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buck naked Regular Location: Perth Registered: October 2004	The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update Fri, 26 August 2005 09:36 April 2005 Without excessive fanfare or noise, Toyota released a lifted and tucked Corolla Sportivo ZZE123R in Aptil 2005, bringing it up to date with the revisions to the rest of the (now best selling) Toyota Corolla line-up. All that has been publicised about the face lift mostly boil down to new bodykit styling, added MP3 compatibility to the 6 stack CD player, some minor interior updates and a $1,000 price drop to just $28,990. I first started looking deeper into the Corolla Sportivo when I found a serious lack of discussion around the revision, as slightly updated styling and MP3 playback is a suprisingly small update. Looking into it further, I was suprised to see how many problems people have had with their car, and how Toyota has struggled with the model. Nice Move In theory it's a killer hot hatch. 141kw 2ZZ-GE engine from the 7th gen Celica, 6 speed manual transmission, and all the practicality of a Corolla, the ZZE123R Corolla Sportivo is a surprising move for Toyota Australia - its the first time the 'G' engine has been apart of our line up since the AE9X platform. Equally surprising was the feature list and value for money represented in its $29,990 price tag. Six stack CD player, leather faced seats and trimmed interior, Lexus-style instruments, an updated bodykit from the Levin model, climate control, all modern electrics and remote central locking, 16" lightweight alloys, 'Sportivo' exhaust and lowered, stiffened suspension gear - PLUS the 2ZZ-GE engine (boasting 41kw over the 1ZZ-FE of the other models) and 6 speed manual, all for less than $10,000 over the base model. A hot hatch relies on a strong power to weight ratio, sacrificing ride quality, noise levels, economical gear ratios, and Mum-friendly steering for a 'true' sports car experience. The Renault's Clio Sport, along with other ever present members of the GTi club, are enjoying boosted popularity in these times of rising fuel prices. Back in 2003 the new Corolla Sportivo was launched to mediocre press. What went wrong Weighing in at over 1,200kg, frustrations were expressed at lack of power under 6,000rpm, riding on timid 'sports' suspension, light steering, and the lack of any real effort on Toyota's behalf failed to make the car much more exciting than a tyical Corolla. The handling, in particular, being a weakness against its European competition. Even worse was the performance-related recall in earlier models. Rumored to have been fitted with the detuned European ECU meant that a stock Sportivo was putting out about 90kw at the wheels, falling short of Toyota's flywheel figure by over 40%. The South African built Sportivo has had plenty of quality issues too. Unaligned clutches, warping rotors, average interior quality, and plenty of creaks being a constant source of customer complaints. Today It has been announced that the current Corolla Sportivo will cease production on October 1st 2005. Despite recalls and bad press, the ZZE123R Corolla has held its value well, poorer condition second hand models consistently priced in the low $20k range with newer and post-facelift models often in the mid to high $20k's. An abundance of aftermarket branded (and copy) parts available from throughout the Asian, North American and European markets, thanks in particular to the Celica, the 2ZZ-GE has caught the attention of the performance and tuning scenes, earning serious research and development. Despite the downfalls of the Corolla Sportivo's chassis, handling and suspension, aftermarket LSDs and suspension modifications have made it a competitor again. Good examples of tuning (through piggy-back and SAFC type ECU additions, intake and exhaust systems) and suspension work (lower, stiffer springs, under car, engine and in car struts) are seeing competitive times down the quarter mile and around the track, against both the European hatches and Japan's NA pocket-rockets. In my searches online, I have found very limited press that the face-lifted model even exists, at best, it's just a copy of Toyota's PR. One owner of the pre-updated Sportivo at the Toyota Owner's Club forums took the 2005 revision for a test drive and came back with a longer, mostly cosmetic, list of updates, but three were particularly interesting: "Performance is very different with the engine having a lot more torque under 6000rpm although this makes the lift point nowhere near as vicious as the previous model." "The shifter cables and they seem to have been revised to a plastic coated cable from the recall rubber coated ones" Compared to the old model "gear shifting was nice and crisp without being notchy." These kind of comments suggest to me that through the performance recall of August 2004, and many clutch, brake, suspension and interior warranty claims, Toyota hasn't advertised the updated model as being improved, as its the faults of the Corolla Sportivo ZZE123R were never acknowledged in the first place. [Report message to a moderator]

	Subject	Poster	Date
	The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	buck naked	Fri, 26 August 2005 09:36
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	FWDCelica	Sat, 27 August 2005 08:00
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	kingmick	Sat, 27 August 2005 08:28
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	Shraka	Sat, 27 August 2005 08:52
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	4agte	Sat, 27 August 2005 09:19
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	Shraka	Sat, 27 August 2005 09:23
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	THE WITZL	Sat, 27 August 2005 09:28
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	Shraka	Sat, 27 August 2005 15:37
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	buck naked	Sat, 27 August 2005 16:32
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	esk34	Sat, 27 August 2005 16:54
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	Shraka	Sat, 27 August 2005 17:11
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	bubbles	Sat, 27 August 2005 20:56
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	kingmick	Sat, 27 August 2005 21:30
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	MR2 4AGE	Sun, 28 August 2005 03:31
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	buck naked	Sun, 28 August 2005 08:13
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	berad	Sun, 28 August 2005 08:28
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	MR2 4AGE	Sun, 28 August 2005 08:38
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	kingmick	Sun, 28 August 2005 22:16
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	MR2 4AGE	Wed, 31 August 2005 11:42
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	illuminatus	Wed, 31 August 2005 23:52
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	MR2 4AGE	Fri, 02 September 2005 13:12
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	Shraka	Sun, 28 August 2005 11:45
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	shovelnose	Sun, 28 August 2005 12:34
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	berad	Sun, 28 August 2005 12:05
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	kingmick	Sun, 28 August 2005 22:25
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	buck naked	Mon, 29 August 2005 08:47
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	shovelnose	Mon, 29 August 2005 11:14
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	BigWorm	Wed, 31 August 2005 14:47
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	esk34	Wed, 31 August 2005 15:08
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	kingmick	Wed, 31 August 2005 21:41
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	MR2 4AGE	Wed, 31 August 2005 23:15
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	Corona RT142	Thu, 01 September 2005 00:12
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	kingmick	Thu, 01 September 2005 03:39
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	buck naked	Thu, 01 September 2005 03:53
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	Camry_omega	Thu, 01 September 2005 05:31
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	illuminatus	Thu, 01 September 2005 06:21
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	kingmick	Thu, 01 September 2005 05:31
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	kingmick	Thu, 01 September 2005 05:34
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	buck naked	Thu, 01 September 2005 08:30
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	rthy	Thu, 01 September 2005 08:46
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	esk34	Thu, 01 September 2005 12:19
	Re: The Unspoken 2005 Corolla Sportivo Update	Rallystanza	Sat, 03 September 2005 01:27

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