2006 Toyota Corolla Reviews, Pricing & Specs

Designed for function rather than form, a 2006 Toyota Corolla isn’t going to win any styling beauty contests. While some design cues remind of the Lexus RX, that’s not necessarily a good thing. And the strange bed-ruffle body kit on the Corolla Sport and XRS is downright cartoonish.

Inside, the Lexus vibe continues, but here this is a good thing. Hard plastic abounds, but the tasteful surface tones and textures reflect quality, and in the LE trim level, wood-tone trim adds a luxurious appearance.

Controls are laid out in a traditional no-nonsense fashion. The stereo knobs can be hard to grasp while wearing gloves or with dry fingertips, but otherwise the large buttons and clearly marked switchgear are studies in proper ergonomics. Everything works with a sense of purpose and refinement, too.

Most Corollas are equipped with a 126-horsepower, 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine sending power to a front-wheel drive (FWD) drivetrain. A five-speed manual gearbox is standard, with a four-speed automatic transmission as an option. This year, the engine’s power rating drops a bit due to new Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) testing methods. Fuel economy estimates land at 7.1 litres per 100 kilometres in city driving and 5.3 on the highway with the manual transmission, and 7.8 L/100 km city, 5.6 highway with the automatic.

The Corolla XRS has a modified version of the 1.8-litre engine. Like the CE, Sport, and LE, it includes variable valve timing. Here, however, two camshaft profiles allow the engine to make power specs of 164 horsepower. In order to take advantage of this extra power, you’ll need to know how to row your own gears, because the XRS comes only with a six-speed manual transmission. You’ll also need to rev the engine hard to reach maximum power output.

Quick but not fast, the biggest benefit of the Corolla XRS is its improved handling. With front and rear structural braces, stiffer suspension components, and four-wheel-disc antilock brakes, a Corolla XRS zigs and zags as well as zips into the next postal code.

Comparatively, other Corolla models are docile, compliant, and well-behaved. You can tell the car is thoughtfully engineered and screwed together with precision, and while the driving dynamics might not excite you, knowing the car is unlikely to break anytime soon certainly will.

Every 2006 Toyota Corolla sold in Canada has power windows and side mirrors, a CD player, cloth seat upholstery, a driver’s seat height adjuster, and a tilting steering wheel. The Corolla Sport adds air conditioning, more stereo speakers, variable intermittent wipers, sport fabric seats, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, 15-inch alloy wheels, power locks with keyless entry, and fog lamps. Upgrade to the Toyota Corolla LE, and Toyota adds premium cloth seats, white-faced electronic gauges, cruise control, and fake wood trim.

The Corolla XRS builds on some of LE’s standard equipment and adds an over-the-top sport appearance package, which includes a racy body kit, a rear spoiler, sport seats with a fixed rear bench, a leather-wrapped shifter knob, and a power sunroof.

On a positive note, the Corolla XRS backs up the racy design cues with some genuine performance. In addition to its more powerful engine, it comes with larger 16-inch aluminum wheels, sport suspension tuning, a front strut tower brace, a rear structural cross brace, and upgraded 4-wheel-disc antilock brakes. Inside, the XRS gets larger seat bolsters just in case you actually do fling the car around a corner.

Taller people will not be happy in a Corolla. The front seat track travel is limited, and the backseat legroom isn’t terribly generous. There is plenty of storage space inside the Corolla, though, with a covered tray embedded into the dashboard, a sizable centre-console bin under the armrest, good storage in the glove compartment, and narrow but long door-panel slots.

Trunk space measures a generous 385 litres, and all but the Corolla XRS include a 60/40 split-folding rear seat that enhances utility.

The most advanced piece of technology in a 2006 Corolla is the variable valve timing with lift engine in the XRS. Used to improve the performance of an engine, it employs two camshaft profiles. At regular engine speeds in normal driving conditions, the low-lift cam profile operates the valves in an efficient way. Rev the engine hard and the second high-lift cam profile increases power through greater valve travel.

As for what you can see and use, well, a CD player is standard. So is an outside temperature display. But if you want a hands-free Bluetooth cell phone connection, you’re out of luck.

Toyota installs dual front airbags as standard equipment in the Corolla. Side-impact and side-curtain airbags are optional, and you’re going to want them because without this upgrade, crash protection is poorly rated.

In testing performed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the 2006 Corolla gets a Good rating in the moderate-overlap frontal-impact assessment. Without the side airbags, the side-impact rating is Poor. With them, the score rises to Acceptable. Meanwhile, over at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Corolla’s overall crash-test rating is 5 stars.

You can better avoid a crash by getting the Corolla’s optional antilock brakes (ABS), standard with all trims in Canada except the base model.

Good things are rarely cheap, and that’s true of the 2006 Toyota Corolla. With prices starting at just over $15,000 for the Toyota Corolla CE, and with a loaded Corolla XRS rising to around $25,000, the Corolla’s value might not be readily apparent. However, years from now, when it has saved you hundreds in repair bills and is worth thousands more as a used car than some competitors, you’ll find it to be extremely cost-effective, indeed.

Note: Images show a US model.