Just a wannabe for now :)

[NWMO]

Hello all,

I've grown to love my 1.8L 95' Geo Prizm (7th gen corolla) as it is fun, economical (35 mpg), pretty easy to work on and just keeps going. If all goes as planned, I will be teaching my son how to drive a manual trans with this car and giving it to him when he turns 16, it should have 315,000 miles or more at that point. Burns a couple qts every 5000 miles, but runs great.

Sooo, I started looking at 7th gen corolla wagons and then came across the Alltracs. While a little older, rougher and tougher, a Tercel would be a real possibility as well. I will start watching craigslist, ebay, here etc.

I would like to get at least 30 mpg and will drive right at 25,000 miles (Hwy) a year. Off road capabilities is not a must, but I would use from time to time and enjoy. All comments welcome.

Chris

[tercel4wdrules]

I have the same car as my daily driver and I agree it's a fantastic car. I've found that Rotella T6 5W-40 slowed down the oil burning. If you're used to the low rpm torque characteristics of the 7A-FE engine in the Geo, switching to a Tercel 4WD will be a downgrade. Average mpg with a Tercel 4WD will range between 24-32 mpg, usually in the 27-29 mpg range with mixed city/hwy. If you don't need the 4WD, the Corolla wagons would give you higher mpg and more cargo space.

[Petros]

I have owned both the corolla all trac and a number of Tercel4wd. after driving the all trac for a year, I sold it and kept the Tercel: is is more fun to drive, lighter and has better visibility and more ground clearance, and much easier to work on. though it has it's shortcomings, I have been working to correct those problems: flimsy front brakes (see my thread on the front brake up grade over in the repair guild section), underpowered engine (swap a built up 4ac, long term plan is to double the hp with a fuel injection 4age swap), and a few other more minor issues.

[NWMO]

Thanks guys,

My only real experience with the Tercel Wagon was a drive from northwest MO to Colorado many, many moons ago. I'm not a performance nut, but I appreciate the 7AFE's smooth power band and ability to zip down the Interstate at 80 mph easily if desired. I do recall, even as a passenger, the lack of power in the Tercel during that trip. The 7AFE with a 5-speed seems to be the best of both worlds, as it is much sportier than the 1.6 and gets better fuel mileage to boot. The wagon and 4WD are more desire than demand. I've gotten by the last 4+ years fine with a sedan and with the split rear seatback that folds down with access to the trunk, it hauls better than expected. Thanks for the input.

Here is a nice Alltrac on ebay.

I might add that I am 6'-5" tall and run about 240-250lb. I fit the Prizm (Corolla) quite well, are the Tercs pretty confortable for a big guy?? My wife's car is a 2009 Mazda 5 AT with console . Don't care for driving it at all. I do my best not to wrench on it either as I find it a PITA.

Chris

[Petros]

A friend of mine is 6' 4" tall and over 300 lbs, he drives a full sized chevy truck. whenever we have to go somewhere far we always take my Tercel4wd, he has even sat in the back seat all day when there were three of us that went camping for a long weekend. He said it is the only small car he has ever been in that his head does not rub against the roof (he has room to spare) and he can comfortably get in and out of.

He liked it so much he thought he would get one for everyday communing to save fuel costs over his truck. We found one with a blown engine, towed it home and I helped him swap in a good running junk yard engine. though it is still sitting in his friend's yard...he can't seem to give up his full size pick-up habit. I with some clean up it will be a rust free and near perfect ''84 SR5, I told him we should sell it if he is not going to use it.

[Gottolovem]

I'm 6'4" 225 and one of the best things about the tercel for me is how well I fit in it!

[NWMO]

Good to know. I fit in the Prizm well, but it sits pretty darn low. As I get older I can see getting in & out as being difficult.

Chris

[Petros]

the seat in the Tercel4wd adjust up and down (on the SR-5 seats anyway), and it is not difficult to make brackets to get another inch or so out of it. Once you try one you might find you have some extra head room (even if you are tall) and you can raise the seat a bit, giving you better visibility, and making it easier to get in and out. On the wagon they added some extra ceiling height (though the doors are not any taller, there is much more head room inside the wagons) so there may be some room to raise the seat even on a taller person. I am 5'8" and I have like 7 or 8" of headroom, I have been considering raising the seat height even above the max adjustment, just to get a bit higher in the car to improve my line of sight even more.

I always thought it was odd that the Japanese had made these cars to tall, many previous generations of Japanese made cars were too small for many Americans, and Europeans as well. Perhaps they were actually making the car for the more affluent parts of the world.

[NWMO]

Hey All,

Not looking to get flamed, but as I study the Toyota 4WD options, I seem to be leaning towards the All Trac wagons. EFI, a little more power and cruisability (most of my driving is 70 mph on the Interstate). The All Tracs probably aren't quite the off-road specialist the Tercs are, but 99+% of the time I'm on pavement, would just like 4WD to get through snow, etc. To bad they never put the 7AFE in these units. I assume the 2.0 L engines out of the Celica All Tracs won't swap easily as most of what I'm finding is folks trying to get a little more out of the 4AFE.

Chris

[jimcrazy]

try to get a 5 speed corolla had 2 auto all trac wagons both had to switch off over drive going down hill in to a head wind on the highway, the 5 speed i had was like driving a sports car compared to the autos, hauling a 4x8 trailer loaded up with with collage stuff 3 people in the car and a roof pod full could still cruse at 120kms per hour on the highway. they were 92s and 93s

[dlb]

i'm a big fan of the ae95 4wd corolla wagons, NWMO. as jimcrazy points out, the automatics are gutless. the 5 spd is better but it's still pretty slow. fine by me, as i'm averaging 13-14 km/L (32-33 mpg) and that's more important to me than racing around. i like their smoother ride, more comfortable seats, simple EFI system, and beefier brakes, among other things. i find the biggest bummer about ae95's to be the lack room to work in the engine bay but that's been far outweighed by the benefits.

oh yeah, another bummer is that the 4wd corolla forum sucks. there's like 4 people on it, occasionally. this forum is way more active and helpful. when i have corolla-related questions, i usually post them here rather than the corolla forum and get much better help.

[NWMO]

Thanks guys,

I didn't state it, but AT is not an option. I love my MT and the 95' Prizm is almost fun to drive.

Are all of the Corolla All Tracs wagons full time 4WD with a diff loc for bad conditions? vs the Terc which are FWD until engaged, and then 4WD?and does that create wear issues on the extra moving parts?

I figure the engine bay will be like my Prizm which I've not done a ton of work on, but can manage. I did swear like a sailor when replacing the timing belt and renewing crank and cam seals. How they expect that cover to come off without twisting, pulling and cussing a fair amount is beyond me. The 7AFE makes it worth it though, love that engine.

Thanks for the heads up on the other forum. I don't mind supporting a great resource and have supported other "free" discussion boards for my Ford Tractor and 52' Chevy Styleline, but having to pay $5 just to say hello seems like a poor place to start.

Chris

[dlb]

yeah, no one likes the $5 fee to join the ae95 forum. maybe the fee would make sense if it was a huge forum with lots of people that required lots of maintenance but only a handful use it so it's ridiculous.

the manual trans ae95's are AWD with push-button locking center diff, though i've never needed to lock the diff in the 3 years i've owned mine. the auto trans are AWD with automatically locking center diff under slippery conditions (LAAAAME). you are correct that tercels are FWD normally with 4wd engaged by a lever. tercels do not have a center diff which is why the 4wd must only be used in slippery conditions, so as to avoid binding of the trans and diffs. the center diff on the ae95's means extra weight and more moving parts but i haven't heard of anyone having any problems with their center diff.

basically, the tercel's 4wd system is much simpler and i like that, but i also like the capability of the corolla's AWD/locking diff system, and have found it to be as reliable as the tercel's system thus far.

[jimcrazy]

both my autos had push button diff lock same as the 5 speed,,

[dlb]

i know it looks like the same push button diff lock in the auto ae95's jimcrazy, but if you read the owners manual it explains that when the system is engaged, the diff will lock up automatically on slipping. that is the default setting. you press the button to disengage it for towing. it's actually pretty silly, i think.