Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Toto toilet engineering of their Drake line is excellent (this is one of the Toto Drake line). This is confirmed by many of the reviews. This review discuss in a little more detail some specifics of why this model is excellent. High cost and aesthetics do not mean a toilet will perform well. One does not ordinarily talk about ones toilet - especially by model, like one does a car. So, if you find a review of a toilet's true performance too scatological for your tastes - stop reading now. But do buy the toilet, it is a great buy. Be sure and search around to find one with free shipping ... it is heavy. Scatological information begins now: You may not know but there is a standard way to measure how large a bowel movement a toilet will handle. A special paste is used to make standard size and consistency "objects" (yes, they mimic in some ways the natural stool) and then the amount of "objects" moved by the toilet is measured. This toilet is rated at 900 grams (almost exactly two pounds). This model's performance does not occur by accident - believe it or not some toilets are carefully engineered. But this is not the best of it. Three particular items should be reviewed: First: The type of bowel movement handled. This toilet excels at all types of stools. The most difficult stool for almost all toilets, is the large mass soft stool, such as one might have from eating a lot of roughage. The problem with this type of stool is that the stool firmly fills the bottom cavity of the bowl like a plug. Most toilets (even expensive ones) have a hard time to (or can't) get the whole mass moving. Often a plunger would be needed to help things along. A poorly designed toilet may be able to move a large mass (like 900 or 1000 grams) of well formed stools but utterly fail to move a softer solid mass. This toilet is engineered so that when the flush occurs, first there is a strong pulse that comes from below the stool plug and lifts the entire mass up slightly so that the normal flush mechanism can proceed unhindered. It is an excellent and possibly unique design. Second is the round bowl design of this particular model, where there is also sufficient water in the bowl to generally keep the stool from leaving streaks. In oblong bowls, often there is little water in the "flat" section and streaking and stool movement is often is a problem. Even some round bowls are not engineered to keep the stool usually suspended in water. This toilet has been designed with attention to this. I for one, don't like to clean streaks, so I welcome this design. (It is not perfect, but is better than most). Third is the diameter of the opening between the tank and the bowl, and the diameter and coating of the exit line. These are hidden, non-obvious items of large importance. Both diameters are large in this Toto design. That gives a more rapid water entry to the bowl (hence more forceful) and a wider exit line which helps significantly if the stool is of large diameter, or is large in soft mass (as discussed above). It took me a while to learn the details of excellent toilet design. High cost does *not* imply excellent design. If you are tired of problems with the toilet or of having to use a plunger too often, pay attention to the details. At this general price point with this excellent engineering, this particular toilet is a best buy. If this review was helpful, please click on the "helpful link". Thanks.