Rental Corolla

[FC]

I had a Corolla for a day in Orlando. The last time I drove one was in the late 90's. It was my sister's early 90's Corolla.

Overall, not pleased. Car looks ok, interior was low-rent but not bad except for the tacked-on display.

I came away surprised by how much the car reminded me of that early 90's model. Same buzzy engine under acceleration, but quiet when cruising. I hated the transmission. Perhaps it's the desire to constantly go 3 gears higher than you really ought to be, but I hated it. It seemed to love to do what felt like 1-to-4 shifts. Jumpy off the line and then slow as molasses unless you punch it, in which case you get jerked, car shifts down a few gears, engine makes lots of noise and car starts moving adequately. Let go of the gas and it goes back to 6th gear or whatever.

I actually felt it handled pretty well. Brake feel/response was weirdly non-linear.

Overall, very meh. I know it's a cheap car and can live with low quality materials and even the noisy engine and weird brakes (maybe), but the transmission disappointed. I'm sure it would be a much better car in with a stick.