Corolla strikes road balance

Press, 5 August 1988, Page 38

Corolla strikes road balance

SPECIFICATIONS MAKE: Toyota 1.6 GLX Liftback. PRICE: $28,595. ENGINE: Four-cylinder, 1587 cu cm, in-line, doubleoverhead camshaft, 16-valve. STEERING: Variable ratio rack and pinion, speed sensitive, power assisted.

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In other words, it is quite practical to allow it to steer itself, although it is certainly never desirable to adopt a hands-off driving attitude. The brakes, discs in front and drums at the rear, are smooth and progressive; they will deal with panic stops without a semblance of drama. Certainly the car is light. It weighs only 985 kg, but it feels solid enough. Toyota, like most of the volume car-makers, was once obsessed by lightness, probably because weight determined the money value of a car to some extent. Now all manufacturers appear to be designing stronger cars which are heavier, the main characteristic being that they are much more taut than they used to be. Consequently they don’t creak or groan so much and are not so flexible, greater demands being made upon the suspension in the interests of riding comfort and handling qualities, not to mention stability. Naturally enough a car with such handling and riding qualities needs a lively engine to exploit them.

In employing a double overhead-camshaft engine with four valves a cylinder, Toyota has probably struck a chord in the hearts of car enthusiasts, although that has not been its avowed intention. The fact of the matter

is that although Toyota is the world’s biggest manufactuer of twin-cam engines, it is currently striving to become the world’s biggest car manufacturer also. The people who control the company and make and direct its policy know that it will never achieve the No. 1 place by designing and manufacturing cars that do not fulfil the needs of the family.

Toyota has employed twin camshafts and multivalve layout to enhance flexibility in the low and mid-speed ranges rather than to provide outright performance over a very restricted high rev band, as was the original intention of engine designers who went along the multivalve twin-cam track.

It is in the low and midspeed ranges that a car is mostly used by the family that, as a general rule, looks for good fuel economy also.

By employing four small valves rather than two large ones, the total valve area is increased while weight is saved. Moreover, as each small valve is lighter and, therefore, requires a lighter return spring, the engine is more responsive under acceleration. Also, the four-valves-a-cylinder configuration allows the engine to breathe better through a larger area. This in turn leads to enhanced efficiency. This new engine is, in fact, 8 per cent more

powerful than its 1600 cu cm predecessor. The engine differs from that employed in the Sporty 1.6 Toyota GTi hatchback in that the valve timing is adjusted to provide maximum flexibility at normal road speeds, whereas in the GTi, the engine comes “on cam” at much higher revolutions and road speeds.

As a general rule, sporty twin-cam engines don’t deliver a great deal of torque at low engine speeds and fail to generate much power unless they are literally screaming their heads off. The GTi engine has been modified to increase its power and deliver more torque in the low-to-mid speed range, mainly because its electronic fuel injection system now employs bidirectional injectors to direct fuel straight at the inlet valves, thereby reducing the amount that normally clings to the inlet ports. In the case of the GLX

liftbacks, the induction arrangements are much more straightforward. Instead of fuel injection, a twin-barrel downdraft carburettor is employed. This arrangement seems to work well enough, for on the test circuit there was no hesitancy and no flat spots emerged, irrespective of the throttle treatment.

Frankly, I believe- that fuel injection, used in conjunction with an electronic engine management system, will be the next phase for universal development in the internal combustion engine and within a few years most mass producers, including Toyota, will have done away with the carburettor, one of the oldest survivors in the engine as we know it. As for the GLX liftback itself, it is of totally new interior design, illuminated switches being prominent. Also the ignition key that used to be removed from the switch by depressing a button in typical Toyota fashion has

given way to a “push to remove” release.

There is plenty of storage space within the cabin and the one-piece carpet, fully-recessed sun visors and moulded headlining enhance the functional interior appearance.

All models in the Corolla range are furnished in a good-looking shadow grey velour. The seats have reclining backs and adjustable head rests. There is a reasonable amount of luggage accommodation beneath an extensive parcel shelf behind the back seat and it would be hard to find fault with this car’s passenger accommodation.

Since the advent of front-wheel drive and the retention of Amon as an engineering consultant, Toyota New Zealand and its home-built cars have gone from strength to strength. These “new generation" Corollas can do nothing other than enhance Japan’s No. 1 car-maker’s reputation.