Corolla gets a hard time in this review

[rolla_guy]

http://motorv8.me/index.php/car-reviews/corolla-zre

I agree with some of the criticisms they make of the Corolla, but overall, it was a pretty negative review.

Is the Corolla really that boring to drive?

What do you guys think?

[Noodle Boy]

i've been in 3 rollas in my life, 2 of them auto, the other manual. the autos seem a little slow and boring to drive, but the performance of the manual is respectable and it can create a fairly good driving experience. therefore i think it depends on what type of rolla it is that's boring to drive.

[JJCRU23R]

Ok, this guy is pretty spot on as far as toyota being bland and suited to the average joe.. not the first time Ive heard these sentiments from a review. not really harsh, more like telling it like it is! The is NICE but in its stock standard form, especially the basic Ascent models, there isnt a lot to brag about! As this reviewer stated at the end of that page:

"MotorV8.me has seen some nice looking Levin and Sportivo spec Corollas with body kits, bigger wheels and spoilers. However, in base Ascent spec, the styling could put an Attention Deficit Disorder sufferer to sleep in no time!"

In saying that though, Ive never heard of this "MotorV8" review website... like who the hell are these ppl anyway?

[Hiro]

I think every now and then we need to be reminded that Corollas and Aurions/Camrys really are just whitegoods on wheels, designed to be driven from A to B with the least amount of fuss and hassle. They aren't supercars, nor are they show-stoppers. Not that there's anything wrong with that, nor is there anything wrong with us modifying them, but there is no denying what they intrinsically are.

[robie]

Ok, this guy is pretty spot on as far as toyota being bland and suited to the average joe.. not the first time Ive heard these sentiments from a review. not really harsh, more like telling it like it is! The is NICE but in its stock standard form, especially the basic Ascent models, there isnt a lot to brag about! As this reviewer stated at the end of that page:

"MotorV8.me has seen some nice looking Levin and Sportivo spec Corollas with body kits, bigger wheels and spoilers. However, in base Ascent spec, the styling could put an Attention Deficit Disorder sufferer to sleep in no time!"

In saying that though, Ive never heard of this "MotorV8" review website... like who the hell are these ppl anyway?

by the look of things there people that like V8's and those people will never be sueded to a 4cylinder not even if you paid them

[eviltwin]

Flame suit fitted but they stopped building real corollas 20 years ago

[JJCRU23R]

Yea cant argue too much with whats being said in the review, however, the things Ive seen people do with these corollas is what makes the car awesome. I never aimed to drive my car down a drag strip or anything and at the end of the day it jsut gets you from A to B!

[xoom]

they must not have looked under the bonnet properly ..... 1zz ....... :lol:

HOW DOES IT GO? NOT THAT WELL!

On paper, the 1.8 litre, twin cam, 16 valve engine (code named 1ZZ-FE) delivers 100kW@6,000rpm and 175Nm@4,400rpm in a body weighing about 1275 kgs.

[Ascendant Rice]

my 4 speed auto is sluggish below 3k LOL but doesnt bother me becasue im always above 3K

[rthy]

funny yet truthfull review, however they seem to be expecting to much for the corolla i think.

[johnnieboi]

Obviously a bone stock corolla is what it is. Maybe the person doing the review should go for a test drive in some of the zres i know.

[djchow85]

i can only compare to the previous car i owned for 5 years which was a 99 lancer.

Yes definately, the rolla is boring versus the car i used to own. I think Clarkson also is right.

I do see the humour how he makes fun but I remind myself of the good points of the Rolla.

Yeah it may be boring to look and to drive but also I think Toyota know that, and as someone just said its very much a point A to point B (the base models at least).

Apart from the boringness of driving and look.. the good points I like of this car over my previous Lancer

- Build quality feels better in some aspects, has an air bag, disc brakes

- Nice zippy torque from 0-3000rpm, good for suburban driving

I guess you gotta sacrifice in some things and I think the focus is reliability with this car..

[TroysRollaSX]

Well I can put my hand on my heart and say that if I was to review my corolla, it would be NOTHING like that review. I think this part summed it up:

There are also well thought out double drink holders up front, right in front of the side air vents – no beer bottle … ummm … we mean “soft drink can” to get in the way when you’re shifting gears. Nice touch Toyota!

I know it was intended as a joke, but it shows the crowd they're writing for.

[ben yip]

My comments (italic are quoted from the article) I am a ZRE154 owner

The dash isn’t very well thought through as it reflects bright light right back at the occupants. If you’re wondering why so many Corolla drivers are wearing sunnies, it aint because they’re too cool for school – it’s because it’s bloody bright up front!

I don't understand..

The downside to the high mounted gear knob is that the hand brake is also high mounted at an awkward angle.

zre154 changed this

The Corolla’s engine lacks torque and requires lots of revs to do its best work.

it is not that bad when comparing the torque with other manufacturer with 1.8 engine

Given the long overtaking lane, we took it easy by dropping back to 5th and mashing the accelerator. Ummm, did it actually slot into 5th? We don’t seem to be going much faster!

OK, let’s drop it back to 4th.

By now, the 4WD is picking up momentum and even in 4th, we’re only very slowly pulling away.

Fark it! Gun it in 3rd! Even with 3 downshifts, the Corolla isn’t slamming us back in our seats. In fact, at highway speeds, there’s the very real risk of running out of revs in 3rd! We found ourselves yelling at the car – “Move! Accelerate! Anything! Please!”.

I agree, I have to memorise the speed limit of the first few gears to prevent me from putting into wrong gear, 4 th gear is sluggish, i agree,, I have CAI installed, much more better in overstaking, but for stock, it is a bit sluggish

Compounding the problem is that its peak torque is developed relatively high in the rev range – at 4,400rpm.

For 1.8, this is accepatble when comparing with other manufacturers

The manual gear shift is light but doesn’t like to be hurried. The shift action itself is a little sloppy and gear changes aren’t a flick of the wrist affair – no “snick, snick” sharp action here.

I agree, i occassionally cannot engage the first gear from neutral, I have sorted of engage "half gear"

The Corolla also has a weird tendency to “over rev” between gear changes, unless you completely let off the accelerator before putting the clutch back in and changing gears.

I agree, At first, I thought it was my bad driving habit, dun realise this review also has the same problems, not sure if other people has this problem.It is a bit annoying

They felt spongy and weak and weren’t progressive in their stopping power. In fact, we didn’t get any real stopping power until almost halfway of brake pedal travel, especially at high speed.

I agree, but I am not sure whether corolla has a weak braking system, anyone comments?

There is one area where we found the Corolla to be very uncomfortable to drive – it has such weak low beam headlights.

I agree, we find out this problem when we rent this car

We’ve easily bettered 7.2L/100klm in a Honda Accord Euro, which is a car with 40% more power than the Corolla.

I think the car must sit more than 1 person, this adds up 0.2L/100KM... I am able to do 6.9L/100KM this week because of school holiday in Sydney

[DJKOR]

A review is a review guys. Some people like to take things a little personally.

At the end of the day, a review is just how the reviewer sees it. There is no better review for yourself than a review done BY yourself.

[TroysRollaSX]

I know my Corolla is a 1992 AE93 SX SECA, so it's not exactly new, but still, it's still a Corolla...

They felt spongy and weak and weren't progressive in their stopping power. In fact, we didn't get any real stopping power until almost halfway of brake pedal travel, especially at high speed.

I agree, but I am not sure whether corolla has a weak braking system, anyone comments?

My Corolla doesn't have a weak braking system at all, in fact it stops VERY well!

There is one area where we found the Corolla to be very uncomfortable to drive – it has such weak low beam headlights.

I agree, we find out this problem when we rent this car

Not the case with mine, in fact I'm very happy with how well my low beams light up everything in front of me...

We've easily bettered 7.2L/100klm in a Honda Accord Euro, which is a car with 40% more power than the Corolla.

I think the car must sit more than 1 person, this adds up 0.2L/100KM... I am able to do 6.9L/100KM this week because of school holiday in Sydney

Mine gets excellent fuel economy, I'll be doing a trip up the highway soon and will be filling up and resetting the trip meter, then driving up the highway, getting to my destination, filling up again and noting the trip meter reading.

I did a trip up to Echuca from Melbourne and back and went through about 30L of fuel a while ago, which I thought was decent for that trip, can't remember what that worked out to in L/100km

[TroysRollaSX]

A review is a review guys. Some people like to take things a little personally.

At the end of the day, a review is just how the reviewer sees it. There is no better review for yourself than a review done BY yourself.

That's not a bad idea, would be interesting for us to do a review of our own cars, sort of like a long term review. I'm sure I'm not the only one here who has experienced lots of other totally different vehicles...

[Suprathai]

Toyota is doing a good job making profits but in terms of the corolla, the competitors are providing better cars in that segment (flame suit on!). Especially with the engine....they are always 0.2L or more smaller....name a competitor in that segment that still uses a 1.8L in their range??? (Kia, Hyundai, Mazda, Ford, Mistubishi are all larger engines, actually they may be larger cars as well, fiesta XR4 is a 2.0L)....

At the end of the day, who is to say which car you like??

[Blind Kid Seeks]

Toyota is doing a good job making profits but in terms of the corolla, the competitors are providing better cars in that segment (flame suit on!). Especially with the engine....they are always 0.2L or more smaller....name a competitor in that segment that still uses a 1.8L in their range??? (Kia, Hyundai, Mazda, Ford, Mistubishi are all larger engines, actually they may be larger cars as well, fiesta XR4 is a 2.0L)....

At the end of the day, who is to say which car you like??

new tech change in corolla is more competitive spec wise with its rivals

Standard 7 Airbags, and Rear Power Windows.

Conquest, and Levin ZR will also come standard with a moonroof.

dealer enquiries please contact me.

[rolla_guy]

The biggest criticism in the review seems to be that the Corolla has weak in-gear and high speed acceleration / overtaking.

Has anyone had the chance to drive something like the Honda Civic or Mazda3 to compare in this respect?

I'm guessing the old 1.8 Corolla will struggle a bit given that's it's 200cc down on most of its competitors and even more so if it's got the outdated 4 speed auto.