Never in the wildest dreams of some people to actually consider the top-selling Toyota Corolla to be thrilling and exciting to drive because it is widely recognized as being a friendly, economical and comfortable family vehicle. As it turns out, this is not always the case, as sometime in the past, Toyota made the Corolla XRS.
It's fast, powerful and it has that sporty design.
If you are one of those people who doubted if there is really a Toyota model that can actually be a sporty and exciting to drive, this may surprise you a little bit, but yes, there is one - the 2005 Toyota Corolla XRS.
Matt Farrah discovered it in the Smoking Tire’s latest one take, reinforced with its manual transmission and few changes in its transmission. It was surprising on their part to find the Toyota Corolla XRS and the drive on the winding canyon roads in Malibu is surprisingly entertaining. Check out the video below for the proof.
Only 2,500 Corolla XRS were built and they stopped building it for whatever crazy reason. This impressive Corolla model also didn’t sell out. What a waste.
The Corolla XRS is a fast machine – at that time – having a 1.8-liter 2ZZ engine boasting a 170 horsepower that was also used by the original Lotus Elise, the Matrix XRS and the Celica GTS, all iconic sports cars. With this engine, the Corolla XRS can hit 60mph in just 7 seconds.
It also has a variable valve-timing system like Honda’s VTEC that basically moves the engine to a more aggressive setting, sucking down more resources to make more power, at 6,800 RPM
Just when we thought Toyota dumped all their design ideas to the Scion and their other models, the XRS exterior is as impressive in design having smoked headlights, body-colored grille, fog lights, 16" wheels and a half-inch lower suspension than the standard Corolla
The 2005 Toyota Corolla XRS maybe more than a decade old and people may have failed to recall but at least it gave us an idea that a sporty and fun Toyota Corolla did exist!
The question is, will Toyota make another fun Corolla just in time to celebrate its 50th anniversary? Let’s wait and see.
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