2004 TOYOTA Corolla 3 Doors 1.8L VVTL-i T Sport 6MT FWD (192 HP)

Vehicle Overview

The Corolla reached its ninth generation in 2000. In 2004, the car-maker introduced the 3-door hatchback version for the European market with a sporty look.

With the new model on the market, the Corolla 3-door had to fight against the best of the compact class vehicles in Europe, such as the VW Golf, Renault Megane, Opel/Vauxhall Astra, and Ford Focus. Another important contender on the market also was the Honda Civic 3-door. In 2004, Toyota had to do a facelift to improve the compact Corolla, which was lower on the sales by all of the above.

Since there was little to do with the exterior look, the Corolla 3-door was improved in the technical department. The new smoked headlights and a reshaped bumper aimed for a sportier look. But the rest of the greenhouse, with more upright windshield than the other contenders, didn’t help.

Inside, the Corolla was fitted with an option for sportier-look seats, but without big bolstering on the side to help while fast cornering. The simple layout of the dashboard was not as bold as those offered by the other competitors. Toyota’s design philosophy was not so appealing for European customers.

In the technical department, the Corolla 3-doors offered economy engines of 1.4-liter diesel and went up to a 1.8-liter unit that offered 192 hp for the European version. In other markets, it was available with a supercharger that boosted the power output up to 225 hp. That was not available in Europe.