My handy Palm Pilot lost my first day’s report I typed up on my plane ride so I’m writing this all over again. The
pain and agony I go through for our Autoblog readers. Originally I wrote how I only had a few minutes to get acquainted
with the Toyota Corolla XRS before having to head out to the airport for a weekend trip out of town.
I had forgotten how nice the Corolla was as a form of basic transportation.
Toyota just does a fabulous job on the fit and finish of this workhorse of an economy car. Since the company already
sells more Corollas then they can handle they decided to try and hit a demographic not served by the standard version.
Thus the XRS was born to draw the attention of the tuner crowd.
While the car features a 1.8L 170 horsepower engine and 6 speed transmission there isn?t any visceral thrill to
driving it. The shifting is economical and pretty easy to master but the engine strains loudly when pressing it hard.
Worst of all is the clutch pedal. It might be light on the foot but its position forces my size 11 to press down more
on the pedal?s arm than on the pedal itself. After a few different techniques and changing my seating position I still
couldn?t get comfortable.
A revised suspension rides an inch lower and has a tower strut brace. Neither gives a remarkably stiff or
high-performance feel to cornering. I like the
leather wrapped steering
wheel though.
So far, after limited driving I can only admire the Corolla for the excellent economy car it is and the XRS for
being a fully loaded version of that vehicle. Otherwise, I?m not impressed yet.