What do you get when you drop an Aurion V6 engine into a Corolla? The BladeMaster G, that's what, writes DAVE MOORE.
The concept of plonking a big motor into a small car has long been a shortcut to performance. Holden put a 3.3-litre six into a Viva normally used to engines of about a third of that size, called it the Torana and won Bathurst with it.
Ford put a Falcon engine into a Cortina and found it didn't have room for power steering, which with 4.1-litres in the nose is something it could have done with.
The Morris Marina even got a power hike, with Leyland Australia offering a version that used the 2.6-litre six, usually found in the entry-level P76 sedans. The car was best remembered for the ability to understeer and oversteer simultaneously - in a straight line.
Then came the Centura, which was a European Chrysler 180, normally powered by a four, but force-fed a giant slant six from the company's Australian parts bin.
Wrestling this car was a skill that took time and strength to acquire. You might see one in Australia, where there is space to stop and perhaps turn.
Where front-engine, rear-drive cars only need to offer sufficient space to go with some imagination - misguided or otherwise - transverse front-driven cars require a lot more work if you're to cram something bigger into them. After all front driven, transverse designs were specifically created to be compact, giving over most of their road footprint to passenger and luggage space.
But some manufacturers went ahead anyway.
You could say Volkswagen started it by squeezing its narrow-angled 2.9-litre V6 engine into the Golf and calling it the VR6, while Rover had a go too, crow- barring the 2.5-litre KV6 into the MG version of the 400 series, though this wasn't a hatch. Both cars were good to drive, with the MG proving surprisingly so, considering how few actually bothered to drive the ill-fated brand's efforts towards the end - but that's another tale.
What is surprising is that the Japanese didn't have a go at shoe- horning a big engine into a small car in the name of increasing its performance, preferring over the years to invest in clever valves, turbochargers and the like to effect similar performance hikes.
However, it appears some imaginative and possibly slightly whacky Toyota engineer must have shown his superiors that he'd worked- out how to slot the company's 3.5-litre V6 into the Corolla, a car whose usual engine choice goes from 1.4 to 2.1-litres. Not only that, Toyota New Zealand has even brought some over under its Signature class used car scheme.
For some reason the car's creators labelled the beast the BladeMaster G, which, just to simplify matters, runs with a V6 Aurion engine and a paddle- shift six-speed automatic, a motor of almost twice the capacity of the four usually put across its nose in our market, promising lots of fun, not to mention performance, particularly of the accelerative kind.
What a pity engineers didn't investigate the possibility of using New Zealand's Chris Amon to produce a chassis worthy of the beast. Amon refettled New Zealand-assembled Coronas and Corollas during the 1980s and 1990s, turning what were worthy cars into some of the best riding and handling hatches and sedans in their segments. Drive an early 1990s locally- made Corolla or Corona even now and they are terrific drives.
And so is the BladeMaster G, to a point. With 206kW on tap from its V6, plus 344 Newton-metres and six paddle- shifted ratios through which to use all that grunt, it leaves the line with gusto, activating its rather frantic traction control at a hint of dampness, but still managing a zero to 100kmh time in what I hand-timed at about six seconds.
The engine is smooth, barely audible at idle and at low speed, and at 100kmh in sixth, it's hardly drawing breath at 1750rpm, which means its carbon footprint, with so little to drag along with it compared to the much bigger Aurion that donated the engine, would be in the 8L/100km and 240g/km CO2 bracket.
It's dependent on how often you take advantage of its power to weight ratio, which in damp conditions won't be often, as in rain, the BladeMaster G does a remarkable impression of a labrador trying to gain traction on a lino floor.
Scrabbling for grip with the traction control light blinking in the dash and torque-steer giving the steering wheel the feel of a writhing snake, it's rather less fun. Roundabouts are demonstrations in understeer, and it pays to be a tenderfoot with any power applications with this car.
Running on 18-inch rims with fairly serious rubber wrapped around them, a clue to some of its lack of reliable grip was that the tyres had seen better days. There was plenty of legal grip left, but an all-new set would probably have been a bit more able to deploy and contain the car's power output and side forces.
Inside, Toyota has convincingly converted the Corolla's interior into that of a performance car, with swards of alacanta suede on the seats, doors and dash panelling, and leather for the bolsters, gear lever knob and steering wheel rim. The front seats are of a more wraparound type than the standard Corolla's and they're power adjustable.
The car offered by Toyota New Zealand had bluetooth, front side, curtain and driver's knee airbags and the very necessary traction control, and vehicle stability control - though they had their work cut out keeping the BladeMaster G in check. A thumping great stereo put out a good sound and was MP3 compatible, while radar cruise control was also fitted, which is something normally the realm of Lexus models in New Zealand.
I'm told there is a lesser Blade available which uses the 2.4-litre Camry engine instead of our Aurion power unit, and without the weight of the big V6 up front, the car would be a much less intimidating beast on the road.
I'm toldthe Signature class Blade can cost between $30,000 and $35,000. I'd gladly have paid a bit more if Toyota Japan had engaged Amon-san in giving it a good going-over in the chassis, and some advice on wheels and tyres.
But without that finessing, its a hot- rod with all the delicacy and nimbleness such a definition implies.
For the same price I could have opted for a used Aurion with fewer than our test car's 50,000km or a brand new Corolla. Sitting something inbetween, the BladeMaster G is rather lost in no man's land, which is about where some of the cars at the beginning of this column remain to this day.
BLADEMASTER G
* Drivetrain: Transverse FWD, 3456cc DOHC 24v V6, with six-speed automatic, 206kW at 6200rpm and 344Nm at 4700rpm.
* Performance: Max 185kmh (restricted), 0-100km/g 6.2 seconds. 8.1L/100km, 240g/km C02.
* Dimensions: L 4245mm, H 1510mm, W 1760mm, W/base 2600mm, Fuel 55L, Weight 1650kg.
* Price: From $30,000 upwards depending on specification and engine size.
* Hot: Quick (in a straight line); smooth, refined engine; classy cabin revamp; solid build quality.
* Not: Under-developed chassis; a bit of a handful.
* Verdict: A potentially great idea ruined for the sake of a ha'porth of tar!