New Toyota flex-fuel vehicles, the Corolla XLi and the Fielder, coming to Brazil in 2008
Toyota is arriving late flex-fuel craze of vehicles in Brazil, a country known not only for their excellent soccer players but also for their widespread use of ethanol (called álcool) to power vehicles.
This week, Toyota announced that two models, the Corolla XLi and the Fielder, will be available from January 2008 with a 1.8 liter engine good for 136HP mated either to a manual or an automatic box.
In order to make these cars ready to be fueled with ethanol, Toyota approached a conservative point of view, not changing the way to make the engine works. Only the necessary materials to avoid ethanol corrosion, the ECU reprogramming and individual injectors were changed from the gas engine. The car also includes an auxiliary gas tanks placed in the trunk.
The two cars will be manufactured at Toyota's facilities near Indaiutuba, near São Paulo. The prices will start at R$ 58,526,00 (about 30,000 USD).
[Source: Toyota do Brasil]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Shani 6:21AM (9/26/2008)
Can u plz tell me the price of new Corolla Xli?
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Jenny 8:55AM (5/28/2007)
wow! Toyota is working hard to capture the Brazilian market ;)
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Hamud 7:43AM (5/29/2007)
The Flex engine is not offered for the Xli version (base) only, but also for the XEi (mid) and SE-G (top) versions, same goes for the Fielder (Fielder is only ofered in XEi and SE-G versions). There are now 2 XLi versions, the one without flex engine has a 1.6L engine, no ABS/EBD and no alloy wheels. The XLi Flex model has ABS/EBD and alloy wheels along with the 1.8L engine.
On the other hand, they should have raised the compression ratio of the engine in order to make better use of the ethanol.
Toyota is doing a great job in Brazil, their cars are among the best sellers in their categories. The Corolla is a hit along with the Honda Civic, both sells almost 3k units per month even with a high price tag.
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