I'm planning on getting the TRD strut brace for my 04 S. I was wondering how the ride quality changes, am I going to pound through every bump on the road? Also, do corolla brakes suck, cuz mine don't even feel like they're braking until the pedal is halfway depressed. I'm averaging 30-31 mpg on mostly highway driving, I rarely ever go over 3000 and I don't think I'm harsh at all on the gas pedal, is that normal? I'd appreciate any help. Thanks
The strut brace won't change how stiff the ride is, but should stiffen the lateral stability of the front end during hard cornering.
No, Corolla breaks don't suck. The pedal is progressive if you are used to a truck or something. If you can lock them up then they work fine
That gas mileage could be better, but it is within normal if it is about 50% city, 50% highway. You should beable to reach 38mpg with a 90% higwhay tank like on a long trip.
Hi: We bought our 96 Corolla new and we had the same brake and tire issue. What I did was installed new brake pads made by CXR they are ceramic pads and also bought a set of Pirelli P400 tires for it. You can't beleave the difference. the car stops on a dime and thats because the tires are real tires not the low line that came with our Corolla ( they were made by Goodyear and would always pick up small stones and glass- had 4 flats in 2 years) If you have the money upgrade your Corolla now, it's a matter of safety, I think. Good luck and Happy Holidays,Dan.
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Dan&Janes 96 ,1.6L, 3 speed auto trans.Corolla & our 97 Tercel , 1.5L, 3 speed auto trans.
Hey, thanks for all the feedback! A brake upgrade is a matter of safety, I recently got into an accident on the freeway, nothing serious, my absorbers took it all in, but my brakes couldn't stop to save my life. I'm looking into new tires and pads, I think tires made out of metal would be softer than the Goodyears. I also heard some new Corollas come with Michelins. I'm definitely saving up for the strut bar. I've been told that Toyota's tricky about the quality of their cars. Toyotas are obviously reliable, but I heard they purposely create room for improvement between the first and last year of a model. I recall they did that for the Lexus LS's in the early 90's, something about changing the rear brakes and not telling anyone about it, I could be wrong. Anyway, thanks for all the help!
No, I drive a 96 Corolla with a 1.6L eng & 3 speed auto trans. I have installed CXR ceramic disk pads for the front brakes as well as installing Perelli P400 175-65-r14t tires as well. These changes have made a great deal of excellent control in all weather conditions, and stop on a dime. I am also going to add a front stabilizer bar to the front strut towers to stiffen the frame when I corner hard. You will notice a very big positive change in both stopping and handeling as I have without paying a ton of money for excellent results. Good luck and drive safe, Dan. PS I like your year Corolla better because its bigger and a lot easyier to get in and out of. I am disabled and it is very hard for me to get in my Corolla, but once I am in I feel like I am in a small race car. Dan.
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Dan&Janes 96 ,1.6L, 3 speed auto trans.Corolla & our 97 Tercel , 1.5L, 3 speed auto trans.
Originally posted by Chris Corolla S Hey Hooolala, are you driving an 03 or 04 Corolla and getting the rear disks from a Matrix XRS?
Do you know of anyone else who has done this?
Chris
yea.. i was going to do the rear disc conversion today.. but my shop missup my appointment... so my appointment got push back to this friday.. SUCKS
I'd like to see pics of your rear disks conversion too, hope you post them soon. hows the TRD supercharger? I've never really given serious thought into geting one, but it's definitely something that interests me. What's it feel like with that baby strapped on? I bet it feels awesome. Also, what kinda fuel economy are you getting with the supercharger now? Is it significantly lower?
Hmmm, maybe getting a TRD supercharger isn't that bad of an idea, hahaha
Originally posted by hooolala what you'll need to do is get at rear disk brake conversion, and front big brake disk... you can get all those for under $2000...
i'm doing the rear disk conversion tomorrow...
I though from the pics you've already done the back disk brakes conversion?
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Life is a game, play by your own rules.
I am getting a strut bar also, cause where I drive my '04 corolla pretty hard. Should be actually getting it in the mail on monday. If you want to upgrade the handling then you'd need to get different springs, to make your car sit a little lower, because as you noticed the new corollas sit way to high. The brakes are fine, but anything can happen. What I mean is that you might have gotten a car with defective breaks or break pedals, so I would take the time to check it out. Otherwise the breaks are fine, especially if you don't push your car so hard your breaks should be fine.
But for me I need to change them, cause I race through streets and go pretty fast on the freeway, so I need some good breaks. So changing the break system is my one of my top priorities for my car.
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Life is a game, play by your own rules.
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