Conservative Corona XX has attractive qualities

Press, 26 August 1982, Page 27

Conservative Corona XX has attractive qualities

BEHIND the WHEEL with

Peter Greenslade

New-born child of the Toyota Motor Company and the Toyota Motor Sales Company. the Toyota Motor Corporation has taken over the mantle of being the world's second biggest car-maker, behind General Motors. In 1981 nearly 2.25 million Toyota cars were manufactured and almost half of them were exported. A company doing that sort of business does not need testimonials to establish its credentials.

Today Toyota has a capital which is the equivalent of $536 million and employs 56.000 people, most of whom work in the corporation's 10 factories. It is one of Japan's industrial mammoths, but its beginnings, some 56 years ago. were quite humble.

The company was established as the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works. Ltd, in 1926. Eight years later it had set up a prototype vehicle production factory and in 1935 it launched its first car. a 3.4-litre fiveseater.

The Toyota Motor Company was established in 1937 and’ the Toyota Motor Sales Company was set up in 1950. Its function was to dispose of the vehicles manufactured by the older Toyota company and this it did through fiv’e ( distinct dealer groupings in, Japan as well as various organisations in 145 countries throughout the world. Then, last month, these two Toyota companies merged to become the Toyota Motor Corporation.

The corporation produces a bewildering range of cars and commercial vehicles of which the Corona is one. It was introduced more than 25 years ago and was launched in New Zealand in 1967. Now Johnsonville-based Toyota New Zealand, Ltd, has come up with its 1982 Corona range, which is a three saloon and one station waggon line-up. The base model 1600 DX is offered only with a four-speed manual gearbox and sells for $13,585. The other cars are 1800 models. There is a CX manual at $14,436 and an automatic at $15,123. The top-of-the-line version is the XX, which in manuual form with a fivespeed gearbox sells for

$16,295 and in automatic form has a tag of $16,995. Additionally, there is a CX station waggon, the manual version costing $15,489 and the automatic $15,835.

Toyota New Zealand top brass admit that the Corona has been more highly regarded by fleet operators than private motorists and there can be no doubt that the XX models have been introduced in an attempt to rectify this imbalance. However, Toyota New Zealand is not going to jeopardise its fleet sales and plans to restrict XX production to 20 per cent of Corona output. Because I was curious to see how the New Zealand company has set out to win over the private motorist, all my driving on press launch day was confined to an XX automatic rather than spread to include the DX and CX models. The three cars do. of course, share the same saloon body. It is longer, lower, wider and also looks much sharper than the old Corona. Notable features are its markedly sloping bonnet and cleanly cut. squared boot. Its wedge shape is disguised to some extent by the extensive glass areas. All-round visibility from within the car is very good although its extremities are out of the driver's sight. Rather, surprisingly the wheelbase, at 250 cm (Bft 2in), is slightly less than that of the previous model, but the over-all length of ihe car is greater. However, except in

the CX station waggons in which leg room for rear seat passengers is marginal, there is plenty of space for four larger adults and, possibly five, in the saloons. The seats are well designed and comfortable giving support where it is needed most. Those in front have a fair range of fore and aft and rake adjustment. Nice touches in the XX saloons are a driver's seat with variable lumbar support and a height-adjustable seat cushion.

This car also features tilt steering, the actual joint being almost half way up the column instead of at its base, as is usually the case.

The three cars share the same engine, although that of the DX is of 1588 cc while the others are of 1770 cc by virtue of a longer stroke. However, both engines are "over square” and are modified versions of the overhead valve units used in older Coronas. In the smaller engine the valve timing has been revised to produce maximum torque at a lower engine speed. I found the 1800 engine in the automatic XX lively and responsive and the car held on well in the upper ratio on hills. Generally speaking this is a quiet-running car, there being very little road or wind noise and the engine is not intrusive until it is pushed well up in the rev. range. I would imagine the five-speed manual version would be a very pleasant touring car. particularly on Canterbury's mainly flat roads.

The steering is also worthy of comment. Happily. Toyota has adopted rack and pinion for the saloon, although the ball and nut system, which is ligher in operation, has been retained in the station waggons. which are likely to carrier heavier loads.

I found the steering in the XX model engendered a lot of confidence. It was most responsive and unlike so many rack and pinion systems demanded a quite tolerable physical effort when I manoeuvred the car in more confined areas.

The suspension seemed rather better than that in other Coronas I have encountered in the past. McPherson struts are almost standard ware these days and they

look after the front end of the Corona while at the rear a live axle, located by a four-link system, is employed in conjunction with coil springs and double-acting shock absorbers. A lateral rod helps minimise body roll. Although there was no opportunity to try the car on poorer roads, the ride remained relatively smooth and pitch-free on somewhat indifferent sealed surfaces. I was able to ride as a rearseat passenger on a twisty hill section and was quite impressed by the absence of sway and general sure-foot-edness of the car. as well as its smooth and positive braking characteristics. Altogether. I consider these features reassuring for the passengers.

The XX is nicely upholstered and trimmed, the materials being of good quality. The car has some other touches that help bring it up to the level of some of the other Japanese four-cylinder cars which are now being produced to take the place of the more thirsty six and eight-cylinder cars. As well as a rev counter, the XX has two trip meters, one to measure the total distance of the journey and the other the intermediate stages. Also there is a good radio-cassette player that is neatly installed. at least as far as the speakers are concerned. Such features, combined with the tasteful furnishing of the XX. should appeal to private buyers, especially when they compare the car's price with those of its competitors.

It will be interesting to see whether the XX Corona will win over more private motorists than the previous versions have attracted. Frankly, I believe dealers will have to work hard because. traditionally. Coronas have been rather unexciting saloons. However, from my experience with the XX model, I would say that the latest Coronas are' honestlybuilt, conservative saloons, more exciting than their predecessors, but still not calculated to send a carlover's blood rushing to the head. On the other hand, who is to say that Corona owners are on the losing side? After all, there are five million of them!