2005 Corolla XRS 4: POV and ownership thoughts

[@Audfile]

I just got mine back with brand new transmission with TRD LSD, short shifter, bushings. Car is a beast.

[@GPMAX01]

You’re going to have a lot of fun with this. I heard a big diameter header, big intake and tune REALLY wakes them up.

[@gray25xt]

Yeah I’ve heard the same. I’m just doing the exhaust, panel filter and reflash. I know there is more power on the table if I go farther but I want to keep this car mostly stock. I have other cars if I want to speed! It’s quite fun as is.

[@loganamurray64]

I have an injen intake and it’s a small but noticeable difference, my exhaust made more difference, 2.5” all the way back. Sounds like every D series at 3am but a muffler should fix that, either way the power gain still made it worthwhile. The tune didn’t feel like it gave me much more power (I’d be surprised if it was more than a 5whp gain) but it makes the car a whole lot quicker just purely thanks to the ability to really rev it out and by keeping itself in lift

[@BluestreakCorollaXRS]

Our stories have an awful lot in common. In 2005 I was all set to buy my third Civic, but they had turned to dogs that year. When I test drove a Corolla, even the base model was quite a bit spunkier. Eventually I got PPE headers with 2.5" piping and a magnaflow exhaust and an R9K tune. I got the reflashed ECU before I got the exhaust components, and indeed it had a big dip in performance when lift first kicked in. Once I got the proper exhaust components to match the tune, it smoothed right out. I think Toyota put the lift point so high to make it dramatic, like "VVTL-I just kicked in y0", but the gap and lift between 64 and 74 mph was a bitter pill to swallow. Getting the lift points smoothed out is essential in my opinion. That said, with the exhaust and Magniflow muffer, the car is annoyingly loud in the neighborhood of 3,500 RPMs. Sometimes I have to downshift into 5th gear on the freeway to get the RPMs high enough that the car is quiet enough to have a conversation! Good luck on your journey I look forward to seeing more content from you 👍

[@mexx69]

i have the 09 corolla s. when driving it and i put the pedal to the metal, it hiccups for a second then shoots up the rpm, making it jump a little. its pretty annoying when trying to push the shitbox to its limits but as youve said it makes it a lot more dramatic i guess

[@onemph05]

I have a Fidanza light weight flywheel and highly recommend it. Its paired to a Exedy stage 1 clutch. I took off the Injen CAI, back to stock airbox and drop in dry flow washable filter. It was irritating having to switch back to CAI to stock box here in California for SMOG inspection/testing.

[@loganamurray64]

I’ve seen a bunch of ppl blowing up the exedy clutches, I’d be careful if I were you

[@onemph05]

@@loganamurray64 My Fidanza and Exedy stage 1 combo has been on my car for 13 years now.

[@loganamurray64]

@@onemph05 Oh damn, maybe Exedy's quality controls been slipping recently? Had it happen to a friend and I'vr seen a few fail on YT here. Got a few Honda friends and they swear by Exedy but I got an ACT clutch in my XRS

[@diegogonzalez7279]

I have heard a mix bag of opinions with exedy and act clutches on the 2zz I just about to put exedy stg 1 on mine , rumors says exedy that feels like like stock but way better and the act feels too grumpy and tranny and motor mounts wears off quickly also the xrs tranny HATES. wheel hopping and act does that a lot especially if want to warm up tires on the track .. now as for the fidanza flywheel I opt out because I really don’t care for the grinder noise on idle . My build is super clean I like a almost quite car on idle but loud when go on lift .

[@tkflex2332]

Matrix ecu is different than Corolla and wont fit. I have a 03 Mxrs and I cant tune unless I was 05-06, it would be nice If I could put 05 Cxrs in my 03 mxrs but again wont fit. Good thing stock 03 Mxrs comes with lift already at 6200 to 8400 and stay in lift in all gears, thats kind of the point of the tune. I also use to have a 05 cxrs that was tuned with i/h/e and it makes a lot of difference on the bottom and mid range. That car caught a lot of ppl sleeping 🤫

[@dipstiksubaru3246]

It sure doesnt sound like your car is hitting lift properly if at all. All the other cars ive driven and heard online you can really hear the crossover point. It's a night and day difference when its hitting properly.

[@diegogonzalez7279]

You car is not on lift , check your lifts bolts the ecu will throw i code for them if broke forgot the number for that code , also 2zz has to hit the right coolant temperature in order to lift activate .

[@gray25xt]

You are incorrect.

[@diegogonzalez7279]

@@gray25xt was good info that I share it, open up air intake and exhaust you will have fun hearing crossover

[@gray25xt]

@@diegogonzalez7279 The car hits lift just fine, I have intake and exhaust it makes it extra loud. This is good.

[@GabylannPR]

How did it went with the ecu flash? Do you have the inf of the tuner? Thanks

[@gray25xt]

See the following videos, I explain all.

[@kylerboii]

Damn how did you find this gem

[@gray25xt]

I looked for a very long time, made many drives and went home with nothing...in fact I probably wasted (invested) about 12 hours driving and 2 more talking to owners to look at 3 other XRSs' before this one that I ended up not buying....this one was 5 hours away which was a full day trip both ways...so yeah lots of failure before I found a good one, and it was worth it.

[@PtitJay240]

8th gen civic si rev up to 8300 stock*

[@gray25xt]

Thanks. I almost bought a very nice 8th gen a couple weeks ago. At the last minute I backed out. I want to like this car! But I can't. The thing that shut me down was the rev hang. It's horrible! I know it can be tuned out but I don't want to deal with it. Anyhow thx for chiming in.

[@Jkv_oyk]

Let me know if u wanna sell this xrs payment ready

[@longbeachcalifornia847]

Got a watch out for the police you don’t wanna be speeding through those areas you might get a speeding ticket in Toyota Corolla XRS is a classic car Japanese mix very reliable cars not like American cars

[@mengx94]

It's a corolla. Looks very slow, pretty much going speed limit