Introduction

The Most Affordable TOYOTA

In overall company statistics, the Corolla holds the leading position in sales among other Toyota models. However, on the Russian market alone, the picture is different. Here the Corolla is outsold by numerous Toyota SUVs and larger sedans. However, the number of buyers of affordable foreign cars costing less than $20,000 keeps growing. Therefore, in a few years the Corolla – or its successor – may become a Toyota N1 on our market as well. You can judge the car's appearance from the photographs. It is a solid "Japanese" car, and hardly anyone would dare call its design outdated. Compared with Korean models competing on price, the Corolla looks more modern and solid. Against European competitors, the Corolla has one advantage: it is simply bigger. For the test we were provided with a budget version of the Corolla priced at $19,100 (retail price). The car is equipped with a carbureted engine with a displacement of 1.3 L and a power output of 75 L hp. There are no power-operated features. There is no power steering. The instrument panel, in line with this trim level, is very sparse – there is not even a tachometer. Korean manufacturers offer better-equipped cars in this segment, but... Toyota is a name that is worth a lot.

Behind the Wheel

We get into the car and look around. The interior is simple in trim, but it meets all the requirements of Japanese quality. The seats are upholstered in dense, multi-textured fabric in two colors. The plastic panels fit together with extreme precision. The plastic itself is a deep black and by no means gives an impression of being cheap. What raises doubts is the receiver with a liquid crystal display built into the center console. Yes, a receiver, not a radio. And what if we prefer to listen to cassettes? Everything, however, is simply explained: the car provided to us serves in the rental fleet of Business Car, and a radio receiver instead of a tape radio on a rental car is a commonplace occurrence all over the world. What matters is something else: the Corolla we were given had covered over 7000 km, so we had the opportunity to get acquainted with a broken-in vehicle. ...The driver shifts uneasily in the seat. You want to either lower the seat cushion slightly or raise the steering column a little. But these adjustments are not provided. We agree that the problem can be solved with minimal effort by installing a smaller-diameter steering wheel. When pulling out of the parking lot, the driver mishandled the clutch and the engine stalled. Attempts to start it were blocked by the immobilizer, which is part of the standard equipment. The required procedure must be carried out: to restart the engine, remove the key from the ignition lock, touch the immobilizer with the key fob-shaped key in the special slot on the other side of the steering column, then reinsert the ignition key to start the engine. It is complicated, but what would one not sacrifice for safety? After driving along narrow snow-covered streets, we emerge onto a wide Moscow avenue, swept down to bare asphalt. The Corolla gains speed with unexpected ease. Before you know it, the speedometer reads 'one hundred twenty.' And you involuntarily ask yourself: why does the 'nine' (VAZ-2109), with the same four cylinders, the same power, and the same carburetor through which the same 92-octane gasoline flows, 'run' differently? With strain and a labored roar of the engine, as if a half-ton trailer were dragging behind... 'So where are you rushing?' – the passenger on the right has asked the driver more than once. Not 'where?' but 'why?' It's simply the Corolla's character. It is not overly intrusive, but it does nudge the driver to go a little faster. At high revs the engine's voice has provocatively 'sporty' notes, and the gears shift with a particularly juicy sound, as in the Celica sports coupe. That is why, behind the wheel of a Corolla, you want to make an extra overtaking maneuver or lane change, downshift without special need, and even cross swords with a big Mercedes. The dark-skinned, long-nosed driver of the German behemoth glanced at our modest Corolla with half-contempt when, at a traffic light, its narrow nose squeezed between the Mercedes and a truck. We had no intention of competing with him, but somehow it happened on its own that after the green light we ended up in front. We overtake on the right a Gazelle slowly crawling in the middle lane. Revving the engine, we manage to dart in front of a trolleybus pulling away from the curb, and on the left, in the oncoming lane, we pass a line of cars starting off from the next intersection. The Corolla goes as if on a string. The firm suspension (with such reliable, old-fashioned robustness) and the equally firm, precise steering make driving in this style quite enjoyable. ...Behind us, what sounded like a steamship horn blared. It turns out that the Mercedes we had forgotten about is still trying to settle the score. A minute later, the light of its nervously flashing headlights is left far behind. Sorry, buddy, we're not on the autobahn. Oops! Overcome with pride at besting first-class German engineering, the driver forgot about basic caution and, at full speed, forced a broken tram crossing. Having checked the lenses of the camera and the fillings in his teeth, the photographer asked that he be more careful in the future. We noted that the suspension had not rebounded 'on the return stroke.' We celebrated too early. When closer to the outskirts normal Moscow roads with the usual share of potholes began, the Corolla's suspension started to seem excessively firm. 'Tiringly firm,' as one of us remarked. And the nagging photographer, who finally got behind the wheel, began complaining about the heavy steering. 'Not heavy, but firm and precise,' we tried to reason with him, but in fact the Corolla's steering is indeed heavier than, for example, that of front-wheel-drive VAZ cars. A normal family car
Let us note right away that buying a Corolla is not advisable for women or for a woman. For them it is better to choose something more elegant and comfortable. But the Toyota Corolla is a normal 'workhorse,' a good family car. From Monday to Friday it will look excellent in the parking lot by the office, and on weekends by the dacha porch. And this will continue for as many years as the owner wishes. Even a brief acquaintance with the Toyota Corolla gives a sense of solidity and durability.
Yes, residents of large cities, saturated with service centers of various automakers, can afford for this money a more complex and better-equipped car, but for the provinces the extremely simple Corolla remains one of the few unpretentious yet
at the same time prestigious models priced under $20,000.

Technical Specifications (for all models and versions)