1997 Toyota Paseo review
Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007Manual transmission
- 1,497 cc 1.5 liters 4 in-line front transverse engine with 74 mm bore, 87 mm stroke, 9.4 compression ratio, cast iron block, light alloy head, double overhead cam and four valves per cylinder
- Unleaded fuel
- Fuel economy EPA highway (l/100km): 6.4
- Multi-point injection fuel system
- 45 liter fuel tank
- Power: 75 kW , 93 HP @ 5,400 rpm; 100 ft lb , 136 Nm @ 4,400 rpm
This subcompact car is extremely well built and good on gas. After 10 years and 260,000 km, the cars’ only major repairs were changing to the brake pads and clutch pads. It still passes the government emissions tests way below the specified limits.
Rust on the body is very minimal, and this is even with tiny paint chips taken off from flying pebbles while driving on the highway. Probably means that Toyota didn’t cheap out on the zinc for the body panel metal. Paint has flaked off the base of the wiper arms and it has started to rust a little, but even that seems to be well controlled.
Shifting is not bad, shifting from 1st to 2nd is kind of rough, but is smooth for the other gears. My guess is that this is a characteristic of the small 1.5 L engine. On this, I’m not an expert so you’ll have to take this opinion with a grain of salt.
Steering and handling is good, nothing to complain about.
In terms of the interior space, it’s a sub compact, whadd’ya expect??!!
If I was a student and needed a cheap safe used car, this is the car to get.