'06 Corolla 5sp - test drove for curiousity....

[Bill in Utah]

quote:

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Originally posted by Stuart Hughes:
Hello- calling Bill in Utah- Bill, are you out there?

Anyhoo, RF, Bill has a late model Corolla w/MTx, & posts that he routinely gets 40+ mpg with it. He seems to like it a lot. He'll probably post an answer here in a day or so.

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Someone call?

Yeah, I'm the prez of the Corolla fan club..

Love mine. 40++ mpg all the time, never been back to the stealership in over 50k miles and runs like a top.

Plenty of power up here in the mountains (the valley floor is 4500 ft and above) A/C is good, carries my large frame and my family around with ease.

I like the driving position and plan to run this car 300k and beyond..

I think for $14k OTD you can not get a better car.

Plugs are easy to get once you take the cover off the engine which is simple.

My clutch seems fine but I drive 1.5 miles to the freeway and it then sits in 5th gear for almost 60 miles one way before a 1.5 miles cooldown to work.. (today is my last day so my new commute is going to be shorter.. It's only 50 miles one way!

)

As other have stated, chain for cams and I do think if it goes, the vavles will have some meeting with the pistons.

I drove them all before buying and the two we ended up choosing between was a ION and Corolla. The Cobalt was a close third.

Take care, Bill

 

[Drew99GT]

It's not considered a maintenance item and does not have a set time for replacement.

I70 is a bonafide racetrack, ain't it ramblin!

 

[Bill in Utah]

quote:

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Originally posted by Ramblin Fever:
6k feet! You call that a mountain??

Come here to the great Rocky Mountains, I'll show you a "mountain"! Try a 10-12k foot mountain grade, will then see what car will out run the other if your foolish enough to make it work so hard as to try to beat the others on the road.

FWIW - lots of cars here tend to overheat easily on these mountain passes, even when they ARE new.

Thanks for all the replies, does anyone know exactly WHEN the timing chain is supposed to be replaced?

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If you change the oil every 4-5k with a good Sl/SM oil and drive the car with respect (not redline it everygear, it will last for a very long time (250-300k with no worries).

Their is a lab that uses Corollas and alot of them have 300k+ miles and still have the orginal timing chains. (and they don't get driven very nicely.. )

Yep, CO and UT have some mountians and their passes will slow down and stop alot of engines.

See it everytime I go down I-15, alot out of state cars on the side of the road with problems.

They MUST go 75 up the grades...

quote:

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Originally posted by Mustang_Cougar:

quote:

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Originally posted by Bill in Utah:
Someone call?

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The first thing I thought when I read "Corolla 5sp" is "This is a B.I.U. thread."

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Ok, so I like my car a little..

(Better than hating it!)

Take care, bill

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by Ramblin Fever:
6k feet! You call that a mountain??

Come here to the great Rocky Mountains, I'll show you a "mountain"! Try a 10-12k foot mountain grade, will then see what car will out run the other if your foolish enough to make it work so hard as to try to beat the others on the road.

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You guys cheat, your mountains start at over 5,000 feet.

I love driving in the Rockies, even if you do cheat.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

quote:

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Originally posted by XS650:
You guys cheat, your mountains start at over 5,000 feet.

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True - how so very funny!

 

[XS650]

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Originally posted by Ramblin Fever:

quote:

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Originally posted by XS650:
You guys cheat, your mountains start at over 5,000 feet.

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True - how so very funny!

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You make up for it by having miles and miles of beautiful roads that run up and down between 7000 and 12000 feet. California's mountain roads are great, but the high ones tend to be up and over and back down types.

 

[Brons2]

quote:

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Originally posted by Ramblin Fever:
Come here to the great Rocky Mountains, I'll show you a "mountain"! Try a 10-12k foot mountain grade, will then see what car will out run the other if your foolish enough to make it work so hard as to try to beat the others on the road.

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Bah, I rode my bicycle up those mountain passes. My truck made mincemeat of them. Slumgullion pass was cold on the bike.

 

[Thermo1223]

Hey I want to try a 10-12k summit.

I don't the TDI would have any problem. People I've talked to think it increases boost to elevation to make up for the thinner air as well as glow time when off.

Rockies here I come, even if it is cheating haha.

It might have been I-84 to Port Jervis.

Also didn't have to race, I just kept the cruising control on...up we went.

 

[XS650]

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Originally posted by Thermo1223:
Hey I want to try a 10-12k summit.

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Go for the real thing.

Colorado has two peaks over 14,000 feet with decent roads to the top. Pike peak at 14,100 something and Mt Evans at 14,200 something.

Mt Evans is paved, but usually rough from the past winter weather, Pikes Peak isn't paved but it's a much better well maintained road. Pikes Peak weather is also less likely to turn nasty and kill you.

 

[OriginHacker21]

I have taken the 15 freeway up to Colorado several times. Once was this summer on a trip to visit family. That is a very beautiful stretch of road - especially right after winter when everything is melting.

Both times I went there were several cars on the side of the road that looked brand new. Not sure if they were overheated but - those dem hills get pretty steep. I went bout 60mph in 4th gear so I didn't have to floor it in 5th gear to keep 75mph. (I have a 5spd manual 2.2L Ecotec).

 

[XS650]

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Originally posted by OriginHacker21:


Both times I went there were several cars on the side of the road that looked brand new. Not sure if they were overheated but - those dem hills get pretty steep. I went bout 60mph in 4th gear so I didn't have to floor it in 5th gear to keep 75mph. (I have a 5spd manual 2.2L Ecotec).

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A lot of people are of the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it school of thought." I wonder how many of them are bright enough to rethink that as they sit beside a mountain road in the middle of nowhere with a car that told them "it's time to fix me" because it broke when stressed a little harder than normal?

 

[JHZR2]

you want to see grades - come to the real roads down here in the USVI - where I am now.

Not as long, but the grades are more severe than any mountain passes that Ive seen.

We test drove a corolla just today and used it on a moderate hill - the ecotec cobalt and the ford focus were both better options - going and stopping!

Of course the 01 v6 camry we showed up in made mincemeat of them all!

JMH

 

[Bill in Utah]

quote:

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Originally posted by jmacmaster:
Originally posted by XS650:
BTW, I've taken some real dogs (such as a full size 1990 Dodge pickup with a pathetic 125 hp V6) up over the Continental Divide and other mountain passes, and have never overheated an engine.

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Because you KNOW how to drive.

I love the ones that your going up the pass and I have down shifted and slowed down and they pass you going from 4th to 3rd to 2nd (when in 2nd they have to slow down since redline is a prob now) and just have to keep charging the hill.

99% of problems with cars is the driver/owner.

Not the oil, not the brand of engine or car.

Take care, Bill

 

[Bill in Utah]

quote:

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Originally posted by JHZR2:
Not as long, but the grades are more severe than any mountain passes that Ive seen.

JMH

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But it's the miles and miles of those passes at high ALT 5k, 6k, 8k, 10k (when your engine has less and less power) that kills.

Take care, bill

 

[brianl703]

quote:

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Originally posted by XS650:
A lot of people are of the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it school of thought."

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On another forum, there was a discussion about alternators and electric cooling fans. I mentioned that the ones in my car (the factory fans) are fused for 60 amps and probably take 30 amps each (there's two) and there's a 130 amp alternator because of these fans.

The predictable response was, "I have an aftermarket cooling fan, it only takes 15 amps, it cools fine and never overheats".

Some people just don't get it. (Incidentally, in the Mustang world, none of the aftermarket electric cooling fans have been found to be sufficient to cool the engine in all conditions so they're using OE electric cooling fans from other Ford vehicles instead).

 

[JHZR2]

quote:

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Originally posted by Bill in Utah:

quote:

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Originally posted by JHZR2:
Not as long, but the grades are more severe than any mountain passes that Ive seen.

JMH

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But it's the miles and miles of those passes at high ALT 5k, 6k, 8k, 10k (when your engine has less and less power) that kills.

Take care, bill

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I'm sure it does... but is 50k an 'old' and 'high mileage' vehicle out west??? It is here!

How well do transmissions last out west onthose maoutain drives? Is less than 100k normal for a rebuild?

JMH

 

[Bill in Utah]

quote:

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Originally posted by JHZR2:

quote:

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Originally posted by Bill in Utah:

quote:

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Originally posted by JHZR2:
Not as long, but the grades are more severe than any mountain passes that Ive seen.

JMH

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But it's the miles and miles of those passes at high ALT 5k, 6k, 8k, 10k (when your engine has less and less power) that kills.

Take care, bill

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I'm sure it does... but is 50k an 'old' and 'high mileage' vehicle out west??? It is here!

How well do transmissions last out west onthose maoutain drives? Is less than 100k normal for a rebuild?

JMH

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To be honest with you, all of my Transmissions are/have been manuals with the expection of my 99 Taurus.

It ate 2 sets of headgaskets in 108k and I sold it after so I really can not tell you what I've done as far as autos.

The Manuals last forever for me!

My family does pretty good with autos (aux trans coolers are a fact here) but they don't drive alot. The highest mileage auto in my family is my sisters 1993 caravan with is close to 190k with same transmission. It's the large engine grand model.

Take care, bill

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by JHZR2:
I'm sure it does... but is 50k an 'old' and 'high mileage' vehicle out west??? It is here!

How well do transmissions last out west onthose maoutain drives? Is less than 100k normal for a rebuild?

JMH

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You pick the right gear for the grade and manually downshift so the tranmission isn't hunting between gears and the engine has some revs so the torque converter isn't churning. Then sit back and enjoy the scenery.

The saving grace is that engines make less power at high altitude so it's harder to hurt them unless you overheat them, over rev them or do somethings else dumb.

 

[Drew99GT]

If you guys want to see some grade and try and torture an engine, I'd say Monarch pass in CO would be about the best test. Going west is pretty darn steep; well over 7% grade in a few spots. The key on those kind of roads is to keep a good "racing" type line around corners so you don't scrub off so much speed.

My moms Olds 88 has 140K on the original automatic, and it gets downshifted A LOT! If you don't, you'll cook brakes and end up in a ravine.

 

[jmacmaster]

Originally posted by XS650:
"You guys cheat, your mountains start at over 5,000 feet."

Tell me about it. I work in Helena, Montana, which is 4,200 ft. above sea level and is at the west end of the Helena Valley, and live at the east end of the Helena Valley in a spot that's 4,400 ft. above sea level. The Continental Divide is just south of the Helena Valley. The mountains tower over me at both work and home. BTW, I've taken some real dogs (such as a full size 1990 Dodge pickup with a pathetic 125 hp V6) up over the Continental Divide and other mountain passes, and have never overheated an engine.