Toyota Corolla American Details - Dual VVT-i

Just a quick update. It seems that we might be getting the same 1.8 litre engine as the US Corolla, and it might be Dual VVT-i After all?

I previously wrote about the Corolla Altis engine issue and at the time I thought that we were not getting Dual VVT-i units. This was an assumption based on some data in a Toyota presentation pack at a Toyota Dealer in Bangkok.

Now there is some new information which makes everything clearer, the launch detailed specifications of the US model Corolla.

According to this story the American Corolla features all-new engines, a 1.8-litre and a 2.4. It is the 1.8 litre unit that is of interest to us, since we won't be getting the 2.4!

So, the 1.8 in the US Corolla is producing 132 hp at 6,000 rpm and 128 lb.-ft. of torque at 4,400 rpm, and it is a Dual VVT-i unit! This 132 hp figure is the same figure I saw in the Thai booklet for our new Altis. However, since the Japanese 1.8 Altis with the Dual VVT-i had a power output of around 140 hp, and the current VVT-i Altis has 136 hp, I was inclined to think that this was not the Dual VVT-i version.

But now we know that there is a Dual VVT-i unit that is tuned to output 132 hp things are starting to look up! This should lead to better performance and economy despite the lower power output figures.

More details as we have them.

Update 2-Feb-08 : Read test drive review of 2008 Toyota Corolla Altis in Thailand!