Thursday 11th June

Toyota Corolla T Sport | Spotted

Never the most thrilling hot hatch in the world, but it is eight thousand revs for four thousand pounds...

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So the run of awesome GR Toyotas looks set to continue. Fresh from unveiling a new GRMN Corolla, there are now stronger hints than ever that the MR2 and Celica will return - with a little help from the GR Yaris. There’s a version of that car now in testing with the new 2.0-litre engine in its belly, and even Toyota is quite crazy enough to make a mid-engined hatchback. It’s for a mid-engined sports car, and that sounds brilliant. 

As the rest of the OEMs retreat from anything interesting (or at least anything interesting at less than £100,000), so Toyota continues to fly the flag for affordable fun. With great success, too. Indeed such has been the fervour around all things GR that it can be easy to forget that Toyota made performance cars before - they just weren’t quite such worldbeaters… 

The Corolla T Sport definitely falls into that category. It launched in the early 2000s, just as the hot hatch was enjoying its renaissance thanks to cars like the Leon Cupra, Renaultsport Clio, Civic Type R, Focus ST and RS, Astra GSI… the list goes on. Pretty much every manufacturer offered a spicy supermini or a fast five door for the family (or both), and Toyota was keen to join in the fun. The big news was under the bonnet, with the 1.8-litre 2ZZ-GE that went onto greater things in the Lotus Exige and Elise. Its twin cam tech wasn’t dissimilar to the Civic’s VTEC, delivering its best from 6,000rpm onwards - all the way to an 8,200rpm limiter. An engine so exciting in a car as staid as this Corolla is intriguing if nothing else. 

Sadly the overall package wasn’t as thrilling as the engine, and the T Sport was always a sluggish seller. Even when a supercharged version pushed it beyond 200hp. And we’re not here to suggest the Corolla was a cruelly underrated hot hatch. There were better ones around. But with all those having now appreciated pretty significantly, the appeal of so many revs - and six gears - for just £4k is quite appealing. 

There will be ways to make them corner more keenly and feel more alive; to be honest, dull by the standards of 2003 may well feel fizzing with fun after the soporific standard of new cars. There’s obviously the well established supercharger route for more power, and a few breathing tweaks would surely help the sound on even further. 

The Corolla will never have the cult appeal of a Civic Type R, even with a similar approach of dull car with special engine, but then it’s not going to cost you the same either. This one looks decent enough for almost 100k, if in desperate need of an interior clean, and the advisory free MOT runs until 2027. Certainly there are many worse looking cars from 2003 out there, and being a boring, old, dependable Toyota most definitely counts in its favour now. Perhaps it could be a track day project, perhaps it could be a retro daily driver, perhaps it could be a donor for an MR2 (though that would seem a shame). Whatever, seeing a T Sport again is a nice reminder of a world where more than one 8,000rpm Japanese hot hatch could exist. Long may Toyota keep on being so proudly Toyota. 

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SPECIFICATION | TOYOTA COROLLA T SPORT

Engine: 1,796cc, four-cyl
Transmission: 6-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 190@7,800rpm
Torque (lb ft): 133@6,800rpm
CO2: 200g/km
MPG: 33.6
Year registered: 2003
Recorded mileage: 93,000
Price new: £15,495
Yours for: £3,995

See the original advert

[Dombilano]

Rather have the Compressor. And had someone rattle canned the front bumper?

[rossub]

4 grand isn’t a lot these days, but this still looks too rough to be worth it.

What’s not to like about 8k+ rpm though.

[TameRacingDriver]

The engine is probably the only redeeming feature of this car. Get a Celica or an FN2 Type R instead; the latter has an even better engine and gearbox, and actually looks good.

[InitialDave]

rossub said:

4 grand isn t a lot these days, but this still looks too rough to be worth it.

When I toyed with getting one of these a while back, that's what I found, prices felt higher than they should be and there seemed to be a quite a lot of slightly rough ones around.

[MDMA .]

Was looking to see what these were worth at the weekend. Someone came to the local meet in one on Sunday.

[Demonix]

That's a tepid hatch at best and as bland as your Nan's beige cardigan. At least the engine has an exciting body wrapped around it in the Elise or Exige. At 23 years old and 93k miles 4 grand for that Corolla is an optimistic ask, bag of sand is more like it.

[TameRacingDriver]

Demonix said:

That's a tepid hatch at best and as bland as your Nan's beige cardigan. At least the engine has an exciting body wrapped around it in the Elise or Exige. At 23 years old and 93k miles 4 grand for that Corolla is an optimistic ask, bag of sand is more like it.

The only reason I'd buy one of these is to scrap it and chuck the engine in an MR2 or Elise as you say.

[Downward]

Going up in price then. Surely 5 years ago it’s a £2k car.

[blistacompact]

This is probably the car with the most striking contrast between its aesthetics and the sportiness of its engine.
1.8-litre when the obvious direct competitor had a 2L. What was toyota thinking...

[205pat]

Fond memories of my mate having one of these back in 2012, we couldn’t believe the engine! I then bought an EP3 which put it in the shadows in every way, but still many happy memories!

[Code Black]

Looked into buying one of these many years ago. Wanted a “ hot” hatch and thought “ mmm Toyota reliability too, yes please”. But I couldn’t get past the looks. I mean it’s just so .. staid! No idea what they drive like but I’m hoping someone on here can tell me.

[Mr Tidy]

I wouldn't want one, but it's definitely a bit of a sleeper. Looking at it you'd never expect it to have an engine like that!

[Konan]

Code Black said:

Looked into buying one of these many years ago. Wanted a hot hatch and thought mmm Toyota reliability too, yes please . But I couldn t get past the looks. I mean it s just so .. staid! No idea what they drive like but I m hoping someone on here can tell me.

IIRC they have infuriating gear spacing. If you don't hold the revs until the valves are about to float before shifting, they drop off VVTi and bog.

Ages since I drove one, but that's how I remember it.

[Frimley111R]

Konan said:

Code Black said:

Looked into buying one of these many years ago. Wanted a hot hatch and thought mmm Toyota reliability too, yes please . But I couldn't get past the looks. I mean it s just so .. staid! No idea what they drive like but I m hoping someone on here can tell me.

IIRC they have infuriating gear spacing. If you don't hold the revs until the valves are about to float before shifting, they drop off VVTi and bog.

Ages since I drove one, but that's how I remember it.

You're right. I had one in my Elise. Honestly it was worst engine on any Lotus, like an old school turbo with massive lag. Nothing until about 5500 and then a big increase in power (helped by a drop in torque just before the VVT-Li kicked in), then a couple of seconds of power and then you needed to change gear and mostly drop out of the second cam zone. If you were utterly ragging it it was good but beyond that it just wasn't.

[chirurgus]

Frimley111R said:

You're right. I had one in my Elise. Honestly it was worst engine on any Lotus, like an old school turbo with massive lag. Nothing until about 5500 and then a big increase in power (helped by a drop in torque just before the VVT-Li kicked in), then a couple of seconds of power and then you needed to change gear and mostly drop out of the second cam zone. If you were utterly ragging it it was good but beyond that it just wasn't.

Was the gearing in the Elise different from that in the S2 Exige? I find mine very easy to keep on the higher cam, so that only the first 6k rpm in first gear feel pedestrian. Unless I'm in traffic or running at constant speed on a motorway, I'm only in that rev range from a standing start.

[WPA]

Just so bland and £4k seems punchy price wise

[Frimley111R]

chirurgus said:

Frimley111R said:

You're right. I had one in my Elise. Honestly it was worst engine on any Lotus, like an old school turbo with massive lag. Nothing until about 5500 and then a big increase in power (helped by a drop in torque just before the VVT-Li kicked in), then a couple of seconds of power and then you needed to change gear and mostly drop out of the second cam zone. If you were utterly ragging it it was good but beyond that it just wasn't.

Was the gearing in the Elise different from that in the S2 Exige? I find mine very easy to keep on the higher cam, so that only the first 6k rpm in first gear feel pedestrian. Unless I'm in traffic or running at constant speed on a motorway, I'm only in that rev range from a standing start.

No, it was the same. It's not that it's not quick, it's just that that 189bhp is right up there and you really need to be on it to stop dropping out of it. I supercharged mine in the end which solved it

[Fiedka]

I had almost exactly same car, down to the year, cooour and number of doors. The only difference being mine had a really nice perforated leather seats.
Bought in 2014 for I think 2000 pounds sold two years later for 1500 or so. I wish I didn’t as I loved the drab looks and performance mix which would surprise people.
Recently looked at buying one again but as this example shows, prices are stupid now and most look very tired.

[SpadeBrigade]

Get a sensible condition R53 for that and it would be a lot more fun.

[Mobeer]

I'm obviously getting cynical but "The Car Has Been Well Maintained" and yet fitted with different tyres (Grenlander Colo H02, Bridgestone Turanza) seems a bit odd.