Identifying features inside the XRS include Optitron instrumentation, leather wrapping on the both the steering wheel and shift lever, and metallic trim around the door handles, air vents, gauges, and shift knob. A six-disc in-dash CD changer is optional. Interestingly, the XRS is the only Corolla offering standard cruise control. Another standard feature is the 4-wheel disc brake setup that includes Electronic Brake-force Distribution and Tire Pressure Monitoring. When a tire's pressure reaches a critically low threshold, the system alerts the driver. Toyota recommends, however, that tire pressures be checked regularly, with a conventional gauge. Driver and front passenger Advanced Airbags arrive standard on all Corollas. Seat-mounted front side-impact airbags are optional across the lineup, as are front and rear curtain airbags. These supplemental restraint systems deploy only in certain types of severe side-impact collisions, and not in lighter, head-on accidents. Another safety feature, the Child Restraint System, uses lower anchors and top tether anchors to secure car seats and small children firmly in place. A trunk-entrapment release is also included, in case the trunk-lid accidentally closes with a person inside. By offering the 170-hp. Corolla XRS, Toyota shifts their small car favorite into performance territory formerly controlled, at least in house, by the Celica GT-S and the recently debuted Matrix XRS. Affordability, utility, and reliability should not necessarily exclude excitability. Is a high-revving ECHO somewhere down the road?
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