This is 'her' car, bought new in early 2012; it replaced her 1993 Mazda Astina. 1.8 litre (chain driven DOHC - I think it's got 2 camshafts) 4 speed auto, steel wheels. I drive it a bit but not a lot. In some respects it feels much better than my 2007 CRDi manual. As an auto it's so much easier to drive around the city. Acceleration is quite quick, much quicker than mine. It's very quiet. It also feels much tighter, more composed and the suspension feels much more supple and compliant than my CRDi. The fuel economy is pretty ordinary, however. I don't drive it enough to bother to work out how many klms it will do on a full tank, but I wouldn't be surprised if it does half what my car does.
I should try to test drive a new i30 to see how it feels.
Just remembered there is one tiny item that is better in my i30: the chrome release knob in the end of the handbrake lever is a sloppy, loose fit in the Corolla; mine fits much better. I was surprised by this.
