XRS performace before and after

[ploud]

Hi Everyone,

I know most of these questions have been addressed from other threads. I have read most posting, even the DYI and aftermarket threads. I have seen members modifications with pictures. Not to step on anyones toes but I would like this thread to stick with only 2.4L XRS corolla 10th gen. I'm not sure what is the difference between 2009 and 2010 other than styling , weight and how some panels were stamped from factory. Those are the only difference I have seen between 09 and 10. I do have extensive mechanical, electrical and body shop experience but I'm not really a car guy, I just drive and fix them when i need to. I do have access to 2 or more shops to work on my stuff.

OK here we go, I have a stock 2010 XRS Corolla with AT with manual shift capabilities. it has the majority of the available factory options (maybe all but minus the silly dealer protection stuff) I do have the 17 inch wheels.

I would like to get feedback regarding the type of upgrades XRS owners have or if you have significant experience with the XRS 10th gen. Please state the upgrade and how you think it improved your handling or performance from before and after terms.

I am looking into improving my handling and horsepower. I have considered Jim's upgrades. I don't really care for the lowered look. I just would like the handling for driving on curvy mountain roads without scraping. (also considering coil over for the adjustable height but then maybe air would better for on the fly) I am looking into the Uni Chip, various intakes and maybe down the road for turbo. Looking good is nice but I only want upgrades that improves handling and performance significantly before i consider investing this kind of cash on my corolla.

thank you all, please be considerate when posting and stick within the topic

[MiniPacou]

2.4L XRS Aftermarket Parts List

[ploud]

where are all the XRS owners I know i seen someone change the XRS FSB w/dampers using a TRD FSB. I seen a post with someone who replaced the spring and returned back to factory spring after the ride sucked. I also seen a post on another site where a guy replaced his intake, headers, pipping and muffler to only say it still drove to slow compared to other cars. I really loved driving my old daily driver with 196k miles on it. its a 97 prizm lsi 1.8L which is nothing but a corolla. i jam it pretty hard on curves around here up to 70 plus mph with stock parts, that is why i bought the XRS to have fun with since i thought it was suppose to come factory ready. are the parts on it that much inferior to the TRD parts? would really like to see some honest feedback before i get me a TC to mod instead

[sinnaever]

Ok here you go...

TRD Suspension Upgrades are recommended.

I upgraded the Springs, FSB & RSB

The upgraded braces and sway bars make a difference. I would even suggest getting the UR bars that Jim put onto his 1.8L Corolla S.

If you put all of those bars on your XRS you would be able to take a corner like a champ and be flat.

Intake & Exhaust...
I did the modified intake with Drop in TRD Filter... and Custom Magnaflow 2.25" Cat Back...

Very slight gains... even with Chips, Pulleys, Headers, Full Exhaust, CAI etc... you still won't see the car being drag strip ready.

I would suggest making your car handle better by upgrading to TRD parts and UR parts. I like the Drop I got with the TRD Springs, Very Modest, yet improved handling. (I personally don't like the slammed look where you have zero wheel gap... I live in Canada and get lots of snow)

But that is my two cents...

My car does drive slow compared to Altima coupe 3.5L, Civic Si, Golf GTI, RSX Type-S, 350Z, mustang and just about any car that is a performance model. The XRS isn't the fastest, and neither is the tC. If being the fastest is your concern, then expect to spend $30,000 or more, and be prepared to buy a Boosted car. HOWEVER, it is faster than a Civic EX, Caliber R/T, Sentra, Lancer (base), etc... It is a middle of the pack car for its class.

If you still want an XRS to be fast... Put aside $12,000 and Boost it. Andy boosted his XRS to 350HP or something crazy like that. But spent a lot of money doing so. Search the forum for Andy's post about his TURBO XRS...

[shotgunjimmy]

You should probably expect to wait more than 4 hours before you get many replies. Also, if you are planning on going F/I in the future, dont waste your money on an intake now. It'll just get replaced later on when you boost it.

Originally Posted by ploud

where are all the XRS owners I know i seen someone change the XRS FSB w/dampers using a TRD FSB. I seen a post with someone who replaced the spring and returned back to factory spring after the ride sucked. I also seen a post on another site where a guy replaced his intake, headers, pipping and muffler to only say it still drove to slow compared to other cars. I really loved driving my old daily driver with 196k miles on it. its a 97 prizm lsi 1.8L which is nothing but a corolla. i jam it pretty hard on curves around here up to 70 plus mph with stock parts, that is why i bought the XRS to have fun with since i thought it was suppose to come factory ready. are the parts on it that much inferior to the TRD parts? would really like to see some honest feedback before i get me a TC to mod instead

What do you mean by factory ready? Ready from the factory to sip gas? Yes. Ready rom the factory to be reliable? Yes. Ready from the factory to stomp on a Vette? Hell No.

Dont get me wrong, I like my S, and I think it can be driven quickly with relative ease, but it was never envisioned from Toyota as being a fast car, even in XRS form. You can do with your car as you wish. It is your car in the end. Just dont expect to easily be able to make it a race car.

[kniterider09]

handling on the xrs: i would start with summer performance tires, then replace the bars with trd FSB and RSB. since our cars are equipped with vsc i am not sure what the effect will be if you start adding all the UR bars. could be a safety issue, so unless its track tested i would leave the rest out.


performance: turbo. dont waste money on intakes, mufflers, or anything else. if you really want performance be smart and get a descendant or dezod or ptunning kit for the 09 tc or xB2. you will have to maybe modify it a bit but otherwise should be good. or just take it to a shop and let them custom make it. and remember: spend the cash and get the best possible tune, that is the only way your engine will survive the beating and milage you put on it. cost: roughly 10K.

dont want turbo performance ? : then look into getting a afe intake (from the 09 xB) or injen CAI for 09 xrs or K&N sri. match that with magnaflow/borla muffler and your xrs will sound much better. on top of that i would only suggest a throttle controller.

so depends on what you wanna do with your car, if you are not careful it will slowly and eventually just turn into a money pit, in the end, if you dont track it, any mods you do are just "feel good" mods. good luck.

[SuperchargedMR2]

Originally Posted by kniterider09

handling on the xrs: i would start with summer performance tires, then replace the bars with trd FSB and RSB. since our cars are equipped with vsc i am not sure what the effect will be if you start adding all the UR bars. could be a safety issue, so unless its track tested i would leave the rest out.

The VSC has nothing to do with the addition of any suspension bars. The TRD & UR bars are strictly limited to making the suspension work better by stiffening the chassis. If you want your XRS to handle better than the add the TRD bars. If you want to improve on that even more than look at the addition of the UR bars. I can't imagine my Corolla without the UR bars as it handles so well now. I'm even happy with how quick it feels as I'm able to zip in & out of traffic & go much faster than legal speeds pretty much every where I go. With the 5-speed manual my car if very fun to drive.

[ploud]

thx Sin, shotgun and knite for for the feedback.

Shotgun what i mean about factory ready, it was suppose to be better than the rest of the other corollas but it seems the other models have better gains compared (especially with mods). I don't expect a 158hp car to do 250 hp performance, I'm not that naive. I do understand how displacement work and how other tuner cars tend to be lighter with better horsepower but they also have a slightly better engine.
I did expect it to handle a little better. especially with all the hipe when the 2.4L came out. like i said I'm not a car guy. i know how to do the work on them but i don't waste money on them for mods personally. this will be my first car i would consider modding for handling and performance. I thought it would be a nice project to play with. i know how to do most of the work so I'm not planning to pay a shop to do this for me. i have enough family and Friend that know how to work on muscle cars.we do own a body-shop and a mechanic shop.
my family have a 09 camaro with the V6 and one of the newer mustang with the V8 for the sporty car, (if i wanted that kind of speed) thats not what I'm looking for. I guess i wanted a "sleeper car" to play with. if that is the right term for it. i wanted a fun handling car that will rip and jam curves. I am not planning on racing anyone or drag stripping. I did look into the wrx but hated the newer body style. the older one where better but hard to find one with low miles. but a Friend who owns one said it was to costly to maintain.
keep the feedback coming. if nothing else I am considering getting the sway bars with springs and maybe the injen cold intake. i was thinking of wrapping the stock exhaust to see how much i can get from it. i did spoke with someone who still have a left over 2.4 supercharger for the tc that they used on a demo for a decent bargain if i wanted a 70hp boost (i think that the gain from it).

[SuperchargedMR2]

Originally Posted by ploud

thx Sin, shotgun and knite for for the feedback.

Shotgun what i mean about factory ready, it was suppose to be better than the rest of the other corollas but it seems the other models have better gains compared (especially with mods). I don't expect a 158hp car to do 250 hp performance, I'm not that naive. I do understand how displacement work and how other tuner cars tend to be lighter with better horsepower but they also have a slightly better engine.
I did expect it to handle a little better. especially with all the hipe when the 2.4L came out. like i said I'm not a car guy. i know how to do the work on them but i don't waste money on them for mods personally. this will be my first car i would consider modding for handling and performance. I thought it would be a nice project to play with. i know how to do most of the work so I'm not planning to pay a shop to do this for me. i have enough family and Friend that know how to work on muscle cars.we do own a body-shop and a mechanic shop.
my family have a 09 camaro with the V6 and one of the newer mustang with the V8 for the sporty car, (if i wanted that kind of speed) thats not what I'm looking for. I guess i wanted a "sleeper car" to play with. if that is the right term for it. i wanted a fun handling car that will rip and jam curves. I am not planning on racing anyone or drag stripping. I did look into the wrx but hated the newer body style. the older one where better but hard to find one with low miles. but a Friend who owns one said it was to costly to maintain.
keep the feedback coming. if nothing else I am considering getting the sway bars with springs and maybe the injen cold intake. i was thinking of wrapping the stock exhaust to see how much i can get from it. i did spoke with someone who still have a left over 2.4 supercharger for the tc that they used on a demo for a decent bargain if i wanted a 70hp boost (i think that the gain from it).

If this is what you want than make it handle like mine does. This is the very reason I love driving my Corolla.

TRD Lowering springs
TRD Front Upper Strut Brace
TRD Rear Sway Bar
UR Rear Upper Strut Brace
UR 19mm Rear Sway Bar
UR Front Lower 3-point Chassis Brace
UR Rear Lower 2-point Chassis Brace

It's pure magic how it transforms the Corolla!

[Dimaoala]

^^^^

These guys have the right ideas. If you plan on going with the Injen CAI, go for it. I had mine installed maybe 2 months ago and I love it. I get on the gas alot more just to hear the deep tone from the intake, but I think its worth it

As far as other performance upgrades, I hope to find a shop that can do a Custom Cat-Back for me and find a nice set of tC headers. (the tC headers are a direct bolt-on for the Xrs's, but I'm not sure about the xB headers.)

The suspension upgrades will definitely be a plus, you'll be getting those turns and curves. If you are seriously considering going to FI (forced induction) with a Supercharger or Custom Turbo, I'd say invest your money into a different car that will get you more numbers and to get the most of your money.

Overall I love my 5Spd Xrs Manual, its a blast to drive for a little car that has some 'zap' to it.

[kniterider09]

Originally Posted by SuperchargedMR2

The VSC has nothing to do with the addition of any suspension bars.

i was talking more in terms of when it kicks in under emergency situations, wouldnt the calibration be off now that the car has been modded to behave differently ? idk i am just throwing it out there, i could be 100% wrong.

[ploud]

thx supercharge, i have been eying your set for a while just had to make sure that XRS FSB /w dampers was worth replacing with a TRD. some of the UR seems like to be an easy fabrication to copy.

Diamaoala are you talking about stock header for the TC or aftermarket? I don't really care about the sound i kinda want to keep it a bit quite. if i get the injen CAI without the muffler, would it make any difference?

I poke with the guy who had the supercharger it might be a pain to do without the proper mounts so I'm not sure, maybe i will wait a while for that to see if they get a better kit for it down the line.

[Dimaoala]

Originally Posted by ploud

Diamaoala are you talking about stock header for the TC or aftermarket? I don't really care about the sound i kinda want to keep it a bit quite. if i get the injen CAI without the muffler, would it make any difference?

The intake will be quiet on start-up, you'll only start hearing it when you really start getting on it at about 3.5k rpm's and then thats when I get on it because I love to hear the sound. None the less sounds normal when you shift/drive regularly till 3k rpms.

The headers I was talking about would be aftermarket, I've been told that any tC headers are direct bolt-on with our engine bays no problem.

[ploud]

thx dimaoala, ill keep an out out for one but still considering to just maybe wrap the stock exhaust up to catalytic.

what do you all think of an all wheel drive corolla using a donor parts from the all wheel drive matrix? (for better handling) i know you will lose gas mileage but seems interesting.

[Dimaoala]

^^^^

Check out this epic build thread.

This guy wanted a AWD on his EG hatch, so he just did a body swap

http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2763036

Mad props for this dude, but he ended up selling it