toyota celica gt4 are they any good?

[grantley1988]

Well I'm thinking of selling the 205 and am looking at an evo 6 or a celica gt4.. Can anyone compare the two? I fancy the gt4 as its a little different and more of a sleeper I have a 205 2.0 turbo and will pull away from an evo....

What are the performance of theses? Do they handle well? Are they ca little cheaper to run, service and insure??

I had a look on the gt4 forum and there wasn't much I could see without signing up...

Hope some of you guys can shed some light...

[J4CKO]

Never driven one but there was a black one at an Oulton Park Drift day, looked fantastic, proper Sega Rally style four wheel drifts whilst going backwards, looked like fun.

[andye30m3]

A friend of mine had one for a while, seamed reliable and he liked it.

I never drove it but I seam to remember that turbo lag was a bit of a problem.

[Ved]

They are utterly wonderful and I would have mine back tomorrow. Mine had all the TRD suspension and bracing and it transforms it. Having owned quite a few grippy and pointy cars I can honestly say nothing comes close to the Celica.

If you get the right one that's had the usual work and isn't pushing a silly power level then it'll be a friend for a long time. General rule is to keep it under 300bhp and it'll be very reliable. I had a decat and decent exhaust with an HKS mushroom and it made 282bhp and 270lbs. More than enough. If you can get the optional Recaros it will make a big difference although your nuts will have to change shape quite quickly The engine is very solid and will last for several hundred miles if maintained regularly. An oil change at 5000 miles tends to keep any issues at bay.

Here's my old one. If it's out there, I want first dibs



The owners club is a good place to start but it might be worth a look at importing your own too - it will cost more but you will also get more too. There was a stunning dark blue one on my high street on the weekend. I was in deep smit.

Anyway, I'm off to the classifieds now, see ya!


David

[300bhp/ton]

grantley1988 said:

Well I'm thinking of selling the 205 and am looking at an evo 6 or a celica gt4.. Can anyone compare the two? I fancy the gt4 as its a little different and more of a sleeper I have a 205 2.0 turbo and will pull away from an evo....

What are the performance of theses? Do they handle well? Are they ca little cheaper to run, service and insure??

I had a look on the gt4 forum and there wasn't much I could see without signing up...

Hope some of you guys can shed some light...

I assume you mean the st205 quad headlight ones?

Personally I love these and they are one of my fav rally cars. I love the heritage and I love the fact they rallied it because it looked good, not because it was the best shape car for rallying, ie too low, too long with a big bonnet to make it harder too look out.

I also love the spec, TorSen centre rather than viscous as you'd find in things like Impreza's.

The Celica was a more expensive car in its day, more a GT aimed car than out right screamer. So it's well attired inside and more plush than an Evo/Impreza. But the down side is it's a tad heavier and slightly less sharp in the bends.

Stock performance, the UK cars I think had 240hp and run 95 RON and the JDM's 250hp'ish and run superunleaded as stock. In either case it's more power than a Turbo 2000 and on par with same year Evo's as a rule.

I think you can tune them to 280-300hp fairly easily, but I recall the ECU needs sorting out for more and it can get pricey. That said, there's some good vids on YouTube of a 600hp one

Gearbox mounts can be pricey and the fancy Figure of 8 suspension links. If these are done, then I think they are pretty bullet proof.


In short, I suspect the Evo is a faster car and with more readily available tuning parts. Also more practical. But the Celica looks 100x better, is cooler and certainly the more comfy daily option.

[paulw123]

yep, had a ST205 then a EVO 6. EVO 6 was a better car in every sense. Simple stage one mods took it up to a sensible 380bhp and it went like a rocked and sounded fantastic on boost. Stock handeling was so much better than the GT4 aswell. Id have my Evo back again in a heartbeat. If i never drove a GT4 again it wouldn't matter.



Verses

[Jw Vw]

Ved said:

They are utterly wonderful and I would have mine back tomorrow. Mine had all the TRD suspension and bracing and it transforms it. Having owned quite a few grippy and pointy cars I can honestly say nothing comes close to the Celica.

If you get the right one that's had the usual work and isn't pushing a silly power level then it'll be a friend for a long time. General rule is to keep it under 300bhp and it'll be very reliable. I had a decat and decent exhaust with an HKS mushroom and it made 282bhp and 270lbs. More than enough. If you can get the optional Recaros it will make a big difference although your nuts will have to change shape quite quickly The engine is very solid and will last for several hundred miles if maintained regularly. An oil change at 5000 miles tends to keep any issues at bay.

Here's my old one. If it's out there, I want first dibs



The owners club is a good place to start but it might be worth a look at importing your own too - it will cost more but you will also get more too. There was a stunning dark blue one on my high street on the weekend. I was in deep smit.

Anyway, I'm off to the classifieds now, see ya!


David

That looks stunning, superb cars wish I had some cash to buy one

[Ved]

Jw Vw said:

That looks stunning, superb cars wish I had some cash to buy one

Ta! TRD carbon fiber dash too - only one in the UK and was utterly perfect...apart from a little 4th gear crunch but hey

[Jw Vw]

Ved said:

Jw Vw said:

That looks stunning, superb cars wish I had some cash to buy one

Ta! TRD carbon fiber dash too - only one in the UK and was utterly perfect...apart from a little 4th gear crunch but hey

It's a beauty, lovely colour and looks like such a 'drivers' car. I'm guessing as it's a Toyota not much went wrong!?

[Ved]

I think the brakes squeaked once in town. All I did was service it at TRD in Notts and it was flawless until some twart at work or home caved in the front bumper on the corner. And I only noticed it when I got out to meet the new owner on the day we were going to do the deal.

He still bought it but I knocked off £300 as a gesture and he was such a top bloke too so I know it went to a good home. Last I heard he'd sold it so hopefully it's still out there in one piece.

[Ved]

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2626380.htm

[Jw Vw]

Ved said:

I think the brakes squeaked once in town. All I did was service it at TRD in Notts and it was flawless until some twart at work or home caved in the front bumper on the corner. And I only noticed it when I got out to meet the new owner on the day we were going to do the deal.

He still bought it but I knocked off £300 as a gesture and he was such a top bloke too so I know it went to a good home. Last I heard he'd sold it so hopefully it's still out there in one piece.

I guess the only thing that would put me off going for one is insurance. Pretty high I suppose? I'm seriously considering one now

[superman84]

The Celica is a cool car but if I was in the market for an older jap rally rep i'd go with either an Impreza P1/jdm sti or an Evo V/VI, they're better in almost everyway and just as iconic.

[Ved]

Jw Vw said:

I guess the only thing that would put me off going for one is insurance. Pretty high I suppose? I'm seriously considering one now

Mine was about £150 less than my STI that replaced it. Sky Insurance were linked to the owners club so I would look on there and see who's doing the deals now. Insure it as a classic and it'll cost you much less than a tank of petrol a month.

Speaking of petrol you'll get around 26mpg out of it on average but 30+ is easily achievable on a motorway.

With the right suspension it is much more capable than an Evo V or an Impreza of the same era. A VI will be in another league but it's also another league of bills too.

Edited by Ved on Monday 11th April 22:52

[300bhp/ton]

superman84 said:

The Celica is a cool car but if I was in the market for an older jap rally rep i'd go with either an Impreza P1/jdm sti or an Evo V/VI, they're better in almost everyway and just as iconic.

Aren't GT-Fours a fair bit cheaper though?

[superman84]

300bhp/ton said:

Aren't GT-Fours a fair bit cheaper though?

I'm sure you're right but the OP did say GT4 or Evo 6 so just my two cents worth.

[Ved]

A guy I knew from a local Impreza club bought a perfect TME VI and said it was the best car he'd ever driven. It did cost 12k though so you'd expect something special at that price.

[LandingSpot]

They are great cars I love the fact they were designed for a proper [racing] purpose and not just to appeal to a certain market.

Bought a '96 ST205 to replace my '98 Audi and don't regret it for a second!

They should bring homologation back IMO. Made for some great cars.

[Ved]

LandingSpot said:

They are great cars I love the fact they were designed for a proper [racing] purpose and not just to appeal to a certain market.

Bought a '96 ST205 to replace my '98 Audi and don't regret it for a second!

They should bring homologation back IMO. Made for some great cars.

Proper homologation made for some really good cars. It should go both ways too so we actually get some proper rally cars again. How they can relate a WRC Ford to a 1.4 Fiesta is beyond me.

185 Carlos Sainz was the best Celica before the 205. A properly looker