The latest version of the Corolla 1.4 (petrol) being delivered in the UK has an extaordinary thing programmed into into the Engine Control Unit (ECU). When releasing the throttle pedal to change gear upwards the engine revs go up for a second or two instead of down. I've heard other manufacturers have tinkered this but this model has it in spades.
It is horrible. It can only be avoided by releasing the throttle two seconds earlier than normal. Toyota are brushing this off as normal to meet emissions regulations (Euro 4), although it is hard to see how this would work. They will not answer other questions about it. All in all it sounds like a deliberate fix to meet some regulation or to beat rivals' fuel or emissions statistics. For the moment, they are fobbing off buyers who complain. But I think they will burn their fingers on this when a wider market gets to hear about it.
Anyone else come across this sort of thing?
Beanpod