RE: PH Carpool: Toyota Celica GT4

[ferdyg]

A few sensible mods do help, whiteline rear ARB very important, a good ebc will see a reliable 300bhp.

Very quick cross country car, very comftable and feels rock solid, even my 17 year old car.

Fuel economy on track is not good, but what is, driven sensibly 30mpg is easy to get, not as expensive as the Evo or Scubby.

And some great owners clubs like the GT4OC (www.gt4oc.net) and the GT4DC with a great knowledge base and very helpful members and lots of good meetings.

A heck of a lot of performance and road holding for not a huge amount of money.

(very easy to embarrass some "performance car")

[gazchap]

Obligatory photos of my baby:



Interior before/after:

[soad]

gazchap said:

[RedAndy]

I agree with Crossy (Hi Ian!) that soem feel faster than others. I had 2 ST205s. Both imports - both fantastic, but weirdly they were quite different from each other. The first was very tight, smooth and comfy. The second was savage, brutal and noisy. BOth fab.

SHame they were banned from WRC for the turbo cheating... otherwise they would have developed the (road) car much more. Therefore an evo6 isn't really a fair comparison - much newer car! Compare the ST205 to a same-era Evo or STi and it's easily the nicest (not that the others aren't great - I like em all!). Rarer, MUCH cheaper to run and insure, and from what I can gather far more reliable...! And the boot is much bigger cos of the hatchback.

Fig8s aren't that expensive to replace... not cheap, but compared with some parts for modern cars they aren't that much. When I did mine withlower arms the bill was under £600... that's a lot, but compared with the cost of a reconditioned power steering pump for a Fabia at £499 on an exchange basis, PLUS fitting... that's not too bad...

The only problem with the ST205 is it is a GT and not a rally car to me - easy to drive fast because it is smooth and refined. I never really had FUN in them. In Germany on the WRC trip we were cruising one handed at 120mph and it felt so normal - not fast at all.

I'd deffo get another one!

[DeckRickard]

Hi Manjinder,

Thats a lovely looking GT4, I myself have been after one for years too. If you are still thinking of selling it get in touch please. Im in Wolverhampton as well so you'll still have the opportunity of seeing it. Are you on gt40c?

Dek

[AB5150]

Well done searching out a one lady owner . Probably one of the most underated cars Toyota has produced. I miss my old GT4 greatly . Typically over engineered as a road car with those massive brakes & solid build . Keep it standard fella - it'll stand out even more in years to come compared to all most all the others that have been modded . Fantastic !

[FRA53R]

I saw a minted one of these up for sale in the classifieds just down the road from me, unfortunately before I was able to even enquire it had a deposit on it, shows how fast good ones move

[MG CHRIS]

This will be my next car when i turn 21 later this year insurance is not to bad only a fraction more than the mx5 i currently have. Seeing these rallying in the 90s have wanted one since.

[RobCrezz]

They are nice to drive, but not as good as the equivalent Evo IMO.

[nismo48]

+1 !!

soad said:

gazchap said:

[squareflops]

Get a proper 4

[TotalControl]

j333evo said:

But for me the best bit was having SEGA Rally on my driveway as it was my daily driver on a 60 mile commute while my integrale lived in comfort in the garage.

Phwoar.

[SteRB5138]

j333evo said:

What a great picture, mid 90's WRC's finest.

[vit4]

I must admit until a couple of weeks ago these didn't really hold any appeal to me. It's only because of seeing a (very!) cheap 1.8 I did a bit of digging on them, and now I want one

I'm not really a fan of the wheels, but the OP's looks an absolute corker!

[BricktopST205]

I was looking all year for one of these. I wanted something low mileage and a import. Eventually one came out of the blue in December last year and I got it bought. 56,000 miles with a good chunk of history.

Here is a picture in its natural habitat

[LouD86]

We have one of these at work, in the bosses "Classic Collection", I have to say, I was lucky enough to borrow it to drive to the Ace Cafe for 50 years of Toyota, cracking machine. Totally standard, and still pulls on the new GT86

[fokiohero]

Nice to see a faff with original 3 spoke wheels, a massively underated car and solidly well built compared to equivalent Scoobys and Evos. The 3S-GTE was a superb engine. I dearly miss mine.

[Vince Noir]

I've finally decided to sell mine after owning Celica's for 9 years now, definitely time for a change but I'll miss loving getting in it after every work provided hire car! Proper solid, no BS car that'll put a smile on your face every time you get on a B-road!

The white one earlier in the thread (Ferdy's?) is a beaut - I was that black Evo X behind you in one of the pictures at Gainsborough

Here's mine if anyone's interested in a standard, unmolested version - bearing in mind I really would like this to go to an enthusiast - http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/t...

Estate car here I come

[ArnageWRC]

squareflops said:

Get a proper 4

Interestingly - on the RAC Rally entry, that version is listed as the Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD - and not a GT-Four as the versions before and after were.

[LuS1fer]

It was never a good-looking car and the GT4 iteration does it no favours. I far prefer the model before with the flip-up lights. Good to see them surviving though.