Pinging GatorXRS Suggestion( or any other Corolla XRS owner)

Pinging GatorXRS Suggestion( or any other Corolla XRS owner)

I am closing in sealing a deal on Corolla XRS, but it will still take 2 months for me to finally roll out with one because I have some high priority stuff to figure out first. Anyway, I wanted to ask you an important question regarding the XRS clutch. What are your impressions and thoughts about it?? Do you find it easy to use in every day use?? I am asking these since I felt the throw was kind of long and you have to use quite a bit calf power to push it to the floor. That is the only issue I have with the car. The 6 speed gears are placed very close with short throws as well as the drive by wire throttle. It makes it fun. I am worried if one can get fatigued by the throw. If I do get it in the next few months, I want to be sure I do not have a problem with the clutch and will be able to adapt to the throw.

I've driven the XRS.......the clutch takes less effort to disengage then the clutch on my 03 5 speed. It's got an early disengagement point and has a lot of play before it grabs. It's not a difficult car to drive but it's definitely something you have to get used to before you can start pushing it to it's limit. A lot of 2zz owners have said the clutch is weak and wears out quickly. They recommend installing an aftermarket version, not TRD USA though cuz it's basically a stock clutch w/ some extra meat on it.

i herd they stretched out the gears to deal with the misshifting.

Yeah, it was a bit too sensitive to the foot input. Rolla S got his timing right ( he is most likely a more experienced manual driver) and you did not seem to notice it either, but I struggled with it since it would make feel like a fool every time I would let go of the clutch and slightly depress the gas pedal and it would rev like mad. I am sure it takes a little getting used to.

i'll admit the pedal is more touchy than on my car but i didn't think it was too outta control

Another question. How does the throttle in the XRS work best. You gradually release the clutch and press the throttle once the clutch travels back as much as it can?? or depress the throttle before the clutch does the full travel back??? I tried the second approach and because of the sensitive electronic drive by wire throttle, the engine would rev like crazy even at the slightest provocation. Your input is much appreciated.


Very good point on the original post. The gear ratios are not as close as the Celica GT-S. I have heard about some downshifting problems in the RSX Type S 6 speed manual. I think you are talking about related to that. Right now, I am still trying to see how good a deal I can get on it so I have 3 dealership working on it ( I will hire 1 or 2 more if required .LOL ;-)) . One of the dealership has a guy who owns the XRS and used to have an RSX Type S. I asked him a similar question and he had positive stuff to say about the clutch. Anyway, I will keep that in mind and clarify as many things as possible before I actually nod for one.

when i took it out for a drive, i lightly pressed the gas pedal, then slowly let off the clutch until i found the engagement point. After a little while i got more used to the engagement point of the clutch and didn't have to feather it too much.

so the cable driven engine has good throttle response? ut oh..

Sorry for sounding mechanical illeterate but, do you only have to press the gas pedal all the way down while shifting into first at idle?? How about when you are going along the road and you upshift or downshift. Should you let press the clutch all the way down to the floor?? and while you are shifting while on the move, should you release the gas pedal all the way up???(perhaps, in order to prevent damage to the clutch)

Thanks, James. I have driven a stick for 4 years in my teens, but those were old cars. I used the old technique of levelling of the clutch and the gas pedal(where you release the clutch and press the gas pedal and once they meet half way you let go of the clutch) to get rolling. Now I have been driving a 4 speed auto Corolla S for a while and been out of touch with the manual, but now they have the electronic drive-by-wire throttle system, which makes the car rev like crazy when I tried using it. Anyway, everyone seems fine with it. I would get the hang of it. I had enough of auto trannies ;-)

Driving a new car the Clutch will be grabby for a while until it gets a slight glaze to it. I give it some gas until it starts engaging then you give it more, it just takes practice after a week or so it will become second nature.

Dealers not selling XRS in L.A.

Where the hell can I get an XRS!!!!!

There is no dealer that knows about one around the L.A. area!!!

Have you actually gone inside a dealership?? or just look from a distance?? You need to probably talk to a salesguy since some dealerships have it in stock, but are not displaying them since they still want to clear out more 04s. They seem to be doing well(atleast in my city) since I saw 3 XRSs on Saturday and I went today again to talk to the financing officer and all 3 were sold by today.

What does it mean you went back into your 1ZZ FE and you could feel the torque again??

I took out for a spin with 2 of my buddies and like I said there was no torque...<snip>Took them in my car and yes I could feel torque again in my 1zzfe

I actually got to test drive the XRS... Gotta admit the clutch and launching took about 5-10 mins to get used to... Alll in all I thought the XRS was a torqueless wonder... Unless Im redlining and going over 60mph the car does not seem to move for the life of it... The 2zzge is mainly all motor car with only 127lbs/ft torque? And I had the weird car revving at me thing, is that because of the drive by wire?

I took out for a spin with 2 of my buddies and like I said there was no torque... It did not impress me at all... Took them in my car and yes I could feel torque again in my 1zzfe... So Im not trading mine in anymore, Im just goin to stick with mine and get the turbo or sc now ...

BTW my dealer had about 8 or so XRSs on the lot... They dont carry anymore S, just CEs, LEs and XRS's... Whats funny is how the salesman kept telling me you can make the XRS alot faster because theres such a huge aftermarket for it ...

I didnt say we were feeling LOTS of torque.... I guess its just that torque is available at lower RPMs on the 1zzfe... Either way I think its a disappointment... I cant compete with most cars out there... SE-R, SPEC V, Mazda 3 or SRT4... Kinda unfair to compair, but for example my friends 99 sr20de powered Sentra pulls alot harder than the XRS... If I was in 2nd gear in the Sentra and would step on it, the car takes off... That was not the case in the XRS... The XRS is a high revving happy motor... I wont lie I did have somewhat of a weird time getting used to the clutch and driving the car... For daily driving Id stick with my car, if I drove on empty highways then the XRS...

And Im not trying to diss anyone or anything, Im merely stating MY opinion based on my driving impression... BTW considering the car only had 10 miles and was not broken in could have something to do with it... But yea I did have it fully warmed up and hitting lift was fun... That was about it...

I drove a Mazda 3. It sucks big time. Too heavy and slow.

haha, the XRS only has like 3 ft/lbs of torque less than the S. The only difference is it's availabe like 500 rpms sooner on the S. the 1zz and 2zz are pretty much the same engine until lift kicks in.

You are partially correct! XRS actually has 2 foot pounds MORE torque than the regular S and it is has broader spread over the powerband especially in the midrange as compared to the regular S. So, I am not sure how yeye and all of his buddies were actually 'feeling' lots of torque on the 1ZZ FE engine at the same time while all of them found no torque on XRS.

Yea the Mazda 3 seemed to have a flat spot... Oh well I guess I expected more from the XRS? Oh well...

The reason you didnt feel any torq is because you were driving it like your S
The S has a shorter power band meaning that in the lower RPMs it has more power.
The XRS goes all the way to 8500 rpm instead of the S's 6250. So when you try and the drive the XRS youll have let the car rev higher so the vvtl-i kicks in which is at about 6k so if you redline and shift the rev will drop 2k leaving you still in the XRS's powerband. If you have a prob with this then go buy a nice gas guzzling beast. What car gives you this kinda of power per mpg....?

Well said Corolla S racer. 30 mpg average cannot be bad

Yea but then I wont really care... Im pretty sure anyone spending over $3k in mods, the last thing they are thinking about is MPGs... In my case, till I finish Univ. I wont be getting FI for that sole reason ... Plus with FI come more maintainance costs as well ....

you won't get 30 mpg if you're playin around in lift all the time....(gosh i feel like a civic owner talkin bout vtec.) if you don't stay in lift, you'll prolly see around 40 mpg.....

I doubt it. I bet you will only see 30 mpg if you stay out of lift. Expect 20 if you go in it alot.

Werd I barely get 25mpg as it is...

Try supercharging your 'rolla. You will be getting 15-17 mpg ;-)