Topic: CD Article: 2009 Toyota Corolla XRS

[Autos_Editor]

Test Drive:


While it's not quite as racy as its predecessor, the new Toyota Corolla XRS is still a sporty driver with the added advantages of more interior room, more safety features, greater comfort - and a lower price, reports Editor-in-Chief, Greg Wilson  

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Read the article | View the photos | All The Test Drives

[Zoo]

Wow! A lot of car for the money.

Now I know what the XRS interior is like. Looks good. I really applaud their decision to put the time tested 2.4L motor in the XRS. More torque equals more usable power for our driving conditions. Kind of old school putting a larger engine versus the peaky Yamaha unit. With the XRS there is no substitute for cubic inches (or litres or whatever).

What a cool car!

[The Mighty Duck]

Disappointments:
-Six-speed manual replaced by five-speed.  Six-speeds might be unnecessary, but when nearly all the competition is using a six-speed, downgrading is a strange decision (though I presume offering a six would mean developing a new one, which is fair enough.)
-158 HP?  The Mazda3 already offers that kind of power, the Rabbit makes more, and the competition are all in the ballpark of 200+.  The drop in output is again more disappointing since the old car produced 170hp.
-Automatic transmission.  I think it's a ballsy move by Honda (and Chev, IIRC) to offer only a manual in the Si and SS.

Good things:
-More torque.
-Better looks, more space, and a nicer car all around.

Overall, though, this seems like a devolution of the XRS.  It sounds like it would make a fantastic trim-topping Corolla, but it sounds like it's lost a lot of ground in sport compared to other offerings.  :/

[Ice]

Probably from the enthusiast perspective the new XRS is a disappointment.  It has the Mazda3 GT in its sights rather than the Civic Si like before.  I like their decision to make the car like this as it got me to buy one...the old XRS I would never have considered.  Differing priorities.

[Leviathan]

A little typo:

Drivers won't have to work quite as hard to ring the performance out of the new XRS

"ring" should be "wring"

Seems like a nice enough car although the front end doesn't set my heart racing.

[johngenx]

Toyota had a tough time selling the old XRS as it's high-strung engine was ill suited to Toyota shoppers.  The much more torquey 2.4L is a better fit.  They're not trying to steal Si customers.  Keep in mind that the car is only $23K or so...

[Mitlov]

The XRS would have been a much better car, IMO, if they raised the price a couple thousand dollars and offered the TRD supercharger available for the Scion tC (same engine, similar size vehicle) as standard equipment.  The Corolla XRS should be a Jetta GLI competitor, not a Mazda3 2.3 competitor, in my opinion.

I agree that going after the harder-edged Si crowd was a mistake, and previous-generation XRS sales proved that to be true.

[rrocket]

I don't know..I think they have is positioned right.  I mean..few cars are as good as the Mazda3..not much you can do about that unless you're building a car to beat the Mazda3 at it's own game, and I don't see anyone doing that.  As stated before, they're not targeting the Si crowd.  Maybe the Mazda3 is a bit too sporty as far as competition goes (but there are few cars that are that sporty in the segment), but the XRS held up well in the latest Motor Trend Comparo despite finishing 4th.  The downside being it didn't "feel" as sporty as these others, despite being the quickest 0-60 and through the 1/4 mile.  It was only out-handled by the Mazda3, and posted the 2nd best Figure Eight time.  Braking was on par or better than the others (again, except for the Mazda).  It was 2nd lightest, only beat out by the Civic.

All in all a good all arounder.  Toyota Corollas have NEVER been the sportiest econo cars, and I don't think that has ever been their intention.  Toyotas for the last decade have been "sporty" mostly in name only.  Could they have added the supercharger?  Sure they could have, but it would have then been in the category of the Mazda3 Speed, the Si, the Mini Cooper S, WRX, etc..and it STILL would have been outgunned and outhandled.  So why bother?

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/sedans/112_0805_civic_mazda3_impreza_corolla_comparison/specifications.html

[dpoon]

I'm disappointed with the new Corolla.  It looks like a modernized last generation Camry.

Also, has anybody else noticed that the Corolla's trunk is now smaller than the Yaris's?  12.3 vs 12.9 cubic feet.

I drive the Yaris all the time because it's the car that Communauto in Montreal stocks, and originally I thought I'd buy a Corolla, but now I think I'm going to buy a Honda Civic when I move to Toronto.  Although the Yaris sedan is very useful, I'm not a big fan of the center speedo and the higher level of noise in the car would would probably get to me if I actually owned the car.

The new Corolla's a bit too gaudy and awkward for my tastes.  I never thought that there'd be a day that the Corolla's design would be more awkwardly flashy than the Civic!  The Civic has a futuristic aesthetic while the Corolla has a weird trying-to-compete-with-the-Civic-while-trying-to-slot-in-between-the-Yaris-and-Camry aesthetic.  I liked the previous generation because it held itself to a more conservative design (I'm 22 years old, so it's not because I'm an old fart that I like practical, not-showy designs).

I think this is how I slot the designs for the main three competitors in this class...
- Toyota Corolla - more conservative; gentlemen's (and gentleladies') car that crosses more demographics
- Honda Civic - Forward-looking design; younger-in-mind users who also like practicality
- Mazda3 - Sporty; rougher ride

[Zoo]

The new Corolla's a bit too gaudy and awkward for my tastes.  I never thought that there'd be a day that the Corolla's design would be more awkwardly flashy than the Civic!  The Civic has a futuristic aesthetic while the Corolla has a weird trying-to-compete-with-the-Civic-while-trying-to-slot-in-between-the-Yaris-and-Camry aesthetic.  I liked the previous generation because it held itself to a more conservative design (I'm 22 years old, so it's not because I'm an old fart that I like practical, not-showy designs).
[/quote]

Interesting...

My parents recently bought a 2009 Corolla LE with the moonroof package. They are in their early 60s and just love the thing. Obviously the design is still conservative enough to meet their criteria.

Interestingly enough when my wife was at the car show she was drawn to the 2009 Corolla as well and spent a lot of time sitting in one with my Dad. This is very unusual because except for the Mini and the Mazda CX-7 there was not one other car that really got my wife's pulse racing. She is 35 and just loves the new Corolla.

She is also a hatch fan so we had been shopping the Accent hatch, plus the Yaris hatch and Fit. I have spent hours upon hours in all these cars and we ended up with a Yaris hatch that we are picking up on Tuesday. Both the Sedan and Hatch are very nice cars with tons of front room. With the auto they are a little busy on the highway (3000 rpms at 120 km/hr) but the engine seems to tolerate that just fine and there is still some reserve power as I found myself wandering up to 130 km/hr before I caught myself and backed off.

Frankly if you don't need the extra room a Fit or Yaris makes a great car and could easily handle the urban jungle of Toronto. With cruise I would gladly drive our new Yaris for 8 hour stretches. I am actually considering having cruise added at the dealership as it was a dealership option anyways. Fuel efficient, fun to drive, and capable of long highway commutes.

In a few years when the Civic is going to leave the stable the Corolla is the number one candidiate to replace it. I was leaning towards a larger car to replace the Civic for taking clients around etc but the new Corolla has grown enough that it can handle these duties as well.

For us the Corolla would be the ideal primary car and the Yaris is now fitting the bill as 1A.

[Mitlov]

I think that, except for the tacky bodykit (lower skirts and spoiler), the Corolla is far more conservative, and far more attractive, than the Civic.  I just hate the bodykit that Toyota puts on the Corolla XRS and the Camry SE.  It looks like something I'd get from Pep Boys.

[Iso Octane]

At $23k as tested it's certainly priced right at the Mazda3 GT.

[Zoo]

I think that, except for the tacky bodykit (lower skirts and spoiler), the Corolla is far more conservative, and far more attractive, than the Civic.  I just hate the bodykit that Toyota puts on the Corolla XRS and the Camry SE.  It looks like something I'd get from Pep Boys.

I hated the package that Toyota put on the last gen Corolla "S". I much prefered seeing the alloys on a dressed up "CE" or "LE". The body kit on the "S" didn't suit the clean lines of the previous gen car in my eyes.

I can't speak for the new XRS until I see one in person. I am a big fan of the new Corolla though and it is the leading candidate at this point to be our next car.

[si]

they're not targeting the Si crowd. 

correct.  If I had to go to Toyota for my vehicle, I would have taken an AWD Matrix XR over a Corolla XRS.

[dpoon]

Frankly if you don't need the extra room a Fit or Yaris makes a great car and could easily handle the urban jungle of Toronto. With cruise I would gladly drive our new Yaris for 8 hour stretches. I am actually considering having cruise added at the dealership as it was a dealership option anyways. Fuel efficient, fun to drive, and capable of long highway commutes.

I've actually driven (and ridden in the back of) the Yaris on roadtrips and the two things that bug me are the high RPM at cruising and the noise.  Maybe what made it even worse was the fact that the cars I was using didn't have cruise, but the ride is just a bit barebones for my taste.  And as a backseat driver, I can definitely say that the Civic's waaay more comfortable than the Yaris.

I guess I'm just a bit nostalgic for the old Corolla heh.  (And I agree with the comments against the side skirts and etc.. They just look so...rice rocket.)

[Zoo]

Interestingly enough our Yaris seems about the same as our Civic when it comes to "highway fatgue". While the 1.5L engine is a bit busier on the highway it seems to have a slight edge in road noise over our 2001 Civic. There must be little to no insulation in this Civic. I can't speak for new ones although the Fits I have driven seem a bit better in this regard.

My parents 2009 Corolla LE on the other hand... Now there is a car that is very quiet on the highway. It has the same foam filling in the fenders like my 2002 Sienna had. I hope that their 2009 Corolla proves to be as reliable as the last gen of Corolla was.

[dorin]

I think this is how I slot the designs for the main three competitors in this class...
- Toyota Corolla - more conservative; gentlemen's (and gentleladies') car that crosses more demographics
- Honda Civic - Forward-looking design; younger-in-mind users who also like practicality
- Mazda3 - Sporty; rougher ride

I don't understand why people complain about the Mazda3's ride.  My main complaint about the Mazda3 is the fact that it has become too "civilized" and is now a bit remote feeling compared to the Protege.  I haven't driven the new Corolla, but the old Corolla had a disgustingly marshmallowy ride with crap body control and the Civic's suspension is underdamped on the rebound.  The Mazda3 is the only one that has acceptable suspension damping and ride.

[Wolfe]

  completely (except I haven't driven a Civic in a long time.) I was impressed by how refined the Mazda3 felt.


In general I think people haven't got a clue about how to describe suspension performance properly. I've learned a lot since getting the Miata which has Koni shocks with rebound damping adjustment. I spent most of an afternoon trying out different settings. It's quite surprising how much of a difference fairly small changes in damper settings make to the feel of the car.

[dorin]

Yup, damping is crucial for good suspension performance.  I'm lucky that I have a few bicycle suspensions to tinker with and I can control the spring rate, rebound damping, and compression damping (both high-speed and low-speed in some cases).  It's amazing how much tuning you can do by changing the damping.  It's also amazing how you can misuse the damping to mask improper spring rates.

[MKII]

I'm disappointed with the new Corolla.  It looks like a modernized last generation Camry.

The new Corolla's a bit too gaudy and awkward for my tastes.  I never thought that there'd be a day that the Corolla's design would be more awkwardly flashy than the Civic!  The Civic has a futuristic aesthetic while the Corolla has a weird trying-to-compete-with-the-Civic-while-trying-to-slot-in-between-the-Yaris-and-Camry aesthetic.  I liked the previous generation because it held itself to a more conservative design (I'm 22 years old, so it's not because I'm an old fart that I like practical, not-showy designs).

I think this is how I slot the designs for the main three competitors in this class...
- Toyota Corolla - more conservative; gentlemen's (and gentleladies') car that crosses more demographics
- Honda Civic - Forward-looking design; younger-in-mind users who also like practicality
- Mazda3 - Sporty; rougher ride

The average age of a Corolla consumer is now 60. Toyota hopes to attract younger buyers with the new Corolla.
IMO North America is finally being offered what I would call the global Corolla, not some water downed version. That said Toyota N.A. for some silly reason decided to offer less features, slightly decontented compared to other global markets.
I say this is silly because the competition is adding content, to appease all these new consumers who are looking to down-size
from their current gas guzzlers, and are used to having all the bells and whistles.

I remember reading that Honda N.A. with the new Fit decided to offer many new features not ususally found in the North American B-segment.  And even Ford is reaping the benefits on the new Focus as ugly as it is, with booming sales up 43% (USA market) because of SYNC and choices of funky colours (ambient lighting) in the coffee cup holders etc.

The B and C segment sales have increased big time in the USA, with the high fuel prices, and the cars with lots of features are winning the attention of the down-sizers.