Corolla/Vibe/Matrix/Elise 1.8 gets supercharger
November 2nd, 2005Here’s an excerpt from Auto Express’s coverage:
power jumps 26bhp to 215bhp…The supercharger combines well with the unit’s variable valve timing, too, filling in the gaps in the powerband at low revs. It’s refined, but doesn’t sound sporty and some characteristic supercharger whine would liven things up
One catch: it’s only available in the European Corolla (for now).
UPDATE: Now that 4Car has sampled the engine, here’s what they have to say:
a supercharger… boosts the T-Sport’s power by around 15% to a heady 215bhp and maximum torque by 19% to 158lb ft. An added bonus of fitting the supercharger to the T-Sport variable valve timed 1.8-litre engine is that the sweet point in the rev range – where torque and power are at their peak – is lower, at 4,000rpm, meaning you don’t need to rev the engine all the way to the 8,000rpm limiter to make decent progress. You wouldn’t actually want to venture too high up the rev range though, as the aural accompaniment isn’t exactly tuneful…