Excel 2l HB late 2023 Ist 1000 mile experience

[Louie]

I used to own the 2l Gr Sport auto 2019 version of the Corolla and I must say it did a lot of things rather well that my current Excel seems to have missing from its repertoire and here is the list.

1.  Handling was better in the old car and steering was less vague. I took the car this weekend for a 150 mile run down to Gloucester from Lincolnshire using A,B roads and motorways. I felt ever lump and bump in the road no matter how small.( all tyres have been balanced and pressures are correct). 

2. The old vehicle was much quieter when comparing road and engine noise. The new car has same tyres except they are MIchelin 5 and the old vehicle had Michelin 4's. The engine n(whine)  on acceleration from the CVT is horrific for a modern supposedly well insulated vehicle. I would hazard a guess in that is the insulation  actually present ?

3 . I had no problem with my old car infotainment screen  connectivity when compared to the frustrating games my current vehicle is still exhibiting with my iPhone synchronisation (same mobile as before). Today when we were leaving our hotel accommodation it took a full 5 mins for my iPhone to synchronise with the vehicle so I could use Waze for my home navigation this is now starting to happen on a more frequent basis. It did exactly the same thing at the start of my journey yesterday very annoying. 

4. New hazard warnings have appeared on the dash telling me a vehicle is about to pull out into my lane while I am travelling on a dual carriageway ! what else is going to happen ? is my seat have a rocket powered ejection mechanism underneath it ? I am getting tired of Toyota surprises regardless of their intentions.

5. A couple of times when slowing down at a T  junction with a car in front pressing the brake pedal induced a heart stopping pause unless I stomped hard on the pedal.

I have owned the vehicle since Dec 2023 and my experience of this metal entity  has got steadily worse in that I am strongly minded to part with it but the  problem is getting hold of a decent hybrid today.

There I  have now got that of my chest 

[sportse]

Sorry to hear about the issues you’ve been having. Mine is a 23 icon and hasn’t had any of these, I used to own an auris hybrid beforehand. 
 

I think the handling issues could be down to the 19 inch tyres - I’m on 16’s and my old auris excel was on 17’s. The bigger tyres are a problem in the roads here. 
 

do you have an undebonnet pad to reduce noise? Mine doesn’t but the noise levels are still quite low on the 1.8. The late 23 models have more horsepower, perhaps the 2023 2l revs higher than the older model now. 
 

the infotainment has been fine on mine after some initial issues in setting it up. It connects before I’ve driven away every time. 
 

does the braking issue happen at the same junction? My excel used to ‘lose braking’ and do something similar at one particular junction. What was happening was that it was regen braking and there was poor road surface so the car thought it would slip so switched over to friction braking. The switch over at higher speed can feel like the brakes has a problem, but it’s normal. The 19 inch tyres could make this issue worse. 
 

with a 23 model you should be able to switch off various hazard warnings and have them stay off. The driving assist one where it brakes/moves for you I only tried once because it was inconsistent. 

[TonyHSD]

Toyota added assistance and safety systems seems to be a burden on driving experience. For the negative feedback, I don’t know , perhaps all has its reasons why is like that. The tyres although same size and brand if they were different model can make a huge difference. Generally speaking excel models should be the plusher ones and better sound proof than all other trim levels. I think for direct comparison between two cars , these two should have been used on the same roads, places in similar temperatures and all other conditions to get a real picture of any possible differences. Handling of the newer models can be slightly worsened because they are 2cm higher than before in all specs. 
 

[sportse]

2 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

 Handling of the newer models can be slightly worsened because they are 2cm higher than before in all specs. 
 

That's interesting to hear, when the corolla first came out it was lower than my Auris and put some people off. Maybe they are bringing up the height to make it easier to get in and out.

[Corollanutter]

On 3/18/2024 at 4:47 PM, sportse said:

That's interesting to hear, when the corolla first came out it was lower than my Auris and put some people off. Maybe they are bringing up the height to make it easier to get in and out.

An increase in ride height is no bad thing. It's certanly a very low car to get in and out of (my older friend has great problems getting into mine) - and I have already destroyed one undershield on a (very) slightly raised security gate guide. I have been looking at ways to increase the ride height by about 2cm - but have been put off by the pricing. 

[TonyHSD]

5 hours ago, Corollanutter said:

An increase in ride height is no bad thing. It's certanly a very low car to get in and out of (my older friend has great problems getting into mine) - and I have already destroyed one undershield on a (very) slightly raised security gate guide. I have been looking at ways to increase the ride height by about 2cm - but have been put off by the pricing. 

The easiest way to increase height by 2cm is to change the springs and use new springs made for Trek models. 
It’s not so difficult diy job, all you need is a spring compressor tool for the front. 
You can buy aftermarket springs as  good as oem, KYB for example.