Vehicle: 2003 Toyota Corolla S with 5-speed stick, sports cloth seats and white instrumentation.

Performance: The new Corolla is powered by a 1.8L VVT-i engine that bumps up 130hp @ 6000 rpm and 125 lb/ft of torque @ 4200 rpm. While the numbers are not particularly impressive on paper, it works impressively on “real life”. The powerplant is silky smooth without all the annoying rattles of its predecessors. Throttle response is quick and linear. Despite 125 lb/ft of torque is definitely not the fastest in class, it feels like it has to be one of the most torquery of the econocar bunch. With variable valve timing plus intelligence, this 1.8 won’t go breathless as you rev into high rpm. The clutch is light and progressive, with appropriate “feel”. The shifter is smooth but feels like bit rubbery during gear transition. The most impressive of all is it revs at lowly rpm at high speed. 110 km/h @ 2200 rpm is spectacular for the car of this engine displacement. The whole NVH package is good enough to compare to cars priced 2 times as much.

Handling: Previous Corolla handles rather terribly due to its poorly tuned chassis and suspension. You feel like driving a different car in a new Corolla. The chassis is stiff and well-tuned, suspension handles corners relatively well while absorbs bumps and washboard pavement perfectly well. In terms of ride comfort, it can be easily challenge the best of the class. Given its a front-driver, understeer is an issue but its under well-tempted thanks to its nice suspension design. Body rolls also very well-controlled. While steering provides decent on-center feel, it lacks certain off-center feel that makes its rivals so involved to drive. That’s the only drawback of the overall very good dynamic package.

Brakes: The brake has an excellent pedal feel. The stopping distance is short and the pedal doesn’t feel fade even after a couple of hard stops. Now here lies the pet peeve. This S which is the top model doesn’t have ABS come as an option, let alone standard. If Mazda can afford a standard ABS on a 21k Protege 5, why Toyota can’t afford one on a nearly 23k Corolla S.

Interior: All the Walmart-derived velour, plastic, tiny stereo buttons, cramped interior and terribly narrow seats are gone in the new Corolla. The sports cloth on our tester feels very comfortable. It got excellent support on every area. The seats are large and easily occupy every size of people. On our S model, white instrumetation is standard. The gauges are clear and analog, now even come with outside temperature gauge. Ergonomically, its flawless. Large buttons for stereo and climate control. The knobs are so large that you can recognize it even if you close your eyes. There are lots of storage space include a little cubbyhole that allows you to put the cell phone in. However, there’s one pet peeve, Toyota beancounters still won’t compromise on putting hard plastic on not-so-obvious areas under dashboard. The back seat’s head and legroom feel like a mid-size sedan. There are plenty of space for all position. The trunk is huge which has a cut at the bumper level for easy loading. 60/40 split folding rear seat increase cargo space. As with typical Japanese norm, instrusive trunk hingles are a standard feature to crash into groceries inside.

Conclusion: The new Corolla is no longer the lackluster car as its predecessors did. It got a nice powerplant, it handles relatively well and got high built quality. Even though it still lacks the driving involvement of its rivals, its dynamics have been centuries ahead of its uninspiring predecessor. In short, Corolla’s anomyous image of lack of power and poor handler have become a thing of history.

OVERALL RATINGS FOR 2002 TOYOTA COROLLA S
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Performance: 4/5
Handling/fun-to-drive: 3.5/5
Interior/ergonomics/user-friendliness: 4/5
Fit-and-finish/built quality: 4/5
Value-for-money: 3/5

Overall rating: 3.75/5