Introduction: The Toyota Corolla is one of Toyota's oldest and most successful vehicles in the company's history. So successful that the total amount of cars with the Corolla badge is now the world's top selling car of all time. The car that this review will focus on is the 9th generation Corolla that spans from 2003 to 2008. This version of the Corolla offers a whole range of options from the basic CE to the sports oriented XRS that has the Celica's high revving engine.
We all know how successful the Corolla has been, we can see it everyday. Everywhere you go you can find a Toyota Corolla somewhere in the world, often ranging from very old to very new. The early Corollas allowed Toyota to gain its reputation for reliable cars since these cars while not being all too exciting appear to last so much longer than their owners wanted. I was expecting an average car when I first got into one of these.
Performance: The main Toyota Corolla, not the XRS, uses a normal 1.8L 4-cylinder engine that produces 128 hp and 125 lb.ft of torque. This is an adequate amount of power, due to Toyota putting a lot of sound proofing in their cars the noise is not all that noticeable. This is not the most powerful car in the world but it wasn't meant to be, just adequate for daily driving and it does do this well.
My Score: 8/10 - A decent engine that is quite fitting for the car. Not too impressive but focuses on economics instead like fuel economy, maintenance, etc.
Handling: I never hear good things about Corollas and their handling ability. I was actually rather surprised with this version of the Corolla. The wheel is actually reasonably well weighted and does produce some feel which by this point was lacking in the whole Toyota car lineup. When going around corners the body roll is a bit of a problem making it not nearly as stable as the Celica. Still, with a proper suspension this Corolla chassis is actually in better shape than expected and seems to show in the XRS version.
My Score: 6/10 - Not a great car in terms of handling, but much better than was expected. The car has potential and has a wheel that feels connected to the steering, all things that make the driving experience seem better.
Interior: The interior of this version of the Corolla is pretty average. Like before you don't expect all too much, I still don't understand why Toyota still uses roll up windows for the Corolla since I didn't even think there was a demand for them anymore. Nothing in this interior is all that special but the quality of the materials were at least decent. The car is built in two locations from Cambridge, Ontario, Canada and Fremont, California, USA. The examples I have driven are built from Canada and appear to be built very well.
My Score: 6/10 - An average interior that is built very well.
Styling: The Corolla has rarely ever attempted to use styling that isn't conservative to the times. This generation of Corolla doesn't attempt to change this, its a standard car. Nothing about the way it looks is attractive nor ugly. Its a very neutral looking car but doesn't attempt to be anything more than that.
My Score: 5/10 - Toyota didn't really try to style this car.
Value for money: Much of the time with the Corolla it comes all down to economics. The Corolla CE is actually not very expensive all things considered and is cheaper to buy than the Honda Civic. You hope the car will be reliable and you already know its not going to ruin your wallet when it comes to gas(American cars getting heat here) or insurance(where the Civic is hurt badly). Your buying a pretty safe choice of car with this Corolla, one that really comes down to costs.
My Score: 9/10 - Assuming the car is reliable, there wasn't anything other than the Civic to challenge the Corolla in being affordable to own. It loses the point only because cars like the Mazda3 excels at being a affordable car that excites the young driver, the Corolla doesn't excite this group.
Overall: 34/50 - A solid and reasonable car. If you don't mind the generic interior, the generic styling or the ho hum handling the 9th generation Corolla is a decent worthwhile choice.
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