Toyota Corolla Altis 2011 1.8 G AT

Toyota Corolla Altis 2011 1.8 G AT

The new Altis comes with keyless entry and a start-stop button but the ‘smart’ key fob looks a bit tacky. Cosmetic changes to the interiors include new perforated leather seats with motorised adjustments but the front seats could do with a more generous base for better under-thigh support. The faux wood trim and the dashboard top are now darker and this colour helps improve the perceived quality. The Corolla also gets more features like a parking sensor and a touch-screen DVD/Media player. Now to the business end of things; Toyota has made a significant change to the 2ZR 1.8-litre motor by tweaking the inlet tract and giving it variable valve timing As a result of these upgrades, power has been pushed up to 138bhp or 7bhp more than before while torque has improved by 0.3kgm. However, these numbers don’t convey the extent of the improvement. The new updated engine feels smoother, more responsive than the earlier motor, and is more free-revving as well. A key bit of new hardware is an all-new six-speed manual gearbox which is reasonably slick to operate but the clutch is a bit on the heavy side. Driveability is pretty good and the Altis pulls cleanly from 20kph in third gear without hesitation all the way till 140kph. The Altis’ gearing is on the taller side in the interests of fuel economy but we feel a slightly shorter set of gear ratios would have made better use of the extra torque and given the Corolla a greater sense of urgency. That’s not to suggest the Altis is slow. It will hit 100kph from a standstill in 9.5 seconds, an improvement of almost a second over the previous car. The extra ratios at the top make the Altis more relaxed while cruising and this has a positive impact on fuel efficiency.