Post 2000s, Corollas were the typical extremely reliable gas sippers for fresh drivers. The only "exciting" trim was the XRS for the Corolla and Matrix. Had a Matrix XRS for a week. Wasn't too bad, honestly. Pretty quick for what it was.
If you can't find a Matrix XRS, look for a Pontiac Vibe GT. Same exact car; different styling.
Beyond that, the only other enthusiast friendly Corollas are gonna be much older.
The Corolla XRS in 2005 filled the same niche that the Sentra Nismo does in 2018.
red_stapler said:The Corolla XRS in 2005 filled the same niche that the Sentra Nismo does in 2018.
An overpriced, inferior performance compact car to sell to people with bad credit?
ebonyandivory said:In reply to 93gsxturbo :
I'll take that Civic in Midori Green please!
But seriously, not counting the AE92, every Corolla that I've driven was completely forgettable. Not every Civic was great either (2001 - 2005 were the worst), but during the glory years, they were awesome little cars. I'll even say that my friend's '91 Si was one of the best cars I've driven to date, at any price range. That sort of thing sticks with you.
I had a friend run a XRS in showroom stock for a while. It was easily among the fastest in class, but there was an issue. He could not get through an entire sprint race on a motor. It would oil starve and let go. I think he went through like 7 engines the year he ran it. It finally met its end being wrecked at a hill climb in a shakedown run ahead of the runoffs. It was a fast car in class however.
My favorite Corolla:
In reply to FuzzWuzzy :
I actually saw a Vibe GT on the road yesterday. It was cooking along pretty good, actually.
Oil starvation in race conditions is an issue with the 2ZZ. Moroso sells a sump specifically for that, and Lotus also added an Accusump accumulator, or had one as an accessory for track work.
On the Corolla: As cool as the early cars, the various 80's performance models, the RWD ones, and even the XRS was, they haven't made a consistent run at a performance model over the years. Hell, they haven't given even a half-hearted attempt at a performance-minded Corolla since the 2ZZ XRS was sidelined 12 years ago!
Meanwhile, at Honda, they have had a Civic Si in the lineup in one form or another for over 30 years. Aside from the EP3 cars, they were largely based on a regular Civic, so modders were able to adapt non-Si cars to Si specs and then some. That also meant that aftermarket stuff would largely work on most of the other Civics.
To be honest, I'd love to see Toyota get back into it. They have nothing to lose at this point.
Dr. Hess said:Oil starvation in race conditions is an issue with the 2ZZ. Moroso sells a sump specifically for that, and Lotus also added an Accusump accumulator, or had one as an accessory for track work.
Unfortunately they were not legal to run at that point. The Celica that won the class that year did not suffer the same problem. The XRS had a lot more body roll that contributed to the failures.
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