The Power Game
by Malcolm Baylis (27 Sep 05)

When Toyota sent its original seven-seat Verso out on the road it was fitted with either 1.6-litre or 1.8-litre petrol engines, and the one and only diesel, a 2.0-litre D-4D. As I have already made clear, this clean and technically advanced common rail unit, has proved absolutely adequate in its own way with peak power at 114hp and maximum torque of 280Nm between 2,000rpm and 2,200rpm, but it was soon being overtaken by more powerful competitors.

Not standing for that, Toyota has given the Corolla Verso two new power units, which will be in the showrooms in November. First off is the D-4D 140, with a 134hp engine producing better performance figures than the 2.0-litre which it will replace. Whereas the 2.0-litre will charge up the road to 62mph in a useful 12.6 seconds, compare this with the 9.4 seconds of its 2.2-litre successor.

Then there are the power figures to consider: an increase from 114hp to 136hp and torque from 280Nm to 310Nm. On top of these, the torque becomes available over a significantly wider power band, making it more usable to the driver which, frankly, is what it is all about. Despite the vastly improved performance, fuel consumption is a mere 0.8mpg worse, and the CO2 emissions are only 2g/km higher and - relief for company car drivers - puts this car in the same tax band as the two-litre.

The D-4D 180 is a different kettle of fish. It delivers 175hp and provides a smooth and strong torque figure of 400Nm between 2000rpm and 2600rpm. The nice burst of speed available through its new six-speed slick close shift gearbox came into its own on the roads of Spain. It was difficult to actually confirm Toyota's 0-62mph figure of 8.8 seconds, but it certainly wasn't far short of that. The engine gives the 180 a top speed of 128mph, and on the occasions when it was possible to really use the throttle the car showed certain rocketing potential.

It uses piezoelectric injection technology, which means large volumes of fuel can be pushed through the system more quickly than with conventional injectors. This in turn means better fuel use and more precise injector timing. (Incidentally, and this is for the technocrats, the piezoelectric common rail system has the highest injection pressure - at 1800 bar - and the highest number of injection per cycle - five - among all systems of this type).

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