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Thursday, August 17, 2006
Toyota Corolla - 1 month later
My new car is now a bit over a month old, and this afternoon I'll go to the garage for a quick inspection. Just a routine inspection after 2500 km, to check if everything is okay. But that is the opportunity to also do a review of what I like and don't like in this car.
Generally I am very satisfied with my Toyota Corolla. The car is definitely big enough for me. By choosing the bigger 1.6 liter motor I have 81 kW (110 horsepower) and the car still accelerates sufficiently when loaded and driving uphill. The trunk, which on first sight looked a bit small, turned out to have hidden depth and be big enough for the holiday baggage.
There are only two minor annoyances. One is that the gas tank is too small. It has a nominal volume of 55 liters. But this morning the empty light turned on, I filled her up, and only managed to get 42 liters in. As the consumption is a bit over 8 liters per 100 km (30 mpg), I can only drive 500 km before running empty. That happens to be how much I drive per week, so I have to fill her up once per week. The previous car lasted a day or two longer. The car probably still drives 100 km with the empty light on, but I'm not the type to risk that.
The second minor annoyance is the instrument board. It is of the type that is totally invisible when the car is turned off, and becomes visible by being backlit. The problem is that whenever I turn on the headlights, the car comes to the logical conclusion that it must be dark, and dims down the backlight of the instrument board. When it is really dark that is okay. But sometimes I turn on the headlighs because it is grey and raining during the day, and then I can't see the dimmed instrument board any more.
Well, I guess every car has its minor peculiarities. I can certainly live with my car for the next couple of years.
- posted by Tobold @ 8:23 AM Permanent Link
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Because the car is new, and won't have residue in the tank (not that that is as much of a problem with modern filters) you should buy a canister of petrol, stick it in the boot, and drive until you run dry, just to measure how far you get when the light comes on.
You may not want to rely on it day-to-day, but it can be aawfully useful when you're late for a meeting to know you have 90km to play with...
You may not want to rely on it day-to-day, but it can be aawfully useful when you're late for a meeting to know you have 90km to play with...
# posted by 
: 17/8/06 10:51
: 17/8/06 10:51
Problems reduced from 2 to 1. I surfed the net to see whether somebody else had problems with the backlight of the instrument board. Turns out that other people already complained about it, but the luminosity of the backlight can be changed by pressing the single button on the board several times until a line of bars is visible, then keeping it pressed until the luminosity changes.
Now I just need to find that other button that adds 20 liters of volume to the gas tank. :)
Now I just need to find that other button that adds 20 liters of volume to the gas tank. :)
I was going to say there should be some way, a dial or something, to increase the amount of light for the instrument panel, but you solved your problem already :)
Our Ford Focus apparently has a 15-gallon tank but I think the most I've ever put in it at one time was around 11.5 gallons. That was when I drove it for 30 miles after the Empty Light came on. I normally get around 270 miles per tank at approx. 25mpg.
If you want really want more capacity & an extended driving range, I believe you can get a bigger tank installed. No idea on the cost of that though.
As Endie said, just pop a fuel container in the boot and drive until you run out of gas so you know how much range you have after the Empty Light comes on. If you're not that brave you can also stop driving just before you completely run out of fuel. Don't worry, you'll know when the engine is running on fumes ;)
My brother-in-law ran his car dry coming back from a day of skiing. Fortunately he knew how far he could get on "empty", even better was that we were near his hometown and he knew where the nearest petrol station was. The engine died on us on our final approach but we still had enough momentum to roll up to the bowsers, no pushing required. You can't cut it much closer than that.
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Our Ford Focus apparently has a 15-gallon tank but I think the most I've ever put in it at one time was around 11.5 gallons. That was when I drove it for 30 miles after the Empty Light came on. I normally get around 270 miles per tank at approx. 25mpg.
If you want really want more capacity & an extended driving range, I believe you can get a bigger tank installed. No idea on the cost of that though.
As Endie said, just pop a fuel container in the boot and drive until you run out of gas so you know how much range you have after the Empty Light comes on. If you're not that brave you can also stop driving just before you completely run out of fuel. Don't worry, you'll know when the engine is running on fumes ;)
My brother-in-law ran his car dry coming back from a day of skiing. Fortunately he knew how far he could get on "empty", even better was that we were near his hometown and he knew where the nearest petrol station was. The engine died on us on our final approach but we still had enough momentum to roll up to the bowsers, no pushing required. You can't cut it much closer than that.
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