Everything going right for Toyota
Bobby Cheetham
ONE of the South African market leaders launched their new car model range last week in Cape Town that is going to shake up the motor industry. Toyota's new 11-model Corolla is just what cash-strapped motorists want, with good quality, reliability and excellent backup service at just about every dorpie in the country.
Criticism has been leveled at Toyota producing good but boring vehicles.
Well, that's almost a thing of the past!
Eleven generations on and with 16 manufacturing sites in America, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Japan, Pakistan, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam and Venezuela, Corolla has clocked up more than 40 million sales worldwide, making it the best-selling automotive nameplate.
The new vehicle is available in a choice of four grades; Esteem (entry), Prestige (mid), Sprinter (sport) and top-of-the-range Exclusive.
The line-up features a choice of an all-new 1.4 litre D-4D turbo diesel and three petrol engines.
1.33l Dual VVT-i Petrol Engine
The 1.33 is equipped with Dual Variable Valve Timing-intelligent (Dual VVT-i) and features a high compression ratio of 11.5:1, which increases the thermal efficiency of the engine.
It generates 73kW at 6000rpm and maximum torque of 128Nm at 3800rpm.
The sprint from 0 to 100km/h comes up in 12.6 seconds. Top speed is 180km/h. Claimed fuel consumption of just 61/100km is attainable in the combined cycle, with CO2 emissions of 139g/km.
1.6l Dual VVT-i Petrol Engine
The 1.6 develops 90kW at 6000rpm and a maximum torque of 154Nm at only 5200rpm.
Acceleration times are 10.5 and 11.1 seconds for the manual and Multidrive respectively. Maximum speed is 195 (manual) and 185km/h (Multidrive).
When equipped with the manual transmission, the unit returns a combined cycle fuel consumption of just 6.6 l/100km and generates CO² emissions of 157g/km. The new Multidrive S auto transmission further reduces both fuel consumption and emissions to 6.3l/100km and 150g/km respectively.
1.8l Dual VVT-i Petrol
Replacing the 2.0 litre unit of the outgoing model range, a new 1.8 litre petrol engine is fitted to top-end Corolla models.
The 1.8 litre, 16V, DOHC Dual VVT-i petrol engine develops 103kW at 6 400rpm, and a maximum torque of 173Nm at 4 000rpm.
The 0-to-100km/h dash comes up in 10.2 seconds for the Multidrive S variant. Top speed is recorded as 195km/h. (Figures for 1.8 manual not available.)
In manual form the 1.8 consumes an average of just 7l/100km and emits 165g/km. Equipped with the new Multidrive S transmission, the unit returns a combined cycle fuel consumption of 6,4l/100km and generates CO2emissions of only 152g/km.
1.4l D-4D Diesel Engine
The Toyota Optimal Drive 1.4 litre D-4D diesel engine benefits from optimised combustion chamber dimensions and enhanced exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) cooler efficiency to produce 66kW and maximum torque of 205Nm at only 1 800 to 2800rpm.
The 1.4 D is propelled from 0 to 100km/h in 12.5 seconds. Maximum speed is 180km/h.
Equipped with the standard six-speed manual transmission, the 1.4 D-4D unit returns a class-best combined cycle fuel consumption of just 4.5 l/100km and generates 119g/km CO2emissions.
COROLLA PRICES
1.3 Esteem – R214900 1.3 Prestige – R232900 1.4 D Esteem – R237900 1.4 D Prestige – R249900 1.6 Esteem – R225900 1.6 Prestige – R241900 1.6 Prestige Multidrive S – R252900 1.6 Sprinter – R248900 1.8 Prestige – R251900 1.8 Exclusive – R272900 1.8 Exclusive Multidrive S – R283900
