Car and driver magazine Corolla XRS review

Car and driver magazine Corolla XRS review

Boy racer in prep-school shorts.
BY BARRY WINFIELD
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFFREY G. RUSSELL
August 2004

Toyota's Corolla is sold in various versions all over the world and is one of the planet's most ubiquitous models. An ideal stealth car, no? All it needs is a high-revving, high-output engine and some stiffer underpinnings to secure its handling, and then you can go hunting for Civic Si's, SVT Focuses, and Sentra SE-Rs. Enter the XRS.

It will strafe the anti-destination leaguers as they meander—cell phone in ear—toward some distant and unachievable terminus. Actually, the strange high-rev switchover point for the 2ZZ engine's variable valve timing and lift system almost begs a bank-heist-getaway driver technique. The high-lift cam is where the real excitement lives, and it's particularly effective in taller gears, where the thrust stays on longer. So you find yourself shrieking around freeways in third and fourth gears, zinging the engine wherever you go for maximum response.



When you get tired of that, or perhaps when the "grande cappuccino" wears off, the XRS's normal valve timing is perfectly okay, providing respectable torque levels for less competitive commuting. Although the 2ZZ engine is the same unit that powers the Celica GT-S and Matrix XRS, it has been retuned for a broader torque delivery and has lost a few horsepower in the process. Now delivering 170 horsepower instead of 180, it is noticeably more civilized in daily use than its speedy siblings, offering acceptable throttle response through most of its operating range.

Of course, the engine and six-speed-transmission module also shares the usual Toyota 2ZZ testing conundrum, where it drops off the high-lift cam at every upshift, forcing the engine to rev back up to the 6000-rpm (or thereabouts) switch point before starting the frenetic burst of energy that will carry it to its 8200-rpm redline and the next gear. (Honda gear ratios keep the hot cam on the job throughout redline acceleration runs.)

The whole exercise is accompanied by a symphony of phase shifts. First, there's a cam-timing shift somewhere in the midrange that has the exhaust tone abruptly open up in character and then the big cam-profile switchover that really wakes it up.

In manner, the 2ZZ engine is even more schizophrenic than Honda's VTEC engines; its high-rev character quite unlike the tamer persona that operates at a sub-6000-rpm tempo. So you only go to the upper reaches when you mean business, and when you do, the sheer insanity of it is huge fun.

Toyota calls the XRS the first ever sub-eight-second 0-to-60-mph Corolla. In PR-speak, that usually means a 7.7-to-7.9-second sprint, but our car, with a fairly green, low-mileage engine, ran to 60 mph in 7.1 seconds and through the quarter-mile in 15.8, which is 1.1 and 0.6 ticks quicker, respectively, than a Corolla LE we tested in a November 2002 comparo. (The XRS costs about $2500 more than a 2005 Corolla LE.)

We got these impressive numbers despite the challenges of launching a peaky front-drive car at a dusty, windy high-altitude site where you need enough wheelspin to hike the revs up near the torque peak, but not enough to turn forward momentum into tire smoke. Our weather-correction math puts all our numbers on a level playing field, but it can't alter the physical challenges presented by the environment. So we're happy with the 15.8-second quarter-mile and its 90-mph trap speed.

We're pleased with the chassis modifications, too, which include higher-rate shocks and springs, a stiffened steering column, a half-inch-lower ride height, and 16-inch wheels and tires. Under the hood you see a cleverly crafted rod bridging the two shock towers. Designed by Yamaha and badged by TRD, the brace had to make several detours to avoid brake boosters and other underhood hardware, but it lends the car's front end a confident sense of solidity.

Braking is handled by four-wheel discs with ABS. This setup proved good enough for 176-foot stops from 70 mph. The XRS's interior trim includes sport seats, silver instruments and switch plates, a leather shift knob, and electroluminescent gauges. The exterior has specific badging, a color-keyed rear spoiler, and that silly aero package you've seen on the S model.

Don't let that put you off. While onlookers are laughing, you can smoke 'em away from the lights.

Vehicle type: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan
Price as tested: $17,970 (base price: $17,970)
Engine type: DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head, port fuel injection
Displacement: 110 cu in, 1796cc
Power (SAE net 170 bhp @ 7600 rpm
Torque (SAE net 127 lb-ft @ 4400 rpm

Transmission: 6-speed manual
Wheelbase: 102.4 in
Length/width/height: 178.3/66.9/57.7 in
Curb weight: 2670 lb
Zero to 60 mph: 7.1 sec
Zero to 100 mph: .20.0 sec
Street start, 5-60 mph: 7.7 sec
Standing 1/4-mile: 15.8 sec @ 90 mph
Top speed (governor limited 130 mph
Braking, 70-0 mph: 176 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.82 g
EPA fuel economy, city driving: 25 mpg
C/D-observed fuel economy: 26 mpg

basically what the other mags. have been saying but car and driver is an extremely reputuble mag.

Yeah they reviewed Scion TC as well. They gave it top marks, but it is not as fast and does not handle as well as the XRS.

heh, it's barely any faster than a base, stick corolla.

I got the impression they didn't like the Tc, but they did note it as one of the best cars for the money

"Of course, the engine and six-speed-transmission module also shares the usual Toyota 2ZZ testing conundrum, where it drops off the high-lift cam at every upshift, forcing the engine to rev back up to the 6000-rpm (or thereabouts) switch point before starting the frenetic burst of energy that will carry it to its 8200-rpm redline and the next gear. (Honda gear ratios keep the hot cam on the job throughout redline acceleration runs.)"

This part is total BS. Any decent driver can land lift on every shift in a Celica GT-S and even the Matrix XRS guys can land lift on all the shifts except for the 1-2.

If they couldn't land lift in any gear they must be doing something wrong or the Corolla has different gearing or something. I bet you could get a better ET than that as well with some more seat time.

Im not familiar with lift, care to explain?

It is an engine technology where there is a higher cam profile that is reserved for hig performance and operates after a certin RPM ( in the Corolla XRS or i-VTEC it happens at 6000 RPM). The lifting of this sharper cam lobe after 6000 RPMs is known as 'lift' since you experience a sudden power surge and the performance continues to grow till you hit the redline ( 8300 RPM in this instance). The advantage of lift is that you only get high performance when you really mean it, in order instances you drive below 6000 RPM like a normal car and get good gas mileage. It is always used to get a lot of power from a small engine. Other popular cars that use this technology are RSX Type S, S2000 , Celica GT-S, Civic Si, Matrix XRS. All of these have small displacement engines (2L or below), but put out a lot of HP.

I'd rather take C & D's word for it.

Are you talking about landing lift? I assume Car and Driver have driven the Celica GTS, and if they say you can't land on the hot cam when shifting on a GT-S, then they suck or are being to conservative or something.
All you have to do is got to newcelica.org or any other celica board and ask, any decent driver should be able to shift and land in lift. Hundreds of people do it all the time every day, so Car and Driver can bite me.
I like the magazine, but they are not the final word on driving a car to it's limits. As for the XRS Corolla, like I said I don't know if they changed the gearing or what, but the Celica GT-S has been out for 4+ years and its performance capabilites are well established. Car and driver probably ran a 15something in the 1/4 when they tested the celica, when it is well known that they can hit mid 14s with a good driver that can stay in lift and launch hard.

Man I was looking at a tC the other day. It's really quite nice and just about the same size as a celica... Looks really nice in person though

http://www.caranddriver.com/article...9&page_number=1

In this artical they mention that they tested the Celica GT-S and ran a 15.7. This is what people run with a GT or a sequential shift GT-S. Look here to see what you can really run with a GT-S: http://newcelica.org/other/tracktimes/page.php

7.1 thats amazingly quick for a corolla

blckrolla on toyotanation actually runs a 6.7 sec 0-60 and 15.4 sec quarter mile after switching to lighter weight alloys.

damn... this make civic si look sad...