Quote Originally Posted by jut703 View Post
In the end I feel like I've grown up too fast - a few years back I despised the softness of the Altis and wished we had bought an FD 2.0 or Focus TDCi instead. Now, I realize each car has it's merits and the Altis isn't all that bad. Love your own, as they say.
This is the case with a lot of us. I loathed the Altis before due to it's lack of driving feel and high driving position and preferred the Civic FD way over my 9th gen. I used to coin the Altis 1.6E a/t of my sister as a golf cart. Over time though, i grew to appreciate the better comfort, insulation and the design which seems to grow on you. Age nga Of course, come repair/service time, i find it cheaper to maintain the Corolla.

On the engine, that's why Honda engines are called "torqueless wonders"; they have no low end grunt and are tuned for power after you go over the 4,000rpm range all the way to redline. Its powerband is located at the high rpm range.