'08 Corolla vs '07 Corolla

I'm waiting as well to see what will be produced in '08. There is a bit of confusion as what Toyota advertises will be the new model and what other web sites

are reporting. I'm interested in the CVTi transmission. Mated with the current engine they gain almost nine percent in fuel economy, according to that report. How true or accurate that is will remain to be seen. I posted this topic a while ago on this NG and Ray O thought that they may have a model change half way through the year. Maybe someone else will have more current and accurate information. By the way, where the heck has Ray O been?

I found this on Google which applies to the 2003 Saturn Ion. I would imagine the CVTi it talks about is the same one Toyota would use. It looks and sounds really cool but I have to wonder what the cons of having all those extra gear ratios would be.

Here is a snippet of CVTi:

Continuously Variable Transmission This thing is AMAZING. It is a simple design and is very small compared to a conventional automatic transmission. Before reading on, if you have not ridden in or driven a CVTi Transmission equipped Ion Quad Coupe, go test drive one and come back when you're done! Rather than a handful of gear ratios, this transmission provides an infinite number of ratios within a high to low range. The ratio is selected based on how much acceleration you are demanding and other important factors. You get to choose your torque and can really accelerate much more quickly than you would expect with its 140 hp 2.2L ecotec engine. It is really neat to see and hear the RPMS stay constant as the vehicle continues to accelerate and the gear ratios change. Whether you are heavily accelerating or just adding a few miles per hour, this transmission eliminates all the issues of gear hunting and gives you the most torque for your hp when you ask for it. Simply put, it's AMAZING!

I'm no tranny expert but does this mean a shit ton more moving parts, or no? I'd be curious to know.

There are several CVT designs. All have far fewer parts and less complexity than their current hydraulic geared counterparts. I don't know which one Toyota will use but I think that they just settled a patent infringement lawsuit concerning their hybrid CVT and maybe will use the same design.

The hybrids use a 'power split device', not a CVT.

Well, you know what they say about new designed car, don't buy on the first year and watch out for those customer reviews.. Are the Toyota CVTs already available in Japan?

On thing you should know is it would be to you advantage to drive and price the '07 and '08 Ford Focus and Honda Civic, as well as a Corolla, then decide which to buy

mike

CVTs use a set of infinitely adjustable cones to change ratios. For best performance one should floor the throttle, until one reaches the speed they desire. Same when passing to get the most torque from the engine.

That was one reason some of the buff mags erroneously reported AWD Ford 500 as being underpowered. The testers did not know to floor the throttle and thus was starting out in too high a gear ratio.

mike

To add to this using the hybrid PSD/CVT would require that it be a hybrid corolla as it is the electric motors themselves and their interaction with the PSD and engine that determines the effective gear ratio. IOW the Corolla would have to have both MGs to use the "hybrid CVT" design.