Toyota Corona EXIV Saloon Review

Overall Rating

- Great styling/looks

- Semi-Sleeper (Cops don't seem to really consider it a fast car thanks to the four doors!)

- Very quick & fantastic handling.

- Legendary Toyota reliability.

- Four door practicality built into a Celica chassis (with suspension, engine & running gear to match!)

- Shallow boot makes it hard to fit anything of a reasonable size.

- Not 'really' a four door. Next to no leg room in rear, especially with 6-foot monsters in the front seats.

- Can be quite thirsty when driving hard, but so can most cars.

- As everyone else has said, it would have been interesting if they dropped a turbo (3S-GTE) motor in as an option!

The Toyota Corona EXIV is an absolutely fantastic car!

Mine is a 1994 TR-G, 5-speed manual featuring a 2L 3S-GE motor and Super-Stut suspension. Almost everything mechanical except the body shell is based on the '94 generation Celica - right down to the 180BHP 2L motor!

Heaps of power (if you really need more than this you don't know how to drive it!), slick quite short gearbox. I love the way it pulls over 4k RPM all the way to 7k red line!

Handles like a dream - just like a Go-Kart, it takes very little input at the wheel to make it turn. Very direct with a bit of torque-steer when accelerating hard. Again, turbo would be interesting, but probably too much for the front wheels.

I brought it at 95,000km and is currently sitting at around 195,000km. For the first 30,000km I drove it quite hard over the local hills every day, meaning the tyres would wear out in around 10,000kms. This also caused some premature wearing in the S-Strut suspension (a couple of components replaced at around 170,000km), and uneven wear in the brake discs.

Apart from this, the only real problems I've had were that a bulb in the rear brake lights blew once, after it was left out in a very heavy rain fall one night, and (thanks to that first 20,000kms) the sunroof has loosened and developed a rattle.

However with regular oil/filter changes and cam belts at 95,000 and 190,000, it's been as reliable as you could want, if you don't count the driver-created problems!

I'm not sure if this is specific to all TR-G's but this sits around 2-inches lower than all other 1994-1998 TR-X's I've parked next to. The local mechanic thinks that the springs etc are all factory standard. The lower stance means that it handles like a Go-Kart, plus makes it look much more aggressive and a lot wider than it actually is (without making it look like a bad rice-racer).

Only two (minor) gripes - firstly the boot. It's quite shallow, which is fine for carrying 2-4 people & gear, however my previous car was a station wagon, and I can only just (with some unique entry/exit angles) squeeze my lawnmower in the boot.

Secondly are the rear doors and leg room. Although this isn't really a gripe. I brought this car on the basis that it is a Celica/Curren with four doors. It would allow me to have a fast sports-ish car and avoid the pitfalls of a two door when carrying passengers.

I knew the leg room would be tight - and it is with my mate in the front seat (6' 4" tall!), however one thing I didn't consider were the rear doors.

Because it is a relatively short chassis built for a two door sports car, the rear doors are a bit smaller then they would be on a proper saloon. They open out quite far, but are quite short - meaning a smaller space in which to squeeze into the back seat. It's still far easier than trying to climb into the back of a two door, but it's almost impossible to fit a box for a 17" CRT monitor into the rear seats. As a comparison, a friend with a Celica can get a 34" CRT TV into his rear seat.

These cars are starting to get on a bit now, although the 1998 models shouldn't be too old yet. Apart from that, highly recommended for someone wanting a practical Celica or the young-ish at heart!

Members' Comments onmeathorse's Review

• 200gt on 27th Mar 2008

  I agree with this review because...superb suspension device(corner like a go-kart)match with strong and reliable 3sge engine in the front hood.Proper wheelbase lenght(not to long or short)famous Super Strut Suspension make this car nimble on cornering.
  In the mid 90,Corona Exiv was so active in racing tourament.Espeacially JTCC(Japan touring car championship)and Macau Guii Grand Prix.Toyota Corona Exiv kept showing its endurability and performance on racing track.Even(Germany team)BMW 3series racing machine was defeated by Exiv back on 1995 Macau track.