Corolla XRS

I'll do my best here...

1. I believe it's 6000-6200, depending on tach error.

2. I don't know...rattling noises are generally car specific, the way the frequency of engine vibrations affects each chassis.

3. That's odd, since all three (GTS, Matrix XRS, Corolla XRS) use the same tranny, right? It could've been specific to the Matrix you drove - at any rate, if it was a problem, I'm sure Toyota would've addressed it with the release of the Corolla XRS. I haven't heard anyone complain about it so far.

4. See 3. I've never heard a Celica or Corolla XRS owner complain.

The Corolla XRS was developed off an existing car, with an existing engine, both of which have been around for some time. There may be a few random bugs and quirks, but I'm sure there will be less of them compared to a completely new car and engine.

It all depends what you're looking for in a car, and what you want to do to it. However, your decision will be a little easier if your dealer has none...

You will see differences between your 03 Trix XRS and 05 rolla XRS. Firstly, XRS is 2670 lbs and about 200 pounds lighter than the Trix XRS. It will feel a lot stronger below 6000 rpm than your Matrix XRS because of peak torque at 4400 rpm as opposed to 6800 rpm on your 03 Trix. Looking at a 05 Corolla XRS dyno in front of me, it hits peak torque twice. Once at 4400 rpm and the second time at 7100 rpm. The curve is really flat so it delivers a decent level of torque at all times.As for suspension, the hardest corner I have taken is at 120 KM/H ( around 70 mph) in 3rd and the steady state behavior is understeer that can be mitgated through lifting slightly off the gas pedal and it tucks the nose in nicely through engine braking.

1. My own tests proved it is around 6500 rpm on my bone stock XRS ( assuming my tach is correct). Again, looking at the dyno test in front of me, the rise starts at 6000 rpm, but the curve is not that steep. The steep curve happens (the big jolt) at 6700 rpm in this dyno test and peaks out at 7480 rpm in this dyno. The power is held near peak HP till 8000 rpm where the dyno ends. Not sure what happens after that (rev limiter is at 8500 rpm). Although, you should expect a subtle transformation into lift than your 03 XRS because of the strong mid range smooths out the dramatic jolting effect that Celica GT-S and 03 Matrix XRS have. The sound will tell the true story.

2. 4000 KM on my XRS and the only sound I hear between 5000 rpm - 6000 rpm is a very high pitch shrill/whine and the chain whizzing sound. Is that what you are refering to?? You will feel slight vibration at idle, but none at high revs (over 6000 rpm) The cabin is completely smooth and without any vibration. The steering column is very stiff and without any vibration.The only thing you hear is the sound. After 6000 rpm, it becomes an angry dual engine running kind of sound with millions of bees singing under the hood. Atleast in my XRS.

3. The clutch was very sensitive in the begining and I had not driven a stick shift for 5 years and the XRS throttle is overly responsive. It takes a lot of getting used to. I got a lot of smell on the brand new clutch for the first two weeks and I freaked out. 4 months after that, I never get the clutch smell. I have read a report the clutch was too light to handle the heavy weight of the Matrix XRS especially when launched at 3000 rpm. Toyota had to make a new heavier clutch to accomodate the Trix in there as well in 04. Celica GT-S being super light did not have this problem. Corolla XRS seems to be holding up very well since I have seen some other people doing hard 4000 rpm launches and their clutch are fine. I think the clutch is probably relatively heavy duty, but still not as strong as a lot of sports compact cars have.

5. My clutch has broken in nicely and does not have any squeaking noise after 4 months of driving it.

Go test drive one, but expect something different. Remember XRS does not show the true colors till 3000 KM. The stick will be very notchy, the clutch will engage quickly and the throttle will rev the engine high at the slightest provocation. In the end, it all takes care of itself once it nicely gets broken in. Everything just gels together once it gets over 3000 - 3500 KM. The low end torque will be a lot stronger than your trix complemented by lighter weight, but the lift engages probably 300 - 400 rpms after your trix 03 did. Good luck.

wat are you looking to do in your car? its a close call between the xrs and the subaru rs. both cost roughly the same. but in the end I think i'd rather have the subaru becuase of the awd and aftermarket support thats already out there. and i think the subaru looks better. but watever suits you best.

Corolla XRS

I am currently looking to buying a new car and considering the Corolla XRS (among other cars such as the subaru RS and Matrix XRS). I have owned a Matrix XRS for about 3 years now but unfortunally I totaled the car back in oct.

I understand that the corolla is a new car and thus not all the bugs have surfaced yet. Haveing said that I would like to know if a few "problem areas" that are present in the matrix have been adressed in the corolla (or has surfaced yet). And yes I have tried the search button but it seem that there are a very limited number of posts regarding the corolla XRS. Local dealers also seem to be unable to find a corolla XRS for me to test.

1) Is the lift engagement point 6200rpm or 6800rpm? On the '03 matrix lift kicks in very noticabily at 6200 while the 04-05's kick in at 6800.

2) Is there a metallic sounding rattle comming from the engine area when driving in 5000-6000rpm range? On my 03 matrix this noise occured after 20,000km was put on the car and after a long hard run up a mountain. Test driving a used 04 matrix XRS the other day I found the exact same noise in that car.

3) Does the clutch burn very easily? While I know how to drive a manual perfectly I must say that the clutch in the matrix XRS is very very weak. Letting the clutch out with rpms any higher than 2500rpm's will result in a burnt clutch smell (even if it is only for 1/2 second). Other cars i've driven
do not seem to have this problem (celica GTS included).

4) Does the clutch get sticky and squeek after 2-3 months of use? On the matrix this is yet another common problem, requiring a full remove and replace of the clutch system to fix (it is the throw out bearing on the clutch getting dry)

Are there any other problems that are poping up with the corolla XRS?

Tires? What are you talking about, I personally think the Michelin Pilots grip excellent. I even drove them through a snow/ice storm and got decent ammounts of traction, especially for summer tires. Now stopping..that was a different story. Only think I disliked about the michelins is I wish the treads were wider, a 205/50/16 would have been nicer.

The car will mostly be used as a daily driver (for me to go to and from school). Ideally I would love to get another 03 matrix as I loved the one I had. It had enough pep to the car to make it fun to drive and was very practical (easy on gas and had a huge interior).

The "bad" clutch on the Matrix XRS is fairly well documented on mo.com. A lot of people are complaining about it but toyota seemed to not want to do anything about it. Many people are also having clutch failure at approx 30-40k miles.

Currently it is a tossup between a subaru RS or a Matrix XRS with the corolla XRS comming in at a close 3rd (might change my mind when I get to see the car in person). We currently also have a 03 subaru ts wagon in the family and I must say that it is a much better built car than the matrix I had. The subaru feels much more solid and the awd system is just wonderful. Having test driven the 05 subaru RS I must say that they defently improved upon a good thing.

Having said that there are a few things that are holding me back. I personally don't like the front seats on the impreza as I find the headrest too far back. Also there seems to be "lacking" support for the lower back and on long drives hurts my back. The car is also much smaller and not as well equiped as the current matrix (no built in inverter, sunroof option that cost too much $$) etc.

The matrix on the other hand seemed to have gone downhill since it's release in 03. Again the biggest thing being the chairs. The fabric now feels "cheaper" than what I had in the 03 and the amount of foam used in the chair is much less than what they had before (take a back to back sitting in a 03/04 matrix vs a 05 and you will see what I mean). The late engagement of the second cam has me also concerned. At 6200rpm it was hard enough to use the second cam (and even harder to stay in the second cam profile while trying to pass)...... witha 6800rpm engagement point it would be even harder. Finally, stock summer performance tire were removed from the option list (I know, it's not a big thing but still)..

On paper the corolla looks to be a more fun car than both the matrix and the subaru (the subaru is a great daily driver tho, lots of low end torque but lacking in the top end). So far from the responses i've been receiving, the drivetrain (clutch system) seems to be up to the task of handling the lighter corolla. Can anybody comment on the handling of the corolla. I know it is slightly lighter than the matrix but being basied on almost the exact same platform does it handle better (stock vs stock, i'm not a big fan of modding my cars)

Sure the corolla XRS handle alots better than the matrix..it not "exactly" the same platform, the frame of the corolla xrs is reinforced (not sure of the word) everywhere, also under the hood there the nice strubar devlopped by TRD a mastercraft piece of ingeniosity!!
Coils ans shock are again alots more "stiffer" in corning!
The only problem i found...stock tire..sux! They are not good in hard corning!

oh? stock tires suck? I thought V rated Michelins that come with the corolla (what ever they are) must be light years ahead of the Firestone SZ50 that came with the matrix (also summer performance tires)

I'm not sure if i'm hijacking my own thread here but...

I have a set of 4 snow tires that were originally for the Matrix. Will the tires still fit on the corolla. (ie are the rims the same).

The tires are 205/55/16 arctic alpines mounted on "oem" 16" steel rims.

Those tires will fit. The 16 inch alloys are the same as the one's found on the Trix XRS. Subaru RS is the best for handling. You cannot beat all wheel drive with a front wheel drive, no matter how sophisticated the Rolla XRS suspension is, but the weight is almost the same as the Matrix XRS. If you are looking for bullet proof handling, go with the Subaru RS. As for speed, XRS edges out the other two because of a better power to weight ratio. As for landing lift, power spread out right across the rev range is far better than power concentrated only above 6000 rpm albeit a lower lift engagment point. The 05 is very easy to drive in the city and has plenty of torque around 3000 - 4400 rpm as opposed to the 03 XRS/GT-S where you can only get reasonable power above 6000 rpm. If you are curious about how the first generation 2ZZ compares with the new 2ZZ, you should PM redliner9k at matrixowners.com and him and his friends have did dyno tests and comparison and raced the 03 XRS with the 04 XRS. The new XRS lands in lift easily in 3rd onwards. The first two gears are difficult to land above 6200 rpm, but the stronger mid range torque actually made the 03 XRS (stayed in lift) only catch upto the 04 XRS (dropped out of lift) by the time the 04 XRS hit lift since it was behind the 04 XRS and the 04 XRS puts out more torque between 5500 rpm - 6500 rpm than 03 XRS between 5500 - 6000 rpm. They even switched the 03 and 04 ECU and saw if the lower lift engagement made it faster. Interestingly, the 04 XRS actually became slower with the 03 Matrix XRS ECU and lift engagement at 6200 rpm. In the end, the peak power of your 03 XRS is identical to the 04/05 XRS, but the 05 XRS has a stronger midrange. His claim is that 04 Matrix XRS is a tad faster than the 03 Matrix XRS since they both put out exactly the same HP to the wheels(again as he claims, don't quote myself on this), no will ever know if the 04/05 XRS put out 180 HP at the crank or the powertrain loss has been reduced significantly to make the same power as the first generation 2ZZ with 10 less HP and it does not make any difference. To find more details, you should PM redliner9k at matrixowners.com and he will send you the dyno tests as well.

woah faisal..try to put some (not sure of the word in english) "paragrah" you know...put some air in the text

Abour tire...man i put Toyo Garrit "H" winter tire and i have more handling than with the michlin one on asphalt...so..yeah i think michelin tire are really not good...!

Well I already have the arctic alpines mounted on steel rims. I bought them for the matrix and have used them for 2 winters only. since I only run them when we have snow/ice on the ground, the tires have less than 2500km on them.