VVTL-i Owners

Dad has had a pre-facelift Corolla T-Sport and now has a Corolla TTE Compressor, which he absolutely adores. He does miss lift though (kicks in lower down on the Compressor and is a lot lot more smoother due to the 'charger.)

I beleive the T-Sport is supposed to have the edge over the EP3 in the wet due to electronic gizmos however.
 
Dogbreath said:
There was a big thread on PH a while back about the Corolla T-Sport. It was disliked by the overwhelming majority (including plenty of owners) main due to it's soggy handling, dead steering, poor gear ratios and tendency for high oil consumption. Essentially nothing to recommend it over an EP3 in terms of driving.
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The gear ratios are especially infuriating, though it's probably made worse by the jekyll & hyde power delivery. I find the steering communicative enough, though it's definitely a bit wallowy on the standard suspension. I don't think you'll find many CTS owners saying it's a better drivers car than a CTR, but it is a cheaper alternative in an adjacent ballpark :p.
 
I'd never say its a better drivers car because its not. All I can say is that for the money I spent there wouldnt be an ep3 out there in a FL in a decent enough condition.
 
Dogbreath said:
There was a big thread on PH a while back about the Corolla T-Sport. It was disliked by the overwhelming majority (including plenty of owners) main due to it's soggy handling, dead steering, poor gear ratios and tendency for high oil consumption. Essentially nothing to recommend it over an EP3 in terms of driving.
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The civic is faster but has higher scene tax, insurance etc.

If you have money to upgrades I'd put an induction kit on plus rear Arb.

If you have a grand get a ppe intake header.
 
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Not the same thing but my OH recently sold her 120d ('54) plate and bought a Corolla ('52) plate to free up some cash as she's on maternity leave and not commuting.

It's only the 1.4. The 120d I thought was pretty average but it's like a spaceship compared to the Corolla. Horrible little thing. One of them cars you just can't be bothered to drive in any other way than granny-style.

What changes did the "hot" version get over the rest of the range?

Edit: probably helps that the sport version has 186bhp and the compressor version 213bhp :)
 
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Had this for just over a year, really happy with it but I will be changing soon for something bigger (330ci or Mazda 6 MPS).

rdNERTw.jpg
 
Dogbreath said:
There was a big thread on PH a while back about the Corolla T-Sport. It was disliked by the overwhelming majority (including plenty of owners) main due to it's soggy handling, dead steering, poor gear ratios and tendency for high oil consumption. Essentially nothing to recommend it over an EP3 in terms of driving.
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This is true with a pre facelift but with the face lift they improved the car a lot with it's handling. Infact the pre-facelift was a poor effort. Oil consumption is for the 1zz not the 2zz and the gear ratio's are not good but get some Se7en stage 2 cams and it makes it a hell of a lot better. Brings the power in a lot lower. You can get a good facelift for 3k now. Add 700 for the cam install and you got yourself a stonking motor.

Interior is also leagues ahead of Type-R.
 
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Video 1 with induction kit, notice that I have to short shift however

http://videobam.com/PIego

Video 2 fuller rev out but not hitting redline

http://videobam.com/PoLGS

edit I also have my car on a dyno, but BEFORE I installed the induction kit:/

http://videobam.com/sUKEe

think I have my polybush engine mounts though so you can see the engine doesn't rock back and lash when the power pedal is unpressed..

Incidentally, I have the Fujita F5 air intake for sale as I still have it along with a TTE front Strut brace from a compressor I believe!
 
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I had one years ago, pre face lift, I did like the car, but it wasn't without its faults. The handling on stock suspension is laughable, utterly terrible when you get towards its limit, and the stability control didn't help, disabling it helped. Lowering springs didn't even cure the handling issues, it was better but over big bumps it was still crap, and I ended up with kw coilovers, at which point handling was pretty good although when pushed hard the lack of lsd meant it could struggle to put the power down. Great car for long journeys etc but the high seating position doesn't feel terribly sporty and was one of the reasons I sold it in the end. 28mpg was as high as it ever went :D

It couldn't hang with an ep3 until i'd done quite a few mods to it and lightened it, although it was a lightly modded ep3 I was comparing it to, the ep3 is miles better as a drivers car, but of course the t sport has other appealing quality's, and they are very very cheap now. Personally I don't like the ones with stuck on lips and sideskirts, I think the basic car lowered looks less fussy, it would have looked better without the rubbing strip down the side aswell.

 
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http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=17360192&postcount=3258

Mine in the above post. I've put over 25k worth of motorway miles on it since I bought it almost 3 years ago and so it isn't looking as nice these days unfortunately. Still love it though and still makes me grin every every now and again. It's appeared in a couple of Celica Club calendar. :D

From fuel log over the last 10 months, I average 35mpg and it costs me £150 a month to run, excluding petrol but including all repairs, consumables, upgrades, servicing, mot, ved but not insurance.
 
Well, any excuse to put a picture up :p

1.jpg


Not a hugely common mod, but I highly recommend putting a super charger in these things. They fly with the lift and sound terrifying :p
 
I have to say I still think the gen 7 celica looks pretty sharp to this day, although its not for everyone, but the biggest disappointment is that elephant arse plastic dashboard! the corolla's interior materials are far better!

is that a supercharged sports m? gief. hows the handling, these things are effectively doublewishbone all round with an lsd, hows it handle the power?
 
Yeah, thats the one. Cant compare like for like, but I love it. Can handle twists very well and never feels sketchy. Power wise, you basically just have to hold on once the lift takes over and try and not hit the rev limiter :p
 
cmsbfent said:
Yeah, thats the one. Cant compare like for like, but I love it. Can handle twists very well and never feels sketchy. Power wise, you basically just have to hold on once the lift takes over and try and not hit the rev limiter :p
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do you get any wheel spin etc? interested to know how the superstrut and lsd handles the extra power. Is it the blitz or greddy supercharger, or a rotrex kit like se7en does?. Does it smooth out the dip in torque the vvtl-i engine has just before lift kicks in?.

If I didn't have an st205 I think one of these would by high on my list, I enjoyed the 190 gen 7 I drove very much it felt great standard, and can only imagine with the better suspension and lsd the sports m would be even better, not totally convinced on the interior changes though personally lol.
 
[TW]Fox;24362630 said:
Perhaps it just has comedy bad torque steer :D
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Part of the benefits of the front suspension design aka the cheesily named superstrut was to combat torque steer as it moves the steering axis, much like Renault/ford/Vauxhall etc are doing these days with the revoknuckle etc but it go's a step further with more links (and more cost) to the point of replicating a dual pivot point doublewishbone setup (or something like that). My ss3 celica had this suspension and an lsd and had no torque steer at all, a less powerfull version I drove had the basic mac strut and torque steered and wheel spun all over the place with plenty of wheel hop lol it was terrible.
 
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