Toyota Corolla GLi
(view original)
Post a comment
Description
The crappy little 2008 Toyota Corolla GLi I am driving in Jamaica right now. 1.5 Litre Inline-four cylinder petrol engine. 110 Horsepower @ 6000rpm, 103 foot-pounds of torque @ 4200. At least it has A/C.
Driving in Jamaica is kinda like driving a rally stage. I have a couple of videos I'll upload when I get home.
Did you know that Toyota are currently considering recalling these because of a steering issue?
I believe it, the steering is not exactly.....precise.
Seems like they've suddenly realised all their control systems are screwed, if they do decide to recall it'd mean they've had to do mass recalls for accelerators, brakes and steering. All they're missing is gears and they've got the full set.
Well after driving it all around Jamaica (in various road conditions---including area where there is basically just a dirt track) I can make the following observations: Brake and throttle response are complete rubbish, you have about 3-4 inches of pushing before the car "knows" you are pushing on the brake/throttle. Break is very sharp and sudden when (finally) engaged as well. Gear changes are also not very smooth, the car will sometimes lurch into a lower gear (it is an auto-transmission unfortunately) without warning on a flat road while your foot is depressed on the throttle. Best way to drive this car with auto-trans is to continuously shift the gear lever into the appropriate gear (L,2,3,D) for where you are (towns, or open road) and what you are doing (ex. shift DOWN to 2 if overtaking). Many parts of the exhaust hang too low under the car so its very easy to bottom out on a very rough road (there are plenty here). Car is slow, but not unbearably so (at least with 4 people including driver) but if loaded with luggage and people it will struggle to overtake or climb a steep hill, the lack of power WILL get to you after awhile as overtaking and speeding up quickly after breaking hard here is something you do frequently. Only real advantage with this car here in Jamaica is her size. If you go to Jamaica and rent and plan to be driving many places, best bet is to spend a little more money on something slightly larger, with more powerful specifically and with all-wheel/four-wheel drive.
Corollas have bad engine to body ratio