Celica, still the best cheap coupe?

[Track Rod]

Thanks for the articles s_m, I enjoyed those

[s m]

Track Rod said:

Thanks for the articles s_m, I enjoyed those

No worries chap

[dave_s13]

The coldest air con of any car I've ever had....There's another plus point.

My comment re the gearbox was purely related to the ratios not letting you fully enjoy the brilliant engine. The action on mine was great.

[marcosgt]

s m said:

Mound Dawg said:

s m said:

Quite impressive fuel economy even if it's not the quickest thing

I'm sold.

For some buyers it seems to be a concern especially at cheaper buy-in levels if you read the "What Car do I ......" threads

You don't often see a genuine recorded 40mpg for anything sporty

I could get 40MPG out of my Skoda Octavia vRS on a motorway trip without having to baby it.

I quite like the Celica (and I generally view Toyota as as thrilling as porridge, but less appetizing!), it's smart and sporty, doesn't weigh a lot and yet has a decent amount of space for inconveniences like real life!

If fuel economy (and a hatchback) is less important to you, you could consider a Mazda RX-8, a much better drive and a hell of a lot quicker.

M.

[moorx]

I was in the same position as you just over a year ago. In the end, I decided that I'd liked the Celica for some time, so went with that.

I did consider (and test drive) a T-sport but felt that the difference in price, VED and insurance didn't warrant it. I looked at a few and travelled quite long distances (500+ miles all in) before deciding to buy the second one I had seen, which was only about 20 miles away

Mine is a 140 with leather interior and climate control and has just over 97,000 miles on it now (was about 85,000 when I bought it) and has been very reliable. OH does the maintenance and he tells me that it hardly uses any oil, although we do keep an eye on this. I use mine as my daily and do 3-400 miles per week.

Celica Club UK is well worth joining for information and advice.

And for those who suggested an MR2, yes, they're great too. I didn't want to choose, so have both

[carinaman]

Track Rod said:

No, I used good old beam deflectors!

Thanks.

[s m]

marcosgt said:

s m said:

Mound Dawg said:

s m said:

Quite impressive fuel economy even if it's not the quickest thing

I'm sold.

For some buyers it seems to be a concern especially at cheaper buy-in levels if you read the "What Car do I ......" threads

You don't often see a genuine recorded 40mpg for anything sporty

I could get 40MPG out of my Skoda Octavia vRS on a motorway trip without having to baby it.

I quite like the Celica (and I generally view Toyota as as thrilling as porridge, but less appetizing!), it's smart and sporty, doesn't weigh a lot and yet has a decent amount of space for inconveniences like real life!

If fuel economy (and a hatchback) is less important to you, you could consider a Mazda RX-8, a much better drive and a hell of a lot quicker.

M.

To be fair and compare like for like though, the vRS* got about 34mpg on the same touring route, the RX8 27mpg

• - that was the very suspicious vRS they were provided with as a test car, probably more than 200bhp, so the mpg might not be representative

[CX53]

forzaminardi said:

Pretty good, I'd say, great seats, good stereo, fairly quiet engine, road and wind noise when you're not pressing on. Try before you buy though as the interior can be a bit rattly now.

I will definitely have to try one... I quite like a firm sporty ride but I'm just not keen on stupid amounts of road noise or the screaming engine at motorway speeds, it takes all the fun away for me

[forzaminardi]

CX53 said:

forzaminardi said:

Pretty good, I'd say, great seats, good stereo, fairly quiet engine, road and wind noise when you're not pressing on. Try before you buy though as the interior can be a bit rattly now.

I will definitely have to try one... I quite like a firm sporty ride but I'm just not keen on stupid amounts of road noise or the screaming engine at motorway speeds, it takes all the fun away for me

I can't say I ever noticed the engine exactly screaming away on the motorway - it's there, obviously, and audible, but 6th gear gives it reasonably good cruising ability.

[CX53]

forzaminardi said:

I can't say I ever noticed the engine exactly screaming away on the motorway - it's there, obviously, and audible, but 6th gear gives it reasonably good cruising ability.

If you don't notice that it's overly loud then it'll definitely be better than my car!

I think the newer swift sports have a 6th gear which makes it better on the motorway etc but they're still quite noisy ive heard.. In mine It starts getting loud around 50MPH and just goes from loud to ears bleeding at 70+. It's a shame because it's a cracking car, brilliant on a clear B road but im probably not using it for it's intended purpose at the moment...

I want to keep the great handling and fun drive, and a bit more power would be nice too. There aren't a great deal for sale at dealers having had a quick look online but I'll keep an eye out and try and test one

[s m]

forzaminardi said:

CX53 said:

forzaminardi said:

Pretty good, I'd say, great seats, good stereo, fairly quiet engine, road and wind noise when you're not pressing on. Try before you buy though as the interior can be a bit rattly now.

I will definitely have to try one... I quite like a firm sporty ride but I'm just not keen on stupid amounts of road noise or the screaming engine at motorway speeds, it takes all the fun away for me

I can't say I ever noticed the engine exactly screaming away on the motorway - it's there, obviously, and audible, but 6th gear gives it reasonably good cruising ability.

The decibel meter suggests the 190 is about as noisy as an Astra Coupe Turbo cruising at 50 and 70

Only under full bore acceleration is it markedly noisier according to the info below in the bar charts

[CX53]

s m said:

The decibel meter suggests the 190 is about as noisy as an Astra Coupe Turbo cruising at 50 and 70

Only under full bore acceleration is it markedly noisier according to the info below in the bar charts

Thanks for that, that's quite surprising really!

[Mr Tidy]

So why consider a "Coupe" when a Hatch can be quicker - or did I miss something?

Celica might (arguably) be the "best" cheap (FWD - like in Auris) coupe, but an E46 325ti Compact is way better/quicker???

Or did I miss something?......

[CX53]

Not everyone wants RWD, not everyone wants the same car... And not everyone wants the girls favourite choice of company car from 15 odd years ago. I did have a little read through the 325ti appreciation thread and I genuinely didn't find it as good as everyone else seems to.

Why buy a compact when you could have a 330ci? Aside from rusty arches I suppose

Edited by CX53 on Saturday 23 January 09:49

[s m]

CX53 said:

s m said:

The decibel meter suggests the 190 is about as noisy as an Astra Coupe Turbo cruising at 50 and 70

Only under full bore acceleration is it markedly noisier according to the info below in the bar charts

Thanks for that, that's quite surprising really!

According to the noise readings from other tests around the same time, it's no noisier inside than a big 6 3-series. I suspect a lot of the noise in those is from the markedly bigger rubber they wear though compared to the tyres on the Celica as tested

[nottyash]

I bought one to use for a couple of moths.
Just sold it.
mine was quite pricey at nearly £4k but it was a good example, immaculate inside and in the Storm blue which looks black. Only 45k miles too.I powder coated the alloys Audi S line grey and added some TRD centre caps.
4k revs in 6th gear was 80mph so its quite noisy with a very narrow power band 6200 to 8200, so must be revved to get a shift on. That said its quite good fun. handle well although can lack grip with the 205 tyres and lack of LSD.

[s m]

nottyash said:

I bought one to use for a couple of moths.
Just sold it.
mine was quite pricey at nearly £4k but it was a good example, immaculate inside and in the Storm blue which looks black. Only 45k miles too.I powder coated the alloys Audi S line grey and added some TRD centre caps.
4k revs in 6th gear was 80mph so its quite noisy with a very narrow power band 6200 to 8200, so must be revved to get a shift on. That said its quite good fun. handle well although can lack grip with the 205 tyres and lack of LSD.

The TRD Sport M version had a Torsen diff

[roverspeed]

Toyota extended the warranty on the 1.8 140bhp engine (and others) to 120,000 miles or 7 years. They replaced the short motor on any cars showing excess oil consumption and/or knock.

So it would be great to get one of the ones that had such treatment.

Source: I used to work for Toyota.

Just to add, I had a few 140 and 190s as company cars in my tenure there and found them pretty much the same to drive expect in the last 2,000 rpm when the valve lift happened. Really nice handling cars, bit of a plasticky dash, and I didn't find the seats great for lateral support