Improve Highway Acceleration In 96 Corolla - Corolland: the Toyota Corolla Forums

I have a 96 Corolla that I'm going to have for about another year or so. I like the car (sans color), and it has surprisingly decent acceleration at low speeds. My problem is that the car simply doesn't accelerate much at all when I'm going over 60, and it struggles to maintain highway speeds when going up even low-grade inclines.

Now, I'm not looking to turn my Corolla into a performance car (I'll get a car that's made for that in about a year:) ), but I would like the ability to accelerate from say 70 to maybe 80 more quickly so that I can pass someone that's going 68 in a reasonable amount of time. I would also like to be able to do 70 up a 10 degree incline without having to floor it.

Does anyone have any ideas on some simple mods that I can do to the car to give me a little performance boost? Please keep in mind that I'm probably only going to have the car for about a year, so I'm not looking to drop a lot of money on it.

Also, if its a mod that I could potentially do myself that would be great because it would save some money, plus I love working on projects -- especially on my car (i've installed my own speakers, head unit, and new upholstery for my doors) -- but they can't take more than about a day as I need my car to get to work.

Depends on the amout of miles on the car, version of engine, transmission, and your definition of a lot of money.

The 1993-1997 Corollas were available with either a 1.6L or 1.8L inline four mated to a 3/4 speed auto or 5 speed stick.

If you have the 1.6L - not much you can do with about power at those speeds. The 1.8L is a bit better (more torque) but not much more in HP.

The three most common performance mods you can do - improved air intake (ram or CAI), better exhaust (headers, cat-back), and performance ignition system (plugs, wires, coil) will help out at the higher RPMs and WOT - but you will sacrifice some low speed HP and torque (intake and exhaust upgrades).

Cost: $200 for used - $400 or more for new.

Gains: 5-7 HP and 3-7 ft.lb torque (High RPMs - WOT)

Loss: 3-5 HP and 1-5 ft.lb torque (Low RPMs)

Other possibilities - under drive crank pulleys - will give you about the same gains as a CAI and exhaust combo but without the low RPM penalty. Problems - runs the alternator slower, chance that it will not charge the battery enough. Also runs the accessories mcuh slower - may cause problems later. Cost - about $200 to $400 for a set of pulleys.

Other alternatives - Turbochargine, Supercharging, NOS, engine swaps, performance head replacement are a weekend job and much more expensive.

But before you start spending big $$$ with upgrades - look into what you have to work with. Check to make sure that the air filter is clean and the airbox does not have any obstructions, PCV valve is free and not sticking, clean intake ports and injectors (run some good fuel injector cleaner), clean the throttle body, and check or replace the fuel filter. Basically a comprehensive tune-up. Will take about a day and even with dealer priced parts - set you back about $60-$75 and you easily gain a few HP.

If you have already done a tune-up - look into the recent upgrades that you put in the car. If you run a good sized amp - it will put a heavy load on the car. As well as any weight you add to the car - curb weight is ~2500 lbs, a hundred pounds extra will hurt high speed transit. Even in my ride - a sprint from 70MPH to 80MPH doesn't happen very quickly. Running up a constant grade also has me gAssing it more. That's comparing 125HP/125ft.lb to 105HP/110ft.lb and similar curb weights (****uming both 1.8L, auto trans if 1.6L, then 100HP/95ft.lb). A Celica GT-S would be better at that speed, but your looking at 180HP/130ft.lb.

I'd just save up for the new car and do regular maintenance on the 1996 Corolla. To get the performance that you may be looking for, a 25HP to 50HP boost probably would be neccessary. That ain't going be cheap.

Good Luck.

Thanks for the information. I actually used fuel injector cleaner right afte I made the post and it worked really well. The lack of power is still frustrating, but its bearable. At least I don't lose speed up a 10 degree incline while I'm flooring it anymore! I'm going to look into possibly getting a new air filter, or at least cleaning this one, and spark plugs, but basically I'm gonna live with it and save up for a car I want (hopefully an rx8, 350z, or 3000gt - though i'm not looking forward to the insurance on any of these).

Oh, and for what its worth, the sound stuff I added should not be much of a drain. I just added a really cheap mp3 head unit and replaced the factory speakers with some cheap Sony Xplods. No amps or subs or anything that uses a lot of power. While solid and reliable, this isn't my dream car, so I'm not treating it like one, just trying to get it up to a minimal personal standard.

Its a pretty good car, no serious complaints and plenty of good things about it.... just wish it had as much power as the 98 stratus or 86 maxima that I had before it. Oh well.

Oh, and one last thing... Who the heck decided on the wiring schema for the factory radio?? I mean come on, the solid red and black wires power my front left speaker? The yellow wire goes to another one of the speakers? The power, ground, and continuous lead are just random grey wires with a few colored stripes? What the heck were they thinking? Took me a lot of trial and error to get the radio to even turn on (not test bulb). Plus I guessed wrong on the continuous lead, still gotta fix that when I get the chance.

Oh, and one last thing... Who the heck decided on the wiring schema for the factory radio?? I mean come on, the solid red and black wires power my front left speaker? The yellow wire goes to another one of the speakers? The power, ground, and continuous lead are just random grey wires with a few colored stripes? What the heck were they thinking? Took me a lot of trial and error to get the radio to even turn on (not test bulb). Plus I guessed wrong on the continuous lead, still gotta fix that when I get the chance.

I know what you mean - not like the other cars I've worked on. I think they did that on purpose so that you would have to get the wiring harness with everything pinned out.

Guest cheezer

well man the first thing u wanna do, is make the car as efficient as posslbe... changing the oil, the filter, or getting and engine flush can improve your gains... if u've already done that and u want more... then i suggest first going with a cold air intake for the car to get some dense air into that engine... after that put on exhaust to make the flow better.... and after that i'd say maybe an ECU flash to compensate for the denser air and more flow... but from the way you're talking about your car, i'd stay it was an automatic.... so.... maybe ECU settings tweeked a little? i'm pretty sure all manufacurers limit their cars for environmental reasons and i'm sure if u knew where, u could make your car faster just but reprogramming the ECU. careful where u do it tho cuz sometimes it f*'s up, and might be illegal

Guest CorollaCE

I've driven with a lot of other people, and it's always surpirsing (to them) just how much power their car seems to have when I drive it. The bottom line is: when you wanna pass you better mean it. I just love these idiots who drive 5 ft. ahead of their noses, pull up behind someone going 5 under the speed limit, and THEN decide that they want to pull out and pass the guy, cursing their car and feeling frustrated because they're asking unreasonable things from their engine. If you're going to drive like an old grandpa, and you like having power on tap, get yourself a big V8. They're easy to drive, and they don't require much mental energy when you want to accelerate. If you have a little 4 banger, then you need to think, plan, and work when it comes to pAssing and maintaining speed. I love my CE, when I want to pass on the highway I downshift all the way into third and don't touch fourth until I've reached 6 grand. I never have any problems going from 70 to 80. In fact, when I pass I oftentimes find myself unexpectedly going 90. If you want your car to go faster, YOU need to go faster.