2003 Toyota Celica T-Sport
Discussion
They're fantastic cars for the money, but I wouldn't get fooled into one straight away. There's a few fundamental things that aren't great with the car from the factory that really let it down that its rivals never had (Type R, etc). I had these things in mind to fix when I bought it.
1. The brakes are terrible. Common fault - very spongy, and they're like that as standard.
2. Ride height is far too high, wheel arches are enormous even compared to a modern fiesta.
3. Wheels are too far sunken in
4. Doesn't sound 'special' when the revs are up.
5. Dashboard feels cheap
But for about £400 you can fix most of those with the following:
1. Braided hoses, new discs and EBC pads
2. Apex 35mm springs
3. Hubcentric spacers
4. Induction kit
5. Nothing you can do unfortunately.
That's the first things I did to mine when I bought the car, and it made the car the way it should have been. From the photos I've posted, you can't tell it's been lowered or spaced at all, because it sits just right. Compare it to a standard Celica and they look like moon buggies.
Here's the ride height on my Celica before I lowered and spaced it:
Notice how ridiculously high it is?
And here it is with the Apex springs:
That's my only bone to pick with them though. There's other things I'd like to have seen from the factory which, again, I've already added to the car. Aero wipers, Xenons (seeing as they have projector lenses), etc.
So if you do think of buying one, keep those things in mind and once done, you'll have a fantastic car
1. The brakes are terrible. Common fault - very spongy, and they're like that as standard.
2. Ride height is far too high, wheel arches are enormous even compared to a modern fiesta.
3. Wheels are too far sunken in
4. Doesn't sound 'special' when the revs are up.
5. Dashboard feels cheap
But for about £400 you can fix most of those with the following:
1. Braided hoses, new discs and EBC pads
2. Apex 35mm springs
3. Hubcentric spacers
4. Induction kit
5. Nothing you can do unfortunately.
That's the first things I did to mine when I bought the car, and it made the car the way it should have been. From the photos I've posted, you can't tell it's been lowered or spaced at all, because it sits just right. Compare it to a standard Celica and they look like moon buggies.
Here's the ride height on my Celica before I lowered and spaced it:
Notice how ridiculously high it is?
And here it is with the Apex springs:
That's my only bone to pick with them though. There's other things I'd like to have seen from the factory which, again, I've already added to the car. Aero wipers, Xenons (seeing as they have projector lenses), etc.
So if you do think of buying one, keep those things in mind and once done, you'll have a fantastic car
Edited by geraintthomas on Tuesday 12th May 10:51
Snap! (though mine is the slightly older 190)
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Agree about the stance - it's pretty shoddy....spacers and lowering springs are my next port of call
(though mine is the slightly older 190)http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Agree about the stance - it's pretty shoddy....spacers and lowering springs are my next port of call
Absolutely
Here's a little sound clip I filmed inside the car showing the cam lift engaging at 6,200rpm. Sounds great!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOA-fhCt5Cw
Notice my spark plug cover? Toyota never had one, but Lotus had the good intention of making one. Even though it's upside down due to the elise being mid-engined, I still think it looks good
Here's a little sound clip I filmed inside the car showing the cam lift engaging at 6,200rpm. Sounds great!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOA-fhCt5Cw
Notice my spark plug cover? Toyota never had one, but Lotus had the good intention of making one. Even though it's upside down due to the elise being mid-engined, I still think it looks good
Having just sold my Clio 182 I have been wondering what to replace it with - something that is still fun but a bit less fragile
Seen a nice example with great history but mileage of 116k, not necessarily afraid of high mileage but its still a concern
Reading threads like yours makes me think I should just go for it
Seen a nice example with great history but mileage of 116k, not necessarily afraid of high mileage but its still a concern
Reading threads like yours makes me think I should just go for it
I've always wondered whether you could make a track day car out of one of these, so would be interested in anyone's experience. Not looking to necessarily go down the stripped interior, caged hardcore type of approach as would want to keep the budget sensible but a few sensible mods as the OP has made would be what I have in mind.
Plenty of people have made track day cars out of Celica's! There's a few guys on Celica-club.co.uk who have done it with great success.
Andy - mine is now on 135,000 miles and runs, looks and feels like new. The engines are chain driven, which is a lovely bit of peace of mind. They're very reliable so I'd go for it, for as long as there's full service history!
Keep in mind that oil changes are every 7000 miles on these engines, and they're quite fragile when it comes to old/low oil. Make sure they've been looked after, and they'll easily go 200k onwards.
Andy - mine is now on 135,000 miles and runs, looks and feels like new. The engines are chain driven, which is a lovely bit of peace of mind. They're very reliable so I'd go for it, for as long as there's full service history!
Keep in mind that oil changes are every 7000 miles on these engines, and they're quite fragile when it comes to old/low oil. Make sure they've been looked after, and they'll easily go 200k onwards.
geraintthomas said:
Andy - mine is now on 135,000 miles and runs, looks and feels like new. The engines are chain driven, which is a lovely bit of peace of mind. They're very reliable so I'd go for it, for as long as there's full service history!
Keep in mind that oil changes are every 7000 miles on these engines, and they're quite fragile when it comes to old/low oil. Make sure they've been looked after, and they'll easily go 200k onwards.
Thanks - always good to get some peace of mind from an ownerKeep in mind that oil changes are every 7000 miles on these engines, and they're quite fragile when it comes to old/low oil. Make sure they've been looked after, and they'll easily go 200k onwards.
I'm friends with one of Toyota Europes best engine experts - based in Brussels where all European development work goes on - been given the opportunity to take whatever I buy over there and will be fully checked over by them
Thanks for the kind words
I can only do small things while I wait until this handling issue is fixed. So the next things I'm doing is replacing most of the visual nuts and bolts in the engine bay with brand new gloss black ones, replace the red positive battery cap, get a newer flat matt black battery tie bar, and start going over the wheel arches and underside with some hammerite.
I can only do small things while I wait until this handling issue is fixed. So the next things I'm doing is replacing most of the visual nuts and bolts in the engine bay with brand new gloss black ones, replace the red positive battery cap, get a newer flat matt black battery tie bar, and start going over the wheel arches and underside with some hammerite.
geraintthomas said:
Thanks for the kind words
I can only do small things while I wait until this handling issue is fixed. So the next things I'm doing is replacing most of the visual nuts and bolts in the engine bay with brand new gloss black ones, replace the red positive battery cap, get a newer flat matt black battery tie bar, and start going over the wheel arches and underside with some hammerite.
I'd seriously recommend you invest in some Bilt Hamber Dynax anti-corrosion stuff instead of Hammerite - brilliant product that I have used on my cars for a number of years - developed for use on oil rigs so has to be goodI can only do small things while I wait until this handling issue is fixed. So the next things I'm doing is replacing most of the visual nuts and bolts in the engine bay with brand new gloss black ones, replace the red positive battery cap, get a newer flat matt black battery tie bar, and start going over the wheel arches and underside with some hammerite.
www.bilthamber.com
Edited by Andy665 on Wednesday 13th May 12:19
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