Corolla Compressor. Is it worth £14K?
Discussion
Hmmm, i have seen discounts on clio 197s that bring them to about 15 grand and the new corsa vxr can come in around that price if in poverty spec. Although quick in a straight line the corolla feels unsettled around corners and torque steers worst than a focus rs (no trick differential here). Not helped by the balloon like tyres and high ride hight. I personally would spend the extra grand and go hunting for a bargain renault or vauxhall.
Edited by ROY BACER on Thursday 3rd May 15:26
The old Renault Clio Trophy would be my choice hot hatch for something nearly new. Pretty hard to beat as a driver's car.
Or, if you are keen on the Jap route, an outgoing Civic Type R (EP3) is a great car if you can forgive the wooly steering. Certainly a better drive than the Toyota IMO.
Even a 14K, I reckon the Corolla will get hammered in the depreciation stakes. As a performance car, they don't really have much of a following.
Or, if you are keen on the Jap route, an outgoing Civic Type R (EP3) is a great car if you can forgive the wooly steering. Certainly a better drive than the Toyota IMO.
Even a 14K, I reckon the Corolla will get hammered in the depreciation stakes. As a performance car, they don't really have much of a following.
ROY BACER said:
Hmmm, i have seen discounts on clio 197s that bring them to about 15 grand and the new corsa vxr can come in around that price if in poverty spec. Although quick in a straight line the corolla feels unsettled around corners and torque steers worst than a focus rs (no trick differential here). Not helped by the balloon like tyres and high ride hight. I personally would spend the extra grand and go hunting for a bargain renault or vauxhall.
..and there we have it, a classic PH post written by someone with no experience of driving one, let alone (seemingly) a car with any great degree of ooomph, but yet deems himself qualified to coment first hand on the characteristics of the car in question. 
I've driven mine over 5000 miles now and have yet to experience any Mental Torque-Steer
Whilst we're all guilty of a little poetic justice I really wish people would think before posting utter drivel.
FYI Mr Bacer, the 'trick differential' is there to help prevent torque steer. Furthermore, I don't seem to recall contemporary road tests of the Coralla SC mentioning torque steer at all. Rather the reports just mentioned it was a crap car.
jamieboy said:
ASBO said:
Whilst we're all guilty of a little poetic justice I really wish people would think before posting utter drivel.
Couldn't have put it better myself, it's good advice for us all.Think you mean 'poetic license', though.
ASBO said:
ROY BACER said:
Hmmm, i have seen discounts on clio 197s that bring them to about 15 grand and the new corsa vxr can come in around that price if in poverty spec. Although quick in a straight line the corolla feels unsettled around corners and torque steers worst than a focus rs (no trick differential here). Not helped by the balloon like tyres and high ride hight. I personally would spend the extra grand and go hunting for a bargain renault or vauxhall.
..and there we have it, a classic PH post written by someone with no experience of driving one, let alone (seemingly) a car with any great degree of ooomph, but yet deems himself qualified to coment first hand on the characteristics of the car in question. I've driven mine over 5000 miles now and have yet to experience any Mental Torque-Steer
Whilst we're all guilty of a little poetic justice I really wish people would think before posting utter drivel.
FYI Mr Bacer, the 'trick differential' is there to help prevent torque steer. Furthermore, I don't seem to recall contemporary road tests of the Coralla SC mentioning torque steer at all. Rather the reports just mentioned it was a crap car.
I will assume you are not a Troll flaming someone to boost your ego but a genuine car enthusiast who has driven 5000 miles in a car I only had the opportunity to drive 5 miles in (Currie Motors in Chiswick kindly arranged a test drive in one just before Christmas). In that short time I found that I struggled to hold the line on a number of corners and felt the steering wheel being tugged from my grasp.
In my opinion that particular example displayed characteristics remarkably similar to Torque Steer. Now, maybe I drive like a girl or have particularly weedy forearms in which case I apologise for blaming my physical inadequacies on a poor defenceless Toyota. Or maybe the car I drove had different tyres or suspension settings to your example. With considerably more miles under your belt I would value your opinion over mine but I was merely sharing my experience with a fellow car enthusiast (surely the whole point of being a PHer). Or maybe you have never driven one in your life and are actually a bored 16 year old on work experience in his dads office let loose on the internet for 8 hours because you make shit cups of tea?
With regards to the focus RS, I have driven two. One round Cadwell Park with track biased rubber and a bluefin upgrade which was awesome but a bit of a handful and the other a standard example on the a20 near Maidstone which was a bitch to drive and I spent more time concentrating on keeping the bloody thing out of a field than actually enjoying the experience.
If you read my comment regarding differentials again I suggest that the corolla torque steers worst than a focus rs, and I have attributed this to the lack of limited slip diff. Therefore demonstrating that I understand what the purpose of an LSD on a front wheel drive car is.
Rant over, flame away.
ROY BACER said:
ASBO said:
ROY BACER said:
Hmmm, i have seen discounts on clio 197s that bring them to about 15 grand and the new corsa vxr can come in around that price if in poverty spec. Although quick in a straight line the corolla feels unsettled around corners and torque steers worst than a focus rs (no trick differential here). Not helped by the balloon like tyres and high ride hight. I personally would spend the extra grand and go hunting for a bargain renault or vauxhall.
..and there we have it, a classic PH post written by someone with no experience of driving one, let alone (seemingly) a car with any great degree of ooomph, but yet deems himself qualified to coment first hand on the characteristics of the car in question. I've driven mine over 5000 miles now and have yet to experience any Mental Torque-Steer
Whilst we're all guilty of a little poetic justice I really wish people would think before posting utter drivel.
FYI Mr Bacer, the 'trick differential' is there to help prevent torque steer. Furthermore, I don't seem to recall contemporary road tests of the Coralla SC mentioning torque steer at all. Rather the reports just mentioned it was a crap car.
I will assume you are not a Troll flaming someone to boost your ego but a genuine car enthusiast who has driven 5000 miles in a car I only had the opportunity to drive 5 miles in (Currie Motors in Chiswick kindly arranged a test drive in one just before Christmas). In that short time I found that I struggled to hold the line on a number of corners and felt the steering wheel being tugged from my grasp.
In my opinion that particular example displayed characteristics remarkably similar to Torque Steer. Now, maybe I drive like a girl or have particularly weedy forearms in which case I apologise for blaming my physical inadequacies on a poor defenceless Toyota. Or maybe the car I drove had different tyres or suspension settings to your example. With considerably more miles under your belt I would value your opinion over mine but I was merely sharing my experience with a fellow car enthusiast (surely the whole point of being a PHer). Or maybe you have never driven one in your life and are actually a bored 16 year old on work experience in his dads office let loose on the internet for 8 hours because you make shit cups of tea?
With regards to the focus RS, I have driven two. One round Cadwell Park with track biased rubber and a bluefin upgrade which was awesome but a bit of a handful and the other a standard example on the a20 near Maidstone which was a bitch to drive and I spent more time concentrating on keeping the bloody thing out of a field than actually enjoying the experience.
If you read my comment regarding differentials again I suggest that the corolla torque steers worst than a focus rs, and I have attributed this to the lack of limited slip diff. Therefore demonstrating that I understand what the purpose of an LSD on a front wheel drive car is.
Rant over, flame away.
Good choice David, make your mind up for yourself and dare to be different – its less common than a Type R or GTI and not as ostentatious as the Ford ASBO, a friend of mine has a Corrola Compressor - always reminds me of a supercharged shopping trolley!
I have not had the pleasure of driving it yet and have to say that if you spent the full 20k on it I am not sure it would represent value for money however, at 14k sounds like a good buy and should put a smile on your face on B roads (can only offer an opinion as a passenger).
I recently test drove the Corsa VXR
for ‘The Verdict’ section of the Independent. The Corsa is a car that suffers from serious torque steer (steering wheel hacks left and right under hard acceleration and is a challenge to hold in a straight line), bad road manners and seriously bad dress sense - it also seems intent on killing its occupants – although I have to say on B roads its fun but think it would be a bitch to live with full time (the turbo is ferocious and tries to imbed you in the car in front when in traffic)!
Enjoy your new buy and give us an update in a couple of months when you have some miles on the clock……………
I have not had the pleasure of driving it yet and have to say that if you spent the full 20k on it I am not sure it would represent value for money however, at 14k sounds like a good buy and should put a smile
on your face on B roads (can only offer an opinion as a passenger).I recently test drove the Corsa VXR
for ‘The Verdict’ section of the Independent. The Corsa is a car that suffers from serious torque steer (steering wheel hacks left and right under hard acceleration and is a challenge to hold in a straight line), bad road manners and seriously bad dress sense - it also seems intent on killing its occupants – although I have to say on B roads its fun but think it would be a bitch to live with full time (the turbo is ferocious and tries to imbed you in the car in front when in traffic)!Enjoy your new buy and give us an update in a couple of months when you have some miles on the clock……………
TimPowell said:
We were massively disappointed with the T-sport and I dont think adding a supercharger will address the car's many other problems.
Seems a rather sweeping statement, would you care to expand on it please? I have now done just over 3K miles,and it is getting better and better...Cannot believe that it is a year since I posted this!. Well the Compressor has now gone, a few months ago, managed to rack up 19,000 miles in 10 months of ownership and thoroughly enjoyed it. Only had one small problem with the alarm bonnet switch. Must say that the build quality was superb! It was a nice driver, but just lacked that cutting edge. Now have gone back to a CTR, brand new (and I said I would NEVER buy a new car) but this is fabulous to drive. Build quality not as good as the compressor, but the fun factor is there! Fuel consumption on the Comp was the killer, was getting 28mpg on a motorway run, CTR does 39!!! (I need my licence)
The mother and I share a Corolla T-Sport. She likes it for trundling round and I have taken it to Santa Pod and the Ring. It put up with abuse no quibbles apart from the brakes. There is no torque steer as there is no torque. But the noise is good and it pulls well once running. It could really benefit from a serious suspensin stiffening and ride height lowering as handling on the limit can be, interesting.
All in I think the car is great, certainly has character and the fact nobody knows what it is makes for some interesting moments.
I had a test drive in a Compressor that came into our local dealer. To be honest I prefered the interior in ours, except for the dash as the white dials in newer models are much nicer than the bright orange illuminated one in ours. I was also a little upset with the drive. I was expecting the same thing just with a bit more kick. I will say the ride and handling were much improved over our standard 52 plate model, but it lost its character, the sudden kick where the high cam type bit kicks in is very much eliminated by the supercharger. So despite the Compressor being quicker it just never felt it and lost the bit I enjoy most about ours. We Did not upgrade.
And to the poster who said the torque steer may be due to the balloon tyres, well the Compressor came with different alloys and very low profile rubber, the standard T-Sport howver does have said balloon jobbies.
All in I think the car is great, certainly has character and the fact nobody knows what it is makes for some interesting moments.
I had a test drive in a Compressor that came into our local dealer. To be honest I prefered the interior in ours, except for the dash as the white dials in newer models are much nicer than the bright orange illuminated one in ours. I was also a little upset with the drive. I was expecting the same thing just with a bit more kick. I will say the ride and handling were much improved over our standard 52 plate model, but it lost its character, the sudden kick where the high cam type bit kicks in is very much eliminated by the supercharger. So despite the Compressor being quicker it just never felt it and lost the bit I enjoy most about ours. We Did not upgrade.
And to the poster who said the torque steer may be due to the balloon tyres, well the Compressor came with different alloys and very low profile rubber, the standard T-Sport howver does have said balloon jobbies.
the corolla tsport/compressor is a great car. very understated people think its an old ladies car until you destroy them. We did vmax at 140mph on a trip to berlin a few months ago. Down a hill it may have been higher! Ive read reviews that say "warm hatch" this is crap. Its up there with all the other type r's, GTI's etc. Cornering is perfectly good. TBH people unless you are gods gift at driving your not going to notice a great difference with the current crop of FWD hot hatches in the real world (tracks i grant you are completely different) in terms of decent steering and handling imo.
i agree with the ride height being to high for such a quick car. People just don't seem to like them on the whole. i have no idea why, my experience as driver and passenger have been great fun and i would recommend one to anyone(especially now as they are such good value for money, my mate paid 5k for a 51 plate with 40k on the clock.
TBH
i agree with the ride height being to high for such a quick car. People just don't seem to like them on the whole. i have no idea why, my experience as driver and passenger have been great fun and i would recommend one to anyone(especially now as they are such good value for money, my mate paid 5k for a 51 plate with 40k on the clock.
TBH
Edited by Technonotice on Friday 13th June 15:26
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