Corolla 2009 Road Test

[Cylestyne]

Taken from Edmunds.com:

Here's the 2009 Toyota Corolla, the car that proves Toyota must be doing something right.

Over the last 40 years, Toyota has sold more than 30 million examples of the Corolla in 142 countries, earning this automobile the title of the world's best-selling passenger car on the planet. Even with the introduction of the entry-level Toyota Yaris and the youth-oriented Scion models, Toyota still managed to sell a record-breaking 390,000 Corollas in 2006 and is on track to match that number this year.

Now in its 10th generation, the 2009 Toyota Corolla that officially goes on sale in February is offered in a larger array of models than ever, packed with more standard features and with previously unavailable options.

For the Welfare and Happiness Around the World
Every manufacturer has its seminal vehicle. Since its introduction to the U.S. market as a 1969 model, the Corolla has represented Toyota itself. Its value, fuel economy, utility, reliability and longevity characterize the company and its products.

The first chief engineer for the Corolla set the corporate tone for this car when he said that he had built the Corolla "for the welfare and happiness around the world." Looks like the company and the public agreed.

S Is for (Sort of) Sporty
We chose to evaluate the Corolla S neither because it's the least expensive (that's called the "Standard" model), nor because it's the performance-oriented Corolla. (That's the new XRS model with its 158-horsepower 2.4-liter inline-4 engine.) Instead, we feel the S offers a reasonable amount of standard equipment, a little XRS-like styling and a very competitive list of options at a reasonable value.

Standard safety equipment for all 2009 Corollas now includes ABS (previously an option), front seat-mounted side airbags, curtain-type head-protection airbags and tire-pressure monitoring. Optional equipment now includes stability/traction control (previously unavailable), a satellite navigation system with touchscreen control and heated front seats.

The Corolla's standard motivation comes from an all-new 1.8-liter inline-4 engine. Thanks to variable valve timing on both intake and exhaust valves, the 2ZR-FE engine runs on 87-octane fuel, but power is up by 8 hp and 6 pound-feet of torque compared to the Corolla's previous 1.8-liter power plant. It's rated at 132 hp at 6,000 rpm and 128 lb-ft of torque at 4,400 rpm.

Our best 0-60-mph time proved to be 9.1 seconds, a slight improvement over the last Corolla we tested. The new car's braking and handling performances are also slightly better, as it comes to a halt in 125 feet, circles the skid pad at 0.83g and weaves through the slalom in 63.3 mph. The quarter-mile comes up in 16.9 seconds at 83.1 mph.

Even with the added power, the preliminary fuel economy estimates of 27 mpg city/35 mpg highway with this car's five-speed manual transmission show the new Corolla has only lost a mpg or two, despite the more demanding 2008 EPA testing procedure. This is more impressive, considering the car has gained more than 200 pounds. At the same time, sluggish part-throttle engine response betrays this engine's calibration for fuel economy rather than smooth, predictable performance.

New World Order
Until now, the Corolla primarily has been designed for the Japanese market, with added features and technology added for other markets. This time, Toyota chose to integrate its world car with the key aspects it felt important from each of its significant regions from the beginning.

For instance, Toyota felt the Corolla should have the handling of a comparable European car. Truth be told, we think this might apply to the XRS model, but while we logged some decent pavement-gripping numbers at the test track, the new Corolla's electric-assist power steering (EPS) so utterly distorts the driving experience so as to remove any possibility of enthusiastic driving.

We understand the benefits of EPS, but there's a way to tune it right (Honda Civic, Mazda Mazda3, Mini Cooper), and a way to get it wrong. The Corolla lacks any steering feedback, with the exception of artificially induced friction. When was the last time you had to chip away at the wheel and concentrate to drive straight? Even a soapbox derby car steered with ropes offers better straight-line stability and appropriate effort buildup than this particular EPS.

Comfort From the U.S.
The U.S. represents the Corolla's largest market both in sales and biometric measures. For this reason, Toyota chose to set Corolla comfort standards here. Standard tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel adjustment plus a height-adjustable seat (for the S-model driver) distinguish this car from other cars designed for the Japanese market, and it fits American-size drivers in a way that the Honda Fit and Nissan Versa do not. Long-travel seat sliders with ample head-, shoulder and legroom plus a large trunk keep the Brobdignagians happy with a compact car from Lilliput. The S model's standard front sport seats are very comfortable for long trips as well as being supportive in the curves. For all these reasons, the driving position is excellent.

While the Corolla S ride comfort can be fairly characterized as calm and highly controlled, there is a noticeable amount of tire noise that's highly sensitive to surface-texture changes. We're not certain if this is due to the S model's P205/55R16 Goodyear Eagle RS-A tires or the lack of wear on those tires, as our test car had just 1,500 miles on the odometer. At least wind noise is quite low.

Rear-seat comfort is slightly above average, with well-contoured seats and a surprising amount of legroom, but there's no center armrest or power outlet, and the pair of cupholders is barely adequate in size.

Style From Italy
For design inspiration, a Toyota team spent four months in Turin, home of famous Italian automotive design studios as Bertone, Fioravanti, Italdesign and Pininfarina. Unfortunately we're not sure their time was well spent, and perhaps they were simply attending Turin's two-week chocolate festival.

Toyota says many different designs were subjected to a basic question: "What would stand out, even on the streets of Turin?" This Corolla S certainly would not. It looks like a commuter sedan wearing a skirt and aftermarket wheels — not much different from the previous model, really. We think the exterior of the non-sporty Corolla is a lot more successful than either the S or XRS models.

Where the Corolla really distinguishes itself from the rest of the compact sedan segment is in the packaging and presentation of the interior. While the previous Corolla wasn't objectionable, it wasn't all that interesting or exceptional. It was a little fussy and looked like a diminutive Camry. This time around, the Corolla has a clean, airy cabin with thoughtful placement of controls and new and welcome amenities such as that available navigation system with real-time traffic information (a feature that cannot be combined with the JBL audio upgrade, unfortunately), a standard auxiliary input jack and optional Bluetooth capability.

This is where the mantra of "an expensive car doesn't have to feel like a cheap car" rings true in the Corolla's case.

It's a Corolla World
The 2009 Toyota Corolla S is not quick, nor is it particularly fun to drive, but for an estimated base price of $16,500 and an estimated $21,975 in this configuration, we think you can probably overlook this car's sloppy steering while you're listening to your iPod and consulting the nav screen and warming your buns on the comfy heated sport seats. Plus you'll be averaging over 30 mpg.

After all, isn't that what a Corolla is all about? It remains a car "for the welfare and happiness around the world."

[fahadullah]

LOL

[abdullahsheikh]

East or west.... Corolla is the best !......

[baqai]

^ errr ???

i guess this is the link to the review cylestine posted

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FullTests/articleId=124046

[baqai]

For sake of comparison here is Lancer GTS road test (which would be followed by Civic road test)
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FullTests/articleId=120603

The new Mitsubishi Evo is on the way, and everyone who has seen the Concept-X showcar knows it. The ongoing Evo buzz has made us pretty eager to get into the new 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS.

With our first drive of the Lancer GTS, we already found out that this is a radically different Lancer than ever before. For one thing, it's got a CVT (continuously variable transmission), technology that we're seeing on a growing number of cars in this segment.

It shows us that cars in this class are trying to deliver performance, not just gas-sipping value.

Say Goodbye to Cheap and Cheerful
The 2008 Lancer does a good job of making you forget the strange, oddly proportioned little cars that have worn the nameplate for the last couple of decades. It's been stretched in every dimension, with a 1.4-inch-longer wheelbase, another 2.3 inches in width and 4.0 inches of height, and it adds up to 94.8 cubic feet of passenger volume.

This platform doesn't have a very sexy heritage, as it was developed by DaimlerChrysler to furnish a building block for a lot of different vehicles, from the Dodge Caliber to the Mitsubishi Outlander. But it brings 56 percent more torsional rigidity than before, as well as 50 percent more bending rigidity, and this gives the Lancer GTS a substantial, almost German feeling of substance.

The Lancer GTS features special bodywork, foglights, sport seats, a front strut-tower brace and an aggressive suspension calibration with 215/45R18 tires. It's a Lancer made for guys who care about driving.

Same-Day Acceleration
The only thing that hasn't grown larger is the Lancer's engine. The former iron-block 2.0-liter 4G63 inline-4 has given way to an aluminum-block 2.0-liter 4B11. The new 2.0-liter inline-4 produces 152 horsepower, a lot of power from so little displacement. And thanks to Mitsubishi's variable valve timing for both the intake and exhaust cams, there's a broad torque curve that starts at about 2,000 rpm with 135 pound-feet and then plateaus a short time later with 146 lb-ft at 4,250 rpm.

But pulling around as much as 400 pounds extra compared to the former Lancer pretty well erases the engine's output advantage. While we weren't expecting trails of fire from the all-new 2.0-liter inline-4, we were hoping for better than the 9.0 seconds it takes to reach 60 mph, only a tenth or so quicker than the 120-hp 2006 Lancer managed.

In comparison, the $21,290, 197-hp Honda Civic Si sedan with its six-speed manual transmission reaches 60 mph in just 7.1 seconds. The $19,400, 177-hp Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V does the job in 6.7 seconds.

Meanwhile, the Lancer GTS will get smoked by almost any 2-ton V6 crossover and even a few minivans. And the droning engine note sounds more janitorial than sporty.

Continuously Vexing Transmission (CVT)
We partly blame this GTS's sluggish performance on its CVT transmission. While a five-speed manual continues to be available (and we recommend it for this car), the traditional four-speed automatic has been replaced with the CVT. It allows you to shift among six ratios with steering-wheel-mounted paddles. Mitsubishi says the CVT offers a wider range of ratios than the outgoing four-speed automatic, thus increasing both performance and economy.

Instead of varying engine speed and shifting gears to suit, the CVT can maintain a predetermined engine speed and continuously vary the transmission ratios for the desired vehicle speed. And the combination of the 152-hp four-cylinder and CVT does outperform the 120-hp four-cylinder with four-speed automatic with both quicker acceleration and better fuel economy.

Driving a car is an even more variable endeavor than either of these two continuously variably optimized situations, however, and the GTS's CVT has a hard time figuring out which one you want. Even with what Mitsubishi calls Intelligent and Innovative Vehicle Electronic Control System (INVECS III), a program that learns the driver's behavior pattern over time, too little power always arrives too late.

In due course, we noted the system responded more quickly if we downshifted when we wanted more speed, and so we did — all the time. Since we noticed the engine reached redline quicker in Manual mode (at 45 mph instead of 75 mph in "Drive"), we left it there until the top of 1st gear, then switched over to Drive to complete the rest of the quarter-mile, cutting a second from our time in Drive-only mode.

The CVT gives you a kind of elasticity in performance like a conventional automatic transmission, and it's more responsive and more fuel-efficient. But you wouldn't exactly call it responsive compared to a manual transmission, and you have to continuously keep tugging at the shift paddles to achieve any speed. And that kind of diminishes the whole point of a CVT, doesn't it?

Got Its Feet on the Ground
The GTS's handling is above average for its class, especially considering its base price of $18,490. It has just about a perfect compromise between performance handling and daily ride comfort.

Although the new engine sits farther forward in the chassis than before, our only dynamic demerit arose because the ordinary all-season tires heated up and gave up long before the rest of the package did. The rock-solid chassis is very good at isolating the passengers from the outside, even with the standard 215/45R18 tires.

Before the front tires relinquished grip during skid-pad testing, we recorded an admirable average lateral acceleration of 0.86g (plus 0.89g in one direction). The rear tires wilted first in our slalom, yet we were pleased with the Lancer's thoroughly entertaining performance of 65.5 mph.

We'd prefer a bit more communication through the steering wheel, though.

The GTS's four-wheel disc brakes apparently come right from the 3,800-pound Outlander SUV, so stopping the 3,100-pound Lancer unsurprisingly proves to be a fade-free experience that inspires confidence, and it comes to a halt in 118 feet from 60 mph, just shy of a rating of "Excellent."

Going Upmarket With Smart Styling
On the outside, the Lancer has a genuine international flavor, and we find hints of Acura, Audi, Volvo and even a little Alfa Romeo in the rear view. It has a look that sets it apart from the omnipresent Honda Civic, stodgy new Nissan Sentra and uninspired Toyota Corolla.

The 2008 Lancer also goes upmarket with a selection of standard features once regarded as luxury items. For the added cost of a typical power moonroof, our test car came equipped with the $1,500 P2 Sun and Sound package, which includes a high-end 650-watt Rockford Fosgate sound system (see Stereo Evaluation), Sirius Satellite Radio (free for the first six months), six-CD/MP3 in-dash head unit, an aux-input jack, plus the moonroof.

An additional $2,000 for the P3 Navigation and Technology package nets the 30-gigabyte hard-drive-based navi system, which also provides for digital audio uploading to the music server (it's totally useful), a 7-inch touchscreen, and a wide array of trip-related functions.

The Promise of Power To Come
At a grand total of just $22,615, our loaded-up Lancer GTS presents somewhat of a dilemma. Once regarded as a marginalized, low-cost, second- or third-choice cheap-and-cheerful compact, the Lancer now measures up to first-class status in many ways.

Now if Mitsubishi would just ladle a generous portion of motivational tempo on top of its nimble GTS chassis, it would really have something. Fortunately we've learned that's exactly the plan.

Within a year, there will be three more Lancer variants. First there will be a front-wheel-drive model with a 2.4-liter inline-4 dubbed either Lancer GST or Lancer Ralliart. Then there will be the all-wheel-drive Evolution X (perhaps with as much as 320 hp). And finally something between the two that will be positioned against the 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX, which we believe will be an all-wheel-drive Lancer GSX with an inline-4 boosted to 250 hp with a light-pressure turbo.

Once this horseless carriage gets some motivation, the Lancer should be our kind of car.

[ateekt]

Corolla rules (y) ...!

[Cylestyne]

Here's motor trend's review:
Did Toyota send Corolla designers back to the drawing board when it saw our 2006 Car of the Year, the Honda Civic? Toyota says no, the story we've reported for two years isn't true. Sources say otherwise, that designers tore up an earlier design to make the 7/8ths-scale Camry look edgier.

Yes, well, six years is a long time between new Corollas. Toyota counters it's not that long, because it's selling nearly 400,000 a year even as the car ages. Whatever you believe, the 2009 Corolla is what you'd expect from Toyota: good news if you need only a highly refined economy car with unimpeachable reliability; not such good news if you were anticipating an avant-garde challenge to the Civic. And it's not sporty, even in sporting iterations. Moderate understeer comes in early and predictably. While small-car tossable, its handling doesn't prompt you to seek out twisty roads or get it loose sliding around on- and off-ramps.

And why should it? Virtually everything in this class, including the non-Si Civics will record 0-to-60, figure-eight, skidpad, braking, and other dynamic measures within a couple tenths of each other. In this regard, the new Corolla is the corollary for the new Mitsubishi Lancer: skewed off-center toward comfort and refinement versus the Lancer's slight bias toward sportiness.

Consider Toyota's estimated 0-to-60-mph times: 10.3 seconds for the 1.8-liter with four-speed automatic, under 10 seconds for the 1.8 with a five-speed manual, and 8.8 seconds for the big 2.4-liter four with five-speed automatic. Both of these smooth, modestly powered engines are new to the Corolla. The 2.4-liter, which is the Camry's standard four, comes only with the XRS package, which features sport seats, leather-trimmed shift knob, some blackout trim, a tailpipe diffuser and finisher, spoilers, and rocker cladding.

The XRS's automatic is a five-speed, while the 1.8s get only a four-speed autobox-possibly the only reason to buy this car with a 2.4. The extra cog isn't enough to make up for a five-mpg city and highway EPA fuel-mileage deficiency though, comparing 2.4-automatic with 1.8-automatic. The 1.8-liter Corollas come in base (roll-up windows standard!), LE (the volume model), XLE, and S trim. All test Corollas at the introduction drive had automatics, save a single S with a five-speed manual. The S comes with the same front spoiler, rocker moldings, and rear spoilers as the XRS, and mostly because of that five-speed stick, proved more fun than the 2.4. Base and LE run on P195/65R15s, the XLE and S have P215/45R16s, and the XRS P215/45R17s.

Best thing about both 1.8- and 2.4-liter models is how big-car quiet and refined they are. The Corolla body is stiff and rigid, with high-strength steel, gussets, and crossmembers. It has a five-layer acoustic glass windshield, a vibration control structure for side glass, and modified carpeting for better sound absorption. The result is what must be the quietest car in its class, with less wind noise than many luxury cars. It's the perfect carpool-commuter and ideal for small families willing to ride in an efficient alternative to SUVs, minivans, and the Prius. It's a roomy compact, with adequate adult rear-seat head- and legroom, comfortable, nondescript seats, and simple, logically placed controls. Legal-speed drives are forgettable in the best and worst manners of that description.

With the high-strength steel and a lighter, stronger rack-and-pinion for the moderately tactile electric power steering, Toyota has kept the Corolla as svelte as the lightweight Civic, at 2750 to 2850 pounds for the 1.8 models and more than 2900 pounds for the 2.4. Good numbers for a class that's grown a size in recent years. This Corolla hasn't grown much, though, and retains the outgoing model's 102.4-inch wheelbase, a hint that some major parts of the old platform remain. The car is about a half-inch longer, nearly 2.5 inches wider, and about one inch lower than the 2003-2008 model.

That last number is important. With a bit of reshaping, Toyota has scrapped the tall H-point mini-Avalon look of the last Corolla for a longer, lower, wider compact sedan. A faster, more cab-forward A-pillar and a faster C-pillar enhance that new look. If Honda has influenced Toyota on any part of the Corolla's design, this is it. Beyond that, the Corolla has none of the edginess of the latest Civic. It appeals to drivers who want comfort and reliability, and there are plenty such buyers -- more than for any other car in history. For them, Toyota could market this new Corolla six more years.