be taking my Sportivo, and all future vehicles back to the manufacturer for servicing. (as well as it looks good for resale).

My secret though to not being ripped off by them is to ask to look at the repair sheet before leaving when I drop the car off, and comparing this with the recommendations in the service manual. Doing this, you will find that you don't need injector clean at 10,000kms.... I save heaps by making sure that I stipulate that I want the car serviced "as per the requirements of the service-book". Then whan I pick the car up, if they are stooging me for stuff that isn't in the handbook, then bammo, Azz gets freebies....

Once again, personal preference.

With regards to the running in, I put it up there with warming the car up in the mornings. Hi-Tech motors that we have these days are usually well and truely ready for driving when purchased. I am in agreement with Blade Hunter and doing a variety of different methods for the first bit. I also hit lift within km's, wll 1 at least of picking the car up. After all, I didn't buy a Sportivo to babysit the thing.....

Cheers

Azz

[Buddha]

Excellent points, Azza. You're right that there's very little difference in price between Toyota and Ultra Tune etc, but the major major services can be a little different. I was dealer servicing the Starlet until 90k, which was fine, but when getting quotes for the 100k service, Ultra Tune were considerably cheaper than any Toyota dealer I could find.

I guess I'm lucky in that the Ultra Tune I was dealing with was very upfront with everything and he was happy to show me everything they'd done and so on. He was also friendly and seemed genuinely interested in my car, not just my $$$. Given the age of the vehicle and my previous experiences, I took the Starlet back there until we traded her in. I guess that like there are some dud Toyota dealers out there, there are also some excellent Ultra Tunes and their type.

As I've mentioned previously, I took the Rolla to a Lexus dealer for the 10k service, and I was very happy to the point that I'll keep taking it back there as long as they look after me (and I see no reason why they won't). I just found my mate's father's comments interesting given his background.

As for the run-in, there seems to be two schools of thought there, I took the cotton wool approach because its worked for me before, but I also think that proper servicing is equally as important. Hence why I have stopped putting into superannuation and started to save for my 100k service! :P