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European Corolla receives new fuel efficient engine, Start/Stop, twin shaft 6-speed MT and a truly smart alternator. (cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?p=175228m)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2009_European_Toyota_Corolla.jpgWayne Gerdes – CleanMPG (CleanMPG.com) – Dec. 19, 2008

2009 European Toyota Corolla w/ the all-new 1.33L Optimal Drive engine and technology.

Two years after its European launch, the new 10th generation Corolla Sedan will benefit from a whole range of new powertrain technologies based on Toyota Optimal Drive technology. These new technologies will deliver more performance whit higher fuel economy.

Beginning in November 2008, the all-new 1.33L Dual VVT-i gasoline engine delivering 101 HP will feature advanced Stop/Start technology.

Lighter, more compact, powerful and more fuel efficient engine

Toyota engineers reduced the length of the 1.33L engine by 2.1 inches and width by 5 inches while reducing weight by an incredible 28.6 pounds vs. the outgoing 1.4L. These improvements resulted in an engine that is the size of a 1.0-litre VVT-i 3-cylinder engine.

New pistons were developed to produce a quick and efficient combustion process. For reduced friction and increased efficiency the contact area was decreased. Piston weight was also dramatically reduced from .6 pounds to .4 pounds (down 36%), meaning less energy is required to move them. In addition, an oil jet was integrated for leaner combustion.

Meticulous engineering has lead to an output of 72.5 Ft-Lb’s/L of engine displacement with an overall 95.7 Ft-Lb’s at 3,800 rpm.

Smart Alternator

A charging control system is also used to enhance fuel economy. When the vehicle is accelerating, the generated voltage is decreased. When the vehicle is decelerating, generated voltage is increased. This reduces the load on the engine caused by the alternator generating power.

Advanced new 6-speed transmission

Toyota engineers reduced the gearbox size by 11%, reduced the number of components by 15%, increased torque capacity, improved the gearshift feeling and reduced friction. The twin shaft transmission uses an advanced tooth profile for high stability and low Noise Vibration and Harshness (NVH). A hollow output shaft was used to reduce weight, while oil spill is reduced by installing oil separators.

Stop/Start technology

An ingenious new Stop/Start system is now available on the Corolla to reduce fuel consumption and emissions even more.

Almost immediate re-starts are possible with the Toyota system due to the free-wheel starter operation with a permanently engaged mechanism for the starter motor. Compared to conventional engines, the starting noise has dropped from 75 to 67 dB and the starting time has been reduced from 0.7 to 0.4 seconds. In fact, faster than both the Prius and HCH-II!

When the Corolla is stopped, this Stop/Start system shuts down the engine when the shift lever is in the N position and the clutch pedal is released, thus enhancing fuel economy.

All in, the new advanced Toyota Optimal Drive innovations on the 1.33L engine lead to a 15% drop in fuel consumption vs. the current European Corolla’s 1.4L gasoline engine.

Other advanced engine technology

Although not included in the European Corolla, the upsized and upscale Avensis’ 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0L ICE’s include even more advanced engine technology called Valvematic or variable lift control. At low to medium RPM’s, Valvematic enables the air/fuel mixture to be controlled by the lower lift height of the valves instead and leaves the throttle plate almost fully opened, which reduces pumping losses dramatically.

I am hopeful we will see some of these engine enhancements reaching our shore during the Corolla’s mid-model year makeover in mid 2010 or thereabouts.

A final compliment to Toyota of Europe is their vastly improved sustainability at Toyota’s European production plants. Since 2001, there has been a 44% reduction in the energy used to build a Toyota in Europe.

Wow -- sounds like quite the suite of improvements!!

I wonder if the auto stop can be engaged at a reasonable rolling speed (like the MT Insight and HCH)?

It's a shame we can't get this car in the USA. I'd love to see a Yaris or Scion with the IISS mild-hybrid system.

I agree, it's annoying that just because gas here is cheap in comparison to Europe and Asia, why are we not given a choice but to waste resources? Japan has had Yaris' with this kind of technology for years, but here in NA you can't get anything but a 1.5l which is such a pity.

Same size as the 1.0... this must be the iQ powertrain--fingers crossed they bring it over, with the mild hybrid and 6-speed, even if it's 5-10% more money than the Yaris. Can't imagine Toyota giving the US this drivetrain in any other vehicle.

I wouldn't expect the 1.33 over here in the Corolla anytime soon...they've had the 1.4 for years and the smallest NA Corolla engine has been a 1.8. If we're lucky, they'll put the 1.33 in the Yaris.

I sure could've used VVT-i for crawling through the snow this morning...32 MPG. Ugh.

Why is it that engine displacement is now reported in SI units but everything else is in imperial units??? Could you at least use N*M for torque and KW for power? Or change engine displacement into cubic inches?

It's been the convention for a lot of years now, jhu. When I was a kid, most people still talked cubic inches, but as imported cars became more popular, usually with engine sizes labeled in L, carrying a bit of exotic allure. People gradually got used to it and by the late 80s even the domestics had switched to liters.

No one cared about lb-ft vs N-m or kW vs hp ... because, frankly, people didn't care as much about horsepower and torque as they do today.

I would NOT expect people to adjust to Nm or kW. Americans are not going to give up our gallons, pounds, degrees F or miles. It just ain't gonna happen.

--

Back to the topic at hand, here's hoping that the innovations in this engine eventually become standard on nearly all cars, as fuel injection, electronic engine management and multiple valves per cylinder have before them.

WriConsult, "your" gallons, pounds, degrees F, miles!? These old English units are a legacy from the original founding of the United States of America, and should have been tossed into Boston Harbor along with the sacks of tea!

We had a metric conversion board for decades who were as useful as the proverbial bucket of warm spit. Reagan abolished it in 1982. I am of the opinion that our continued use of this archaic English system of measures reduces our industrial efficiency by at least 10%, if not more. Time somebody had the political guts to push the change, so we could get in sync with the rest of the world.

After all the Brits have managed to change, why are we so stubborn?

Why is it that engine displacement is now reported in SI units but everything else is in imperial units??? Could you at least use N*M for torque and KW for power? Or change engine displacement into cubic inches?

Approximate conversions (to keep the decimal places reasonable)

Engine displacement:
Cubic Inches = Liters x 61
Liters = Cubic Inches / 61

Engine power:
HP = KW x 1.34
KW = HP x 0.75

FtLbs = NM x 0.74
NM = FtLbs x 1.35

WriConsult, "your" gallons, pounds, degrees F, miles!? These old English units are a legacy from the original founding of the United States of America, and should have been tossed into Boston Harbor along with the sacks of tea!

We had a metric conversion board for decades who were as useful as the proverbial bucket of warm spit. Reagan abolished it in 1982. I am of the opinion that our continued use of this archaic English system of measures reduces our industrial efficiency by at least 10%, if not more. Time somebody had the political guts to push the change, so we could get in sync with the rest of the world.

After all the Brits have managed to change, why are we so stubborn?

Personally, I agree we should have sh**-canned those archaic units when we had the chance 30 years ago. I come from a science background and think the English system is completely stupid. The idiotic resistance to change that I saw when I was growing up is what tells me it ain't gonna happen.

The metric system is more established than it was most likely, but, I can't see why the metric system isn't standard. It just makes more sense.

But, I suppose it is the same thinking that gave us 'freedom fries' and other blind nationalist support against sane judgment, such as buying a Hummer cuz its uhmerican, look at my flag pin, see we are better and we don't change cuz we r rite da first time :P

but seriously, people always resist change, especially if it is for the better, since it creates a paradigm shift. Oh look, 10 mm = 1 cm? that is too easy! 1000g = 1 kg? I don't get it??? :facepalm:

I bet you most people can't tell you how many feet are in a mile, but, I bet you nearly every metric system users can tell you how many meters are in a kilometer :lol:

I think you will have a hard time getting people to switch form torque and horsepower, since kilowatts is their power bill and newton meters is unheard of to them.



The new corolla drivetrain sounds nice, Toyota would be quite wise to bring it over. I think the Corolla should have a cheaper model, but, it seems, similar to the Civic, it is going upmarket.

I bet you thought metric meant everyone's stuff was intermateable? British threaded bolt from a racing bicycle won't go into French threaded nut from a Peugeot (different shape on the curve of the tooth), won't accept Italian threaded bolt from a Campi set, and some of the Baltic metric sets have a completely different thread-per-inch count, again. Oh, and then you get completely different tooth-profiles on the Japanese Shimano. So bike mechanics end up stocking 5 or 6 types of bolts, anyway. Or else they just give up and standardize on "their" national brand. To make things worse, some combinations "mate" but then "jam" when you try to undo them, because of mis-matched thread-tooth profiles. And there is usually NOTHING on the head of the bolt to tell you what you're dealing with.

Oh, and then you get the cross-overs ("oh look, it's a 25,4 mm bolt!" --- last week it was a 1 inch bolt; groan).

If the will isn't there, then "going Metric" alone won't mean everything is intermateable, and therefore more common to source and at a lower cost. Great idea, but still a long way to go to get there in practice.

Meanwhile, although Canada "theoretically" went Metric some (what is it now?) 30 or so years ago, the Canadian Tire store has a double section --- 12 feet of shelves for metric bolts-n-nuts (cause of the different profiles from different countries) and 8 feet of imperial bolts-n-nuts (and often not enough of either).

Some progress.

chibougamoo:

If all things were made universal, then everything would be much easier for consumers. Btw, all people are consumers. Those threads not fitting is a marketing strategy. All businesses are in it for their interests, so if a business decides to make all of its parts universal, then they WILL go out of businesses if not all other like businesses in the same industry do likewise. It would have to be government mandated to have a chance. When bolts are sold, the thread sizes are listed on the side of the box. Metric makes calculating quite a bit easier. Instead of having to depend on "raw memory" which is not logically debatable, we can compare instant calculations in multiples of ten when it comes to what bolts fit and what ones don't. It's hard to do that when there's 12 inches/ft, 5280 ft/mile. I think what happens is that some of the experienced folks in the industries get to a certain age, they have a certain level of cockiness that represents their knowledge. They feel that they already know all that is necessary and the younger generation trying to change things don't know anything.

Jamaica (the country) changed over from English to metric units somewhat simply in the late 90's. I remember when speedometers were now in km/h (all the imported Toyotas and Hondas i can remember). It was a bit frustrating at first, but at the same time intriguing. There wasn't really a resistance of any significant magnitude, but once it's there, it sure makes life a hell of a lot easier.

So what makes an idea/product....American?

Bikes went (mostly) over to metric many years ago. Many of the compatibility issues have a to due with a lack of international standardization, not English vs. Metric. Metric just means that we use a common language for measuring things, not necessarily that everything is the same size.