OVER FIFTEEN million Corollas
have been sold worldwide since
the car’s introduction more than
twenty years ago. According to
Yoyota, that makes the Corolla
the second-best seiling nameplate
ever behind the Volkswagen Bee-
tle.

1 don't think this comparisan is
quite fair since the Beetle’s styling
remained virtually unchanged for
thirty years while the Corolla’s
basic size and shape was updated
numerous times.

However, it’s certain that the

Corolla name would not have
survived if the cars themselves
weren't equally durable over the
years. Independent surveys in-
dicate that the Corolla is extreme-
ly reliable. The CAA’s 20,000 plus
members have awarded the annual
Used Car Performance Award to
the Corolla four times in the last

len years.

The front-wheel-drive, subcom-
pact Coroila is in the same class
as such cars as the Honda Civic
sedan, Mazda 323 Protege, and
Nissan) Sentra. [t's available in

Toyota Corolla

Reliability is its strong suit

three body styles, a four-door
sedan, a two-door coupe, or a
four-door station wagon. The
wagon, and the sporty SR5
wagon, are available with full-time
4SWD. however, the 4WD sedan
has been axed this year.

This week's test car is a sedan,
the most popular Corolla model.
Some Corolla sedans, by the way,
are manufactured in Cambridye,
Ontario, but all the Corollas sold
on the West Coast come from
Japan.

Available in two. trim
feveis, base and LE, the
Toyota Corolla four-door
sedan is powered by a
102 horsepower, 4 cyl-
inder engine.

© Price as tested
(MSRP) $24.288
® Type
4 door, 5 passenger sedan
© Layout

transverse front engine/tront

Starting at $11,948 (MSRP, not
including freight and PDI
charges), the base model is well-
equipped, except for the lack of a
radio and a fold-down rear seat.
Variable-assist power steering is
standard equipment this year a
welcome move,

Popular options such as radio,
body-colored bumpers, split rear
seats, and tilt wheel are available
by adding an optional ‘LS’
package. Unfortunately, you have
to vuy all of these items as a
group, rather than individually.
By the time you add on the cost
of the LS package. you might as
well look at the next level up, the
LE, which has mosi of these
things as standard equipment.

The Corolla LE starts at
$14,288, and includes body col-
ored bumpers, 60/40 split fold-
down rear seats, intermittent
wipers, height adjustment on the
driver’s seat, tachometer, and an
AM/FAT stereo cassette with four

Wheel drive
© Engine
ESR7 ce 4 cylinder, DOHC,
16 valve, EFI
© Horsepower
102 @ $800 rpm
¢ Farque
101 lb-ft @ 4800 rpm
© Transmission

Friday. March 1, 1991 - North Shore News - 25

.

~ NEWS photos Mike Wakefield

TEST DRIVE

speakers.

All Carollas, except the 2-door
GTS model, are powered by
Toyota's hard-working 102 horse-

See Corolla page 27

5S spd. manual (4 spd. auto.)
© Tires

175/70 SR-14 all-season ra-
dials
e Fuel economy

City 8.3/34 mpg, Hwy 6.87
42 mpg
© Warranty
Basic 3 yrs/60,000 km