Brake into Style

Contrary to what Ricky Martin exhorts in the song Shake Your Bon-Bon, which is the theme song for Toyota’s Break Into Style campaign for the Corolla, the car does not shake its Bon Bon. Meaning, the rear end is very predictable in tight, fast, cornering maneouvers and isn’t predisposed to rotating or fishtailing. Understeer is the name of the game with the car, which the public and the press got to experience with Toyota’s recent two-weekend public test drive held recently at Filinvest (Alabang) and The Fort (Makati).

Better yet, the car gives a ride approaching Mercedes Benz standards, perhaps justifying the E-class look of the car (especially when seen from the rear). We didn’t get to drive the car during the Filinvest event, instead testing it at The Fort and all its uneven pavement glory. The test track was a course of roughly one kilometer, with cones and chicanes liberally strewn to test the car’s handling and low-end acceleration. Besides those, exposed manhole covers and steel grates embedded in the asphalt provided a perhaps unintentional test of how well the car’s suspension could handle the rough stuff as well. And it performed very well, actually.

Though there’s nothing impressive on paper about a front suspension composed of MacPherson struts and L-shaped lower arms up front and a torsion-beam type with toe-correct bushings at the rear (stabilizer bars are also present on both ends), Toyota has managed to provide a smooth yet athletic ride without the benefit of racy double wishbones or multi-link systems. Grip from the 60-series, 15-inches on the G and 70-series 14’s on the E variants is moderate, with audible tire squeal and steadily decreasing adhesion at the limit to warn most drivers to lighten up on the gas. Do so and the car obediently tucks its nose back into line without any wiggles from the tail. Don’t, and you’ll have to feed in more steering lock to make a really tight turn. Or you can just stand on the ABS-equipped brakes (ABS is standard on all variants but the J) and turn at the same time.

Though we didn’t get to properly instrument the tests (we don’t have any equipment, anyway), the Altis braked from 60 kph to a standstill in a few dozen feet. It even trail-brakes admirably. In a few hot corners , we tried to unbalance the tail by applying the brakes in mid-turn. No go, and the ABS thankfully didn’t engage at that purposely "wrong" moment. Finally, driving over the bumps and grates, the suspension absorbed these with aplomb, neither upsetting the racing line through the turns nor making harsh sounds and vibrations in the cabin.

By now you’re wondering why we put the car through such cruel tests. Well, it’s because we love G-forces and wanted to find out whether the Altis has the moves to match its good looks. But part of the reason also goes to the VVT-i engines. A DOHC 1.6 liter with 16 valves powers the G, E, and J; good for 116 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 16 kg-m of torque at 4,400 rpm. The other G variant gets a DOHC 1.8 liter engine with 16-valves that puts out 145 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 18.8 kg-m of torque at 4,200 rpm. Engine smoothness is excellent. At idle, only a low humming from the engine bay and the tachometer needle at the 900 rpm mark indicate that the engine’s running. Winding up the tach, it snarls with the sound of ripping linen, and the rev limiter gently cuts off ignition intermittently beyond the redline. One blip of the throttle was enough to make us want to get some quality track time.

Driving the E with the 5-speed manual, we found the car to have perceptively more adrenaline and refinement than some other 1.6 liter cars of the same displacement.. Clutch takeup is light (despite the well-worn clutches of the test units), matched by closely-spaced pedals and short gear throws for racy heel-and-toeing. The 1.6 liter G and its 4-speed automatic is predictably slower off the mark, but still plenty competent for the less enthusiastic driver.

The G with the 1.8 liter engine and Benz-type gated shifter is potent, and we had to back off several times on the slalom course because of faster-than-expected entry speeds. The shift gate took a while to get used to, but we’ll bet that no one will whine for a five-speed manual to match the racy engine once they get to drive it. On all variants, steering feel struck the "just right" balance between reassuring heaviness at speed and nimble responsiveness at the chicanes. Purely a test of the car’s driving dynamics, the Corolla impressed with the way it tackled the course in smooth and deceptively fast style. Real world driving conditions are different of course, and we’ll let you know the real deal once we get our hands on one for a longer duration.