worth getting the bigger engine?

"john bently" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Shoot them. Now. They're too dull to be allowed to live.

Only they can answer that question, try test driving both.

there speaks the poor mans clarkson - good, decent, comfy car? Hate it!

Unreliable, rusty car with "character"? Luv it

new corolla out in around 2002 - the 1.6 very reliable BUT can use oil after

Wonder if 'they' had the oil tested at the end of those long service intervals - or just the usual hysterical response?

You can check the emissions here:

The CO2 figures for the 1.6 are only about 3% higher than for the 1.4, although that could be just enough to push it up a tax band - costing £25 a year.

Not IME, current car has about 10% lower CO2 emissions than previous one but is about 10% *less* economical in identical mixed driving conditions. I suspect manufacturers are tweaking cars to run low fuel to be good in specific economy tests. Users driving the car normally (i.e. not driving as in the test) might not be able to reach the advertised economy figures.

They have been doing that on motorcyles for years with emmisions and noise levels

Surely CO2 emissions and fuel consumption are inextricably mixed? The CO2 comes from burning the fuel ....

Yes but with modern engines you can programme the ecu to do almost anything but make the tea .

Generally the tests are conducted at specific engine speeds so you programme the ecu so that the fuel and ignition systems pass at those criteria .

Thats why you find some cars and most bikes have flat spots at certain revs

"GB" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Only if you completely ignore the efficiency of the combustion process and any post-combustion reactions on the exhaust gases.

Absolutely agreed. OTOH with something like a 1.4 and a 1.6 engine they can be very similar engines, with the same block etc.

ISTR that some of the small cars with tiny engines can be less efficient than with the larger engines, but I can't dredge any links up to prove it. I am pretty sure that the most important factor affecting fuel consumption is the weight of the car.

That's a fairly historic issue, IIRC 1.3 Lancia Betas where less economic at 56 & 75 than 1.6s.