Out With the Old in With the New :: The American Critic

Out With the Old in With the New

by magusownz
November 28th, 2007 at 7:17 PM
Filed under: Science & Technology

Out With the Old in With the New
Ever since Toyota announced that in 2009 the current 9th generation Toyota Corolla XRS will be redesigned gossip has been afloat. Numerous questions go unanswered including the most popular question What power plant will the new 10th generation Toyota Corolla XRS have to get it go? Months pass by as the 2007 SEMA Auto Show in Las Vegas approaches while the hype continues to grow bigger. Car enthusiasts everywhere begin to flock to Las Vegas or to their computer screens to get the first sneak peak. Never before has the redesigned Corolla XRS been shown to the general population. October 30, 2007 is opening day, and the SEMA Auto Show in Las Vegas opens its doors. There are many ohs as well as many ahs. Although soon all the various rumors are set to fact or fiction. To many the new unveiled 2009 Toyota Corolla XRS is an improvement over its predecessor, but to others it is a new disappointment in their book by Toyota.
The new look of the 10th generation Toyota Corolla XRS is certainly more appealing to the eye than its older brother. There have been tons of upgrades done in this department which I feel help give the car an aggressive look. To up this aggressive appeal Toyota molded the front grill with the front bumper, added a body kit all around and dropped on a rear spoiler. The new XRS sits only 5.3 inches off the ground also which is a decent improvement in lowered ride stance. Toyota decided to upgrade the rims to 17 inches from 16 inches on the previous XRS as well to add to the 2009 Corolla XRS aggressive side. The 2009 XRS rides on a different suspension platform. Therefore the 2009 Corolla body has been lengthened by .4 inches and widened by 2.5 inches; this widening gives the new XRS a more substantial look to it. The interior is an upgrade as well, I prefer the 2009 interior over my XRS interior. You now have leather-trimmed seats, a six disc CD changer than can play MP3/WMA formats, and an auxiliary audio input jack. The new body style allows for more room in the interior as well. A few other additions were added to improve the interior overall. Such as a variety of use able, easy-to-reach storage spaces that add convenience and usability. Also map lights that illuminate independently are supplied for both driver and front passenger. And aid in entering and exiting, retractable handgrips are supplied above each door opening. Another improvement is the 60/40 split folding rear seats. It is a pain not have those rear folding seats in my XRS (Carter).
When it comes to safety the 2009 Toyota Corolla XRS is definitely a step up. New safety features include front seat-mounted side airbags and two-row side curtain airbags. Although the most improved safety feature that has been added is the Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) with Traction Control (TRAC). These both will help keep the tires planted to the ground while accelerating maneuvering. My 9th generation XRS tends to get wheels spin from a stop and lose traction when cornering decently fast, these new programs will help prevent and/or stop this from happening. Toyota even through in the option of being able to turn these off by the click of a button. These two systems are entirely new to the XRS and were not even an option on the 9th generation Corolla XRS. Another interesting new feature is that the front seats employ active headrests as standard equipment. When the vehicle is struck from the rear, a cable-actuated mechanism in the active headrest moves the headrest upward and forward to limit the movement of the seat occupantâ��s head. The feature should definitely help keep you safe in the event of a car crash and definitely adds a +1 to the safety in my book (Carter).
Although the new 10th generation Toyota Corolla XRS has been an overall improvement, it has one major downfall. Since the XRS is the performance model of the Corolla you would expect it to perform better than its predecessor right? Nope, this is where the disappointment lies to people hoping the power plant would be an upgrade. The old XRS went from 0-60 in just 7.1 seconds while Toyota claims the new 2009 XRS goes from 0-60 in 8.1 seconds. That is almost a second slower and will definitely contribute to a slower quarter mile time as well. The old XRS had a 6-speed transmission and could rev up to its 8200RPM limiter with ease; the new XRS has a rev limiter at just a tad over 6,000RPMs and only comes with a 5-speed manual or 5-speed automatic. Ah you guessed it, the 9th generation XRS has more horsepower also, at 164hp, while the 2009 Corolla XRS has 158hp. The 2009 XRS does have one upside, which is that it has about 40 more foot pounds of torque. Although the 2009 Corolla XRS has just about 400 more pounds to lug around, this in turn helps to cancel out some if its horsepower as well as some of its extra torque. I myself and other performance buyers were shocked when we saw the specs of the new 2.4L motor also used in the Scion TC and late model Toyota Camry. We were all hopeful that the new XRS would push out around 200hp to compete with rivals such as the 2007 Civic Si and 2007 Nissan Sentra Spec-V. It seems our hopes were too high; we are trying to remember Toyota back in the day when they actually came out with true performance models such as the infamous Supra (Carter). I am a performance minded individual; and going from my 9th generation Corolla XRS to the new 10th generation Corolla XRS would feel like a downgrade performance wise; which it is.
So there you have it, the new 10th generation Toyota Corolla XRS unveiled. The outside is designed more aggressively, the inside definitely improved, and the safety stepped up a notch. But, the Corolla XRS model is about performance right? Do not get me wrong the 2009 XRS still has performance, but it does not live up to every ones hopes and dreams. Heck, it would get beaten pretty badly buy the 9th generation Toyota Corolla XRS, but that is Toyota for ya.

Works Cited
Carter Mark. Saturday, November 3, 2007. 2009 Toyota Corolla Unveiled! Is it Still to Boring? 31 Oct. 2007. <http://www.thetorquereport.com/2007/10/2009_toyota_corolla_unveiled.html>