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Just saw the moment today and took this picture. The Corolla XRS is the first car I got out of university back in 2004 and I modded it like crazy back in my 20s, Has about 190 HP and always really liked how everyone used to be surprised at how a Corolla could sound with that Yamaha-built 2ZZ engine and that a Corolla could be a quick car. Of course, RCF makes it feel like a snail, but back in the day I used to love running it to redline.
Still have this car after 16 years, It is old now with 160,000 miles, but still runs great and has the 6 speed manual for my own heel-toe and rev-match cravings. It is relegated to my office duty car only since we have the RX to take everywhere. However, I work from home due to COVID so this thing sadly sits in the parking spot waiting for the day when I start going back to the office (if that ever comes).
My daily is a 2007 Toyota Solara. It's got around 225k miles on it. Very reliable and very comfortable. Same 6 cylinder engine that's in a Lexus. Out of all the cars I have this is still my go to vehicle...lol. It's practical, comfy, gets around 30mpg, and overall is easy to drive. If I need to haul something long and I don't have my truck, I put the top down and boom, I can put a 15' piece of wood in there without worry that it's going to fly out. I've brought it up to date with a new head unit so I have apple carplay/android auto (one of which my RCF that is 10x more expensive doesn't have...smh), back up camera, auto dimming mirror, and best of all put the top down...etc.
Awesome story. Back in the day, I used to really dig the Solara especially their shape since it was very futuristic for its time in the early 2000s. Looks like you have kept it really well as it looks really well maintained. I had the same 3.3 Liter V6 (detuned version) in my previous 2008 RX400h and it was smooth as silk even after 12 - 13 years. Cheers
Originally Posted by nigel821
I feel ya!
My daily is a 2007 Toyota Solara. It's got around 225k miles on it. Very reliable and very comfortable. Same 6 cylinder engine that's in a Lexus. Out of all the cars I have this is still my go to vehicle...lol. It's practical, comfy, gets around 30mpg, and overall is easy to drive. If I need to haul something long and I don't have my truck, I put the top down and boom, I can put a 15' piece of wood in there without worry that it's going to fly out. I've brought it up to date with a new head unit so I have apple carplay/android auto (one of which my RCF that is 10x more expensive doesn't have...smh), back up camera, auto dimming mirror, and best of all put the top down...etc.
Nice 9th gen XRS! I had one back in the day and spent a lot of my time on 9th gen corolla forums (I thought I recognized your user name). Ended up with full bolt ons and Apexi Power FC. The 6k lift point was so addicting. Sad that I sold it.
Nice 9th gen XRS! I had one back in the day and spent a lot of my time on 9th gen corolla forums (I thought I recognized your user name). Ended up with full bolt ons and Apexi Power FC. The 6k lift point was so addicting. Sad that I sold it.
LOL Wow! small word. You are right. I used to be one of the very regulars on the 9thgen site back in the mid-2000s when I got the car. I am sure I must have spoken to you on those forums. I went on to mod it quite a bit. At one point, I had the 2003 Matrix XRS ECU in it, which brought lift down to 6100 rpm or thereabouts. It was a lot of fun, I agree. I kept the ECU for 2 years and then put the OEM ECU back on when I had issues with it. R9K was later on offering reflash for the stock OEM Corolla XRS ECU, but at that point I decided to not modify it any further and just try to extend its life as much as possible. I also got the RCF by then.
LOL Wow! small word. You are right. I used to be one of the very regulars on the 9thgen site back in the mid-2000s when I got the car. I am sure I must have spoken to you on those forums. I went on to mod it quite a bit. At one point, I had the 2003 Matrix XRS ECU in it, which brought lift down to 6100 rpm or thereabouts. It was a lot of fun, I agree. I kept the ECU for 2 years and then put the OEM ECU back on when I had issues with it. R9K was later on offering reflash for the stock OEM Corolla XRS ECU, but at that point I decided to not modify it any further and just try to extend its life as much as possible. I also got the RCF by then.
I remember the thread with the Matrix ecu. Good times. Might have to look for another XRS now. Long live the 2ZZ!
Been through a bunch of cars since I sold the XRS. Just picked up an RCF with TVD/performance package. In some ways I consider it a successor to the XRS (Toyota, NA, high redline).
Looks great. Your RCF looks great. Very clean. Mine only has 10K miles. I am taking it to the dealership on this Friday for service and maintenance with a possibility of alignment. I agree with you on 2UR being a spiritual successor of the 2ZZ. The character is so similar, it is amazing. Both have very top-rpm heavy power delivery with screaming character. Though, RCF feels strong everywhere while the 2ZZ felt gutless until lift.
The RCF 2UR especially had intricate involvement from Yamaha so that is another connection since the 2ZZ-GE has even Yamaha stamped on the side of the block. That is why for many years, I never figured out what my next car would be? I knew it had to be a high-performance sports car, but I was very particular about what I wanted. Originally, I targeted the E90 M3 sedan with a 6 speed manual for its 8000+ rpm redline and came very close to buying a used one back in 2015. Once the RCF came out, I changed my mind because I could see the similarities as far as the high-revving character goes, but RCF was much more modern overall and especially feels a lot more powerful.
Originally Posted by calpal
I remember the thread with the Matrix ecu. Good times. Might have to look for another XRS now. Long live the 2ZZ!
Been through a bunch of cars since I sold the XRS. Just picked up an RCF with TVD/performance package. In some ways I consider it a successor to the XRS (Toyota, NA, high redline).
That doesn't surprise me the 2UR had involvement from Yamaha. Actually, when I was debating my next car the e90/e92 M3 was on my list for the same reasons you mentioned. I've owned an e92 335i and an f30 335i so it seemed to be the natural progression to move into an M3. Whether that be the fantastic s65 v8 or the s55 TT inline 6. Then I drove the RCF and that sealed the deal.
That doesn't surprise me the 2UR had involvement from Yamaha. Actually, when I was debating my next car the e90/e92 M3 was on my list for the same reasons you mentioned. I've owned an e92 335i and an f30 335i so it seemed to be the natural progression to move into an M3. Whether that be the fantastic s65 v8 or the s55 TT inline 6. Then I drove the RCF and that sealed the deal.
That is cool. Yeah, S65 engine was my benchmark for sound and throttle response ever since I drove it. When I first went to test drive the RCF (which I own now), I went with that thought process in mind especially considering the RCF was a lot more expensive than a used low mileage 2011 E90 M3 sedan.. The RCF felt overall a much better car and I knew my only issue of lack of exhaust noise could easily be fixed with an exhaust so I agreed to buy it at the end of the test drive.
I have put on a few mods on my RCF and it addressed my qualms with the car (exhaust and aggressive tires). The SprintBooster is another great little mod as it makes more torque available when initially the weight starts to move so it gives similar effect as the MWR light flywheel I put on my XRS where the car feels very light on its feet.
Looks great. Your RCF looks great. Very clean. Mine only has 10K miles. I am taking it to the dealership on this Friday for service and maintenance with a possibility of alignment. I agree with you on 2UR being a spiritual successor of the 2ZZ. The character is so similar, it is amazing. Both have very top-rpm heavy power delivery with screaming character. Though, RCF feels strong everywhere while the 2ZZ felt gutless until lift.
The RCF 2UR especially had intricate involvement from Yamaha so that is another connection since the 2ZZ-GE has even Yamaha stamped on the side of the block. That is why for many years, I never figured out what my next car would be? I knew it had to be a high-performance sports car, but I was very particular about what I wanted. Originally, I targeted the E90 M3 sedan with a 6 speed manual for its 8000+ rpm redline and came very close to buying a used one back in 2015. Once the RCF came out, I changed my mind because I could see the similarities as far as the high-revving character goes, but RCF was much more modern overall and especially feels a lot more powerful.
The 2ZZ is probably the least-favored engine of any real Toyota die-hard. No one really cared about it. It was a weak, buzzy engine that behaved like a Honda B18 engine. Engines like the 4A-GE, 3S-GE, 2JZ-GE/GTE, 2TG, 18R-G, 2UR-GSE, 1LR-GUE and etc. are legendary Yamaha/Toyota collaborations.
The 2ZZ is probably the least-favored engine of any real Toyota die-hard. No one really cared about it. It was a weak, buzzy engine that behaved like a Honda B18 engine. Engines like the 4A-GE, 3S-GE, 2JZ-GE/GTE, 2TG, 18R-G, 2UR-GSE, 1LR-GUE and etc. are legendary Yamaha/Toyota collaborations.
The 2ZZ is probably the least-favored engine of any real Toyota die-hard. No one really cared about it. It was a weak, buzzy engine that behaved like a Honda B18 engine. Engines like the 4A-GE, 3S-GE, 2JZ-GE/GTE, 2TG, 18R-G, 2UR-GSE, 1LR-GUE and etc. are legendary Yamaha/Toyota collaborations.
It was controversial and had its weaknesses especially the torque, but for its time it had some amazing capabilities as a compact engine. It was the highest revving Toyota engine ever made with an 8250 rpm redline. it was extremely light for the power it gave. It also has proven to be very reliable as many of us have been running the engine for close to 200K miles.
It was developed to out-perform the B18C5 engine. While it was not refined, it was more of a competitor with the K20 engine because of its weight. The i-VTEC in the K20 came two years after the 2ZZ and was actually inspired by the VVTL-i in the 2ZZ-GE because it combined both VVT-i and VVL together. The B18 VTEC all had fixed valve timing with only a cam lobe for high lift. Because of the engine weight, the 2ZZ XRS weighed only 2600 lbs (Celica GTS was 2500 lbs). That is why it was selected by Lotus to put in the Elise and they had to convince Toyota after steadfast refusal by Toyota. The K20 engine while having slightly bigger displacement with more power/more usable torque band, was one of the main reason why the Civic Si and RSX-S were quite heavy (close to 2900 lbs).
I was a part of the tuner community for more than a decade and by the time I left, the aftermarket was exploding for the 2ZZ. The 2ZZ-GE was huge in the Puerto Rico tuner community. I used to talk to who became the biggest tuner there (R9K). Many of the Puerto Rican 2ZZ were able to get 200+ whp N/A (240 HP at the crank) out of a tiny 1.8 Liter inline-4. Some of them were running 13s and trapping at 100 mph. With so many options available, I simply grew out of the car, which is why I stopped modding it, but I never wanted to part ways with it because of the 2ZZ. It still seems to be very popular in PR.
I have driven a Subaru BRZ and firmly believe a new modern/advnced version of the 2ZZ with bigger displacement and modern D4S technology and dual-VVT-i combined with lift etc would have made a much more superior driving experience.
Anyway, I am not claiming it was a flawless engine and my 2UR experience really makes the flaws even more glaring (pound-for-pound ignoring the huge power difference), but it has some amazing qualities for its time and for what it was supposed to be, which was a sport compact engine.
04-21-21, 09:10 AM
The beast with the old faithful
