The 2,300mm wheelbase put it right at the heart of the small car market and its 4,600mm turning circle was the best in class.īut it was in the area of safety where the new Starlet excelled. It was a fresh but classic two-box hatchback design, with a spacious interior providing a comfortable passenger environment with plenty of shoulder, leg and headroom and excellent visibility from large glazed areas. Yet it was far from hastily conceived, building on the legendary build quality, reliability and space-saving features of its predecessors. The 90-series Starlet set a new record for Toyota with a design to production time of under two years.
A minor revision in the second quarter of 1992 added door beams and an energy-absorbing steering wheel to the Starlet’s arsenal of safety features, as well as body-protecting side moulding fitted as standard. Elsewhere, however, the adaptable 80-series Starlet* was available with a choice of three- or five-door body styles, a range of twin cam 1.3-litre petrol engines, as a turbocharged hot-hatch variant (the cult EP82 Starlet GT Turbo), a diesel model, and even one with full-time four-wheel drive.īy the end of 1991, Starlet production stood at 2,333,538 units and was increasing at a rate of over 181,000 per year. Once again, the UK market was supplied with just one well-equipped, three-door GL model option at a cost of £7,600. Meanwhile, the suspension was retuned with MacPherson struts at the front and a torsion beam rear, and braking performance was improved with larger ventilated discs and drums respectively. However with a lower resistance body to pull along, the new model’s fuel consumption at higher speed actually improved. The carburetted 12-valve 1E engine and five-speed gearbox was carried over unchanged, offering brisk performance and the promise of superb reliability (the Starlet had consistently topped European reliability records).
#STARLET GT MODIFIED DRIVER#
It was more ergonomic too, with the switches and controls up to 75mm nearer to the driver and arranged more logically. The monocoque bodyshell was extremely rigid and comprised of 82 per cent galvanised steel, while inside the rounded instrument panel looked cutting-edge compared to the angular appearance of the previous model. In fact, quality was one of the primary watchwords used throughout the development of this new-generation Starlet, making it feel like a much more expensive, though equally functional, car.
If the 70-series Starlet had an air of practical utilitarianism inside, then the 80-series led by chief engineer Yuuichi Sorimachi reversed that with much higher quality fabrics and materials. Front disc brakes were standardised across the range, and Starlet became the first Toyota passenger car to employ highly responsive rack-and-pinion steering. The front suspension inherited the predecessor’s MacPherson strut and coil spring setup, while the rigid rear suspension was switched from leaf springs to a four-link coil spring system. Transmission choices remained the same as before. Just one 1.3-litre engine was available in Japan, but in other markets the range also included 1.0-litre and 1.1-litre options from the same K-series family. Like most competitors it was available in three- and five-door body styles, but the Toyota Starlet differentiated itself in a key way by retaining a front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout. The new Starlet (frequently identified as the 60-series from its KP60 chassis code) became Toyota’s entry-level model, following the two-box hatchback design that had become the global standard for compact cars at the time.
This evolution from trim level to standalone model set a precedent that was later copied in the transformation of the Celica Supra into the Supra sports car. In February 1978 the Publica and Publica Starlet lines were consolidated into the new Toyota Starlet range, and while the longstanding Publica name was now discontinued its legacy continued with a ‘P’ designation in the chassis code.
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