As most sold nameplate in the world, the Corolla has a big heritage. The AE86 model is the most famous with its 4A-GE engine and pure driving pleasure. But did you know that Toyota significantly improved the 4A-GE engine years after the AE86 went out of production. And this ultimate version of the 4A-GE has been put in the 7th generation Corolla Levin and 8th generation regular Corolla.
The Corolla Levin was the coupe version of the regular Corolla. With the 7th generation being introduced in 1995, it had the option to come with the latest version of the 4A-GE engine. The model code set by Toyota was E-AE111, that is why this model variant often goes under the name of Levin AE111. The actual grade name BZ though.
Blacktop, that is what the latest version of the 4A-GE engine is called because of its black valve cover. Compared to the earlier engine, for example used in AE86 and MR2 AW11, the horsepower significantly increased. Reasons for this power improvement were the change from 4 valves per cylinder to 5 valves per cylinder (3 on intake, 2 on exhaust), individual throttle bodies for the intake (which also increased response) and higher compression ratio. As a result 165 horsepower was delivered from this 1.6 liter normally aspirated engine.
The Levin BZ initially came with a 5-speed manual transmission or 4-speed automatic transmission. In 1997 there was a minor change at which timing the 5-speed manual was replaced with a 6-speed manual. In addition to the transmission change, there were also changes to the body rigidity with respect to crash safety and some exterior changes such a new grille and a new rear spoiler.
At the same time the GT grade was introduced for the regular Corolla. It was basically the Levin BZ grade except for the body was a 4-door sedan instead of a 2-door coupe. It had the same option of a 6-speed manual and 4-speed automatic transmission. There were a large amount of other Corolla variants and grades, that is why the GT grade is quite rare.
In 2000 the new generation Corolla was introduced. For this generation, no GT grade was set for the regular model. For the Levin there was not even a successor. The 7th generation Celica introduced at the end of 1999 was the supposed to replace both the previous generation Celica and the Levin.
Click on the picture below to see the Toyota Corolla Levin details and specifications per year such as weight, new price and equipment for each version in the Goo-net.com catalog.
Click on the picture below to see the Toyota Corolla GT details and specifications per year such as weight, new price and equipment for each version in the Goo-net.com catalog.
