2000 Toyota Corolla 5 Doors 1.6L VVT-i 5MT FWD (110 HP)

Vehicle Overview

Five years after introducing the Corolla’s eighth generation, Toyota unveiled a mid-life cycle refresh for the compact-segment vehicle.

Being one of the best-selling nameplates in the world was a tough challenge for the Japanese carmaker, who tried to keep the Corolla’s sales figures up. It managed to be the top-selling car in 1997. Three years later after that achievement, Toyota unveiled a facelifted version of its compact-sized vehicle.

Finally, all the Corolla family had the same front fascia, and that made things easier for the carmaker to produce and for customers to recognize them. Toyota also extended the double headlamps system from the sedan for the five-door version. That led to a redesigned grille with horizontal slats and a new wrapped-around plastic bumper that sported a lower grille and a pair of side scoops. At the back, the five-door version was not the best-inspired one. Its sloped tailgate didn’t help too much for increased trunk space and, from the design point of view, was not that appreciated either.

Inside, the designers changed the dashboard completely. They installed a small LCD on top of the center stack and buttons around it. It was used for the audio system as an ancestor for the infotainment systems. The instrument panel was different, depending on the engine option, with or without a tachometer. It was not on top of its class, with 372 liters (13.1 cu-ft) of trunk space.

Under the hood, Toyota installed a small range of engines consisting of a 1.6-liter gasoline unit and two diesel versions: a 1.9-liter carried over from Peugeot-Citroen, and a 2.0-liter turbo-diesel developed in-house.