Something Worth Looking At For A 2006 Corolla

1. In the Automatic Tranmission section, they mention no to put your foot on the accelator pedal while shifting, does it mean that I have to shift like a manual (lift off the gas and depress the clutch)? interesting...

I think they mean while shifting P->D, D->R, etc.

As for the other tranny questions, electronically controlled trannies have been used for 10-20 years, so it's not new.

Hi! Just got a 06 Corolla LE (Canada) and finished reading the manual, found a few "interesting" things:

1. In the Automatic Tranmission section, they mention no to put your foot on the accelator pedal while shifting, does it mean that I have to shift like a manual (lift off the gas and depress the clutch)? interesting...

- That is weird, never heard of a automatic that needs you to take your foot off the gas pedal before shifts. I do it sometimes out of habit (especially from jumping out the manual transmissioned car into the automatic one) and it "seems" to upshift quicker, because there is less of an engine load on there.

 

2. In the same section, they suggest using "D" even for hill-climbing. I tried it on a hill with varied slope, the "grade logic control" (sorry, it is a Honda term, what is the term for Toyota?) of the AT is not that "smart". I would prefer shifting to "2" to avoid the AT shifting to "3rd" on the hill. I don't like climbing the hill with only ~2000rpm. That might save gas but I think that's not good for engine (correct me if I am wrong). But now, I have to lift off from the gas pedal and shift and depress it again. Mmmm.... Also, they did not mention going downhill with lower gear...

- Many automatics will suggest to leave it in drive (D) even on the hill - prevents overheating of the transmission fluid from driving under a load up a hill. The transmission will downshift to keep the revs up. True, it is not good idea to "lug" the engine at low speeds with a heavier load, but at ~2K the engine is far from lugging. Same goes for downhill. Only time I will select a lower gear is if I have a much heavier load behind me or in the car (ie. trailer tower) - otherwise, I leave it in D.

3. The "2" is not a real "2nd" gear since when you start the car with "2", the AT will start at "1" (which is a real "1st" gear) and then shift to "2nd" automatically. But the manual does not mention "automatically shifting to 1st when slowing down with the 2". On some other ATs, the "2" is a real "2nd" gear.

- Just the design and programming of the transmission - some will ONLY select the indicated gear. Many automatic transmissions will start off in a lower gear and upshift to your desired gear. Basically it tells the transmission what the "highest" gear it is allowed to use. Some transmissions use adaptive shift strategy (downshifts as you slow, holds a gear in cornering, etc.) - the Corolla is in that league yet.

 

4. I think the AT shifter is a electronic switch since the manual mentions when shifting from "D" to "2", the AT will downshift "WHEN" the car speed drops down to or below 105km/h.

- Most automatic transmission will do this - keeps you from overreving the engine. Though some transmission will try to shift to that gear, even though your speed it too high (ie. manual valve bodies, sport programming, etc.)

5. The maintenance schedule shows oil change is every 6 months/8000km. Isn't it a bit too long? especially for the first oil change after engine break-in? Anyone know which manufacturer makes Toyota synthetic oil?

 

Thanks for any input...

- The maintenance schedule is designed as a guide for proper maintenace of the vehicle if driven in typical situations. With the quality of engines oils continuing to improve - 6K OCI on conventional motor oil, with the correct API, is no problem. Synthetics generally will allow you to run longer change intervals (depends on the make of the oil, some you should not use for extended oil changes) - last I heard, Toyota OEM synthetic was made by Mobil or Havoline. If you are not happy with the interval - there is nothing in there that prevents you from shortening the oil changes. Plus with driving these days, I would stick with something between Toyota Special operating conditions (still 3K miles I believe) and their "typical" conditions at 6K miles ol changes (I usually follow ~5K with conventional oil, ~7K+ with synthetics).

 

Oh - Congratulations on your purchase and to hopefully to many, many miles of trouble-free service.

One of the biggest reasons I went back to Corolla. With a Corolla, given that you follow their service intervals, you should be able to squeeze at least 130 000 miles out of the car before anything major happens... (my first major repair was the VVT pulley @ 200 000 km). Even at that, the layout of the engine is so user friendly that you should be able to take it into any competent mechanic to get service.

I'm considering the purchase of a new VW Rabbit 5 door (TDI) when it comes out in 2008 because of the new common rail diesel engine family but I've heard alot about the shoddy dealership experience on tdi.com and the need to find a local "TDI guru" to rely on for BEFORE AND AFTER warranty repairs. VW's may be funner to drive but its hard to fault a car that doesn't give you headaches down the road.

I think when you are accelerating and have your foot on the gas pedal, the transmission will stay in the same gear longer or at least until you reach a high engine RPM before it shifts. To get better fuel economy, a longer life transmission and smoother shifts, it recommends not pressing the gas pedal while it shifts.

As far as the other drive positions - unless you are going slow on a very steep hill, they probably do not need to be used. I seldom use D1 or D2.

- Just the design and programming of the transmission - some will ONLY select the indicated gear. Many automatic transmissions will start off in a lower gear and upshift to your desired gear. Basically it tells the transmission what the "highest" gear it is allowed to use. Some transmissions use adaptive shift strategy (downshifts as you slow, holds a gear in cornering, etc.) - the Corolla is in that league yet.

Do you mean the Corolla AT is "NOT" in that league yet?

Also I found the following from toyota.jp:

http://toyota.jp/corollasedan/dynamism/mission/index.html

It is not exactly the same as the ZZE130's in USDM since their 1.8L 2WD AT model in JDM is ZZE122 (according to http://toyota.jp/corollasedan/spec/spec/index.html). The diagram is for Super ECT(I think the ZZE130 AT is only a ECT); I cannot read Japanese but I believe the shifting pattern below is for the Super ECT. When I tried the AT for the ZZE130 it did the shifting pattern on top. Also note the "Yaris" style shifter, I like it!

Also, thanks for everyone's inputs. Will post more driving experience for the new car a bit later.

1. In the Automatic Tranmission section, they mention no to put your foot on the accelator pedal while shifting, does it mean that I have to shift like a manual (lift off the gas and depress the clutch)? interesting...

.............................................

little corolla, all automatic transmissions should not be shifted

at high idle speed with the gas pedal pressed when going from park to

neutral or reverse or D.

You should have your foot on the brake pedal.

If you want a standard transmission, you should buy a corolla with a standard,

an automatic is not a standard, it will never be the same.

You definitely do not want to be shifting from park or reverse to drive with your foot pressing down on the gas pedal. That creates stress on your transmission and drive shafts (CV joints). In some cars you actually have to have your foot on the brake or it won't shift out of park.

i often lift the gas pedal to get it to go into OD at lower speeds than normal (around 35-38mph) and then very lightly reapply the pedal. thats how i get 26mpg city between the wot stabs.

I might have written my first question not clearly. Here is an example, the Corolla with AT setted at

O/D OFF starts going up the hill, so the AT itself shifts from 1st -> 2nd -> 3rd, now the car is on middle of the hill running on the 3rd gear, the AT thinks there is good enough but I want more torque and want to shift from "D" to "2" so that the AT will downshift to the 2nd gear. What I am asking is when I shift from "D" to "2" in this situation, do I need to take my foot off the gas pedal?

i dont think you need to, i never have in my 93 with its auto. or maybe i do...i dont really think about it, i think i just mash the pedal down harder and let it drop a gear on its own, since a lower gear without out more air/fuel doesnt really make much differnence.

I might have written my first question not clearly. Here is an example, the Corolla with AT setted atO/D OFF starts going up the hill, so the AT itself shifts from 1st -> 2nd -> 3rd, now the car is on middle of the hill running on the 3rd gear, the AT thinks there is good enough but I want more torque and want to shift from "D" to "2" so that the AT will downshift to the 2nd gear. What I am asking is when I shift from "D" to "2" in this situation, do I need to take my foot off the gas pedal?

I might have written my first question not clearly. Here is an example, the Corolla with AT setted atO/D OFF starts going up the hill, so the AT itself shifts from 1st -> 2nd -> 3rd, now the car is on middle of the hill running on the 3rd gear, the AT thinks there is good enough but I want more torque and want to shift from "D" to "2" so that the AT will downshift to the 2nd gear. What I am asking is when I shift from "D" to "2" in this situation, do I need to take my foot off the gas pedal?

An automatic transmission is an auto, it will shift and pick the right shifts whether you

continuesly apply the gas pedal or not. Definately harder on the Auto when you

accelerate fast, but the auto is designed for that.

So don't worry about the job of the automatic.

Now a different story if you have a standard, you ease off on the gas during upshifts

and on down shifts, you may have to apply gas to get the RPM's higher, although with

the synchromesh standards nowadays, all you do is use the clutch and there is no

need for double clutching.

I might have written my first question not clearly. Here is an example, the Corolla with AT setted at

O/D OFF starts going up the hill, so the AT itself shifts from 1st -> 2nd -> 3rd, now the car is on middle of the hill running on the 3rd gear, the AT thinks there is good enough but I want more torque and want to shift from "D" to "2" so that the AT will downshift to the 2nd gear. What I am asking is when I shift from "D" to "2" in this situation, do I need to take my foot off the gas pedal?

An automatic transmission is an auto, it will shift and pick the right shifts whether you

continuesly apply the gas pedal or not. Definately harder on the Auto when you

accelerate fast, but the auto is designed for that.

So don't worry about the job of the automatic.

Now a different story if you have a standard, you ease off on the gas during upshifts

and on down shifts, you may have to apply gas to get the RPM's higher, although with

the synchromesh standards nowadays, all you do is use the clutch and there is no

need for double clutching.