Toyota Corolla Test Drive

Toyota Romania gave us the opportunity to drive test their cars so we can write our impressions on TheCarsBlog. First car in out series of tests is the Corolla Sedane, a small car that offers a great driving experience and it’s size doesn’t harm the comfort.

We have tested the 2.0-liter D-4D engine, with 4 cilinders, 16 DOHC valves, solenoid common-rail direct injection. It’s engine produces 126 hp at 3,600 rpm and a torque of 221 lb-ft, at 2000 - 2,800 rpm. This is the most powerful engine Toyota offers for this car and can reach a top speed of 200 km/h.

It reaches 100 km/h in 10.3 seconds, which is very good for a car of it’s class, i haven’t had any trouble with overtakes. Also it’s safety is guaranteed by the 16-inch front disc brakes and respectively 15-inch rear discs, with front MacPherson suspension and rear torsion bar, that ensures an increased stability. Those, along with the VSC + TBA systems kept me confident that the car will sit on the road in the most extreme conditions, even on sand or wet track.

If the inevitable occurs and you have an accident, then there are 9 airbags to help you and front seats that feature a Impact Protection System ( WIL ). For your kids safety there are two ISO anchor points for kid seats.

The tested Corolla sports a 6 speed manual gearbox that only needs a touch to change speeds, offering you the possibility to change them very fast, if you want to have a sportive driving.

We haven’t missed anything with it, it’s powerful, comfortable and has all the features you need and even more. It’s steering wheel is covered in leather for your comfort. The interior is very stylish, with quality materials and easy to reach controls. What i’ve noticed is the lighting control, near the steering wheel that i weren’t used with. At the most cars is placed near the door, on the panel and it seems more useful like that to me.

There are lots of options you can choose from, like automatic lights, rain sensor, cruise control, electrocromatic mirror, iPod integration kit, front and rear parking sensor, alloy rims, ski support, 4 different motorizations and manual or automatic gearbox.

We weren’t impressed very much by the exterior design, it doesn’t have something that will draw my attention on the road, but also it’s not ugly. It’s a simple cute car that would make any driver fell in love with it.

The engines available are as following:

• 1.4-liter VVT-i: 4 cylinders, 16 DOHC valves, electronic injection, 10.5:1 compression rate, 97 hp at 6,000 rpm, 96 lb-ft at 4,400 rpm, 5 speed manual transmission. Top speed of 170 km/h and reaches 0 to 100 km/h in 13 seconds.
  


• 1.6-liter Dual VVT-i: 4 cylinders, 16 DOHC valves, electronic injection, 10.2:1 compression rate, 124 hp at 6,000 rpm, 115 lb-ft at 5,200 rpm. Top speed of 195 km/h and reacher 100 km/h in 10.4 seconds with the 5 speed manual transmission or 12.1 seconds with the MultiMode transmission.
  
  
• 1.4-liter D-4D: 4 cylinders, 8 SOHC valves, intercooler common-rail direct injection, 17.9:1 compression rate, 90 hp at 3,800 rpm, 140 lb-ft at 1,800 - 3,000 rpm. Top speed of 175 km/h and reaches 100 km/h in 12 seconds with the 5 speed manual transmission of in 14.7 seconds with the MultiMode transmission.
  


• 2.0-liter D-4D: 4 cylinders, 16 DOHC valves, solenoid common-rail direct injection, 16.8:1 compression rate, 136 hp at 3,600 rpm, 221 lb-ft at 2,000 - 2,800 rpm. Top speed of 200 km/h and reaches 100 km/h in 10.3 seconds with the 6 speed manual gearbox.