So why are Corollas the best-selling line of cars in the world, and why will they probably continue to be for some years to come, 'world' cars or no? Because this is the quintessential suburban car. So it's not a city sneaker, nor a rocket on the road. there's not enough real punch in any gear to make you want to draft the Checkers on Chicago's Lakefront Drive. In town you slip along smoothly with traffic, but not through it. A redline at 6000 rpm is utter foolishness, since the engine is all through usefully accelerating the car by the time it hits five grand.Īnd the gearbox, like most Japanese ones a model of crisp and effortless shifting, somehow does not inspire use. The engine is not sluggish, but neither does it make you want to press on. The luminous interior, thanks to that transparent top the full, clear sound of the stereo radio the unobtrusive yet totally pervasive air conditioning the low incidence of structural noise the knowledge that you're rolling along at about 28 mpg somewhere between the red 55 and the terminal 85 on the legible speedo-all combine to make Toyota-travel relaxing. Which is quite another thing from enjoying a trip.

It's never a worry, but it is enough to make it impossible to imagine ever really enjoying the driving task. It's ironic that the Japanese penchant for imitating big American cars has brought them to the point of even providing the barely-noticeable directional instability that is such a characteristic of the last two generations of our massive trundlers, but the instability is there, scaled down in true proportion to the car's size. They stop the car without drama unless you try hard, at which point the rear wheels give a convincing screech as they lock up prematurely. The brakes are all right, but no more than that. The Yokohama radials, fat section and low profile or not, just don't have a lot of grip at the best of times, and at the least hint of dampness in the air they'll let the SR-5 slide as gracefully as Eric Heiden.right off the road if you're not extremely watchful. The glass roof is really very agreeable, and not even a ferocious thunderstorm could force the merest droplet through the seals. The seats are still a bit flat, a bit hard, but they do not induce backache and they do have a very clever 'memory' feature that allows them to slide forward and then return to precisely the position and inclination they were adjusted to before you moved them.

More important is an improvement in EPA fuel economy of 1 mpg, to 28, thanks to a taller final-drive ratio. The radio is now housed in a swiveling console box, adding a new dimension to driver-passenger disputes over station selection. Four of us managed to fit into this small-ish Toyota with reasonable comfort for runs of 100 miles or so, but there's no getting around the fact that the antique driveline and solid rear axle take up far too much of the interior space, cramping the rear seats and raising the trunk floor to pickup heights.Īll-new for 1980, the Corolla line has changed little for 1981. Except that this car, good as it is of its kind, is not what anyone should be building in the next five years. This is exactly the sort of car Chevrolet should have been building for the past five years.Įxcept. The point, though, is that not only could it be, but it ought to be one. I haven't driven any Chevrolets in at least ten years, but all the age-old features are here-evident mechanical reliability, side glass that thonks loosely in the doors, a stiffish throttle pedal, and too-easy power steering.the mixture as before, but brought down to a sensible size at long last.Īll right, sure: I know it's not really a Chevrolet. The ’80s Corolla You Didn't Know You Wantedīy God, it certainly acts the way a big Chevrolet is supposed to: I turn the key and it's immediately running smoothly, ready to take me anywhere, cosseted in plasticky pseudo-luxury.Tested: 1988 Toyota Corolla Gets it Done.

Vendo toyota corona 1981