RE: Shed of the Week: Toyota Celica T-Sport 190

RE: Shed of the Week: Toyota Celica T-Sport 190

Author
Discussion

mrtwisty

3,057 posts

164 months

Friday 15th December 2017
quotequote all
molineux1980 said:
I like a shed as a second car, currently running a 2000 Fiesta Zetec S that may soon be consumed by rust. I'd certainly be interested in one of these provided I could get my kids seats in the back.
The rear seats are quite a strange buckety shape and access to them is not great, so you may struggle with kiddie seats I'm afraid.

SonicShadow

2,452 posts

153 months

Friday 15th December 2017
quotequote all
alorotom said:
SidewaysSi said:
Really? Under £500 for a decent, roadworthy 190? Links please...
1 day left ... £360 (granted not a fan of the bonnet but it’s only cosmetic)
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2...

Plus numerous 140’s for peanuts
So you're backing up your point with the only 190 on eBay that's under a grand, and it's got a day to run on the auction so is likely to go for a lot more than that anyway?

Righto.

M1C

1,832 posts

110 months

Friday 15th December 2017
quotequote all
I feel old now.

I worked a Toyota at 18ish when these came out in 2001ish. For a young lad, driving one of these around...i did feel...'the nuts'.

Great car to drive with a frantic engine.

Strangely, the very same engine in the Corolla 190 of the time (very rare) just didn't have the same pull. It had a very different character.

Chris Y

221 posts

187 months

Friday 15th December 2017
quotequote all
My brother has run the final GT version for several years now. The body kit really does transform it in to a good looking car. Seats are low so feels genuinely sporty. Shares its engine with that in my Elise 111R but heavily penalised by weight. The hatch back is ludicrously heavy - must weigh about half an Elise on its own! If you can can get a GT in good nick it would be worth a try but last time I looked at GT values they were around 4k minimum. The non GT has got be good value at £1500.

Fishy Dave

1,024 posts

244 months

Friday 15th December 2017
quotequote all
Toyoda said:
Strictly speaking, instead of all the reference to VVTi, Shed should be talking about VVTL-i, as stamped on the engine cover, indicating the 'lift', yo.
Just what I was going to say, VVTL-i in these.

We've owned two, firstly a high mileage, red 190 that I sold with 140k miles this one saw regular track work, the second was my wifes rare Sports M, featured in PH here: https://www.pistonheads.com/regulars/ph-carpool/to...

Both were excellent cars for the money and both were reliable, however......the 190 just wanted to understeer everywhere on standard suspension, even with a number of geo changes. I'm sure changing to adjustable suspension would sort that out.

The Sports M handling was much improved, but the ride was teeth chatteringly bad, the standard LSD was excellent though. The parts for the Superstrut front suspension were silly money and insurance was pricey too as most companies, even some specialists had only heard of the 190 or T Sport.

Both suffered from ill conceived gear ratios making it very difficult to stay in lift during 1st to 2nd or 2nd to 3rd gear changes. If i was looking for a cheap, high revving Coupe I'd have one again....but I'm not looking.



alorotom

11,908 posts

186 months

Friday 15th December 2017
quotequote all
SonicShadow said:
So you're backing up your point with the only 190 on eBay that's under a grand, and it's got a day to run on the auction so is likely to go for a lot more than that anyway?

Righto.
no, not at all, it was a quick example from a quick flick while preparing my brekkie - there are a few 190s currently under £500 rather than a grand - have a look, its not a locked away secret - its only as i have a saved search for cars under £500 (plus some other criteria) ending soon and seen a few finish in this category

oh and for ref... the single one pulled as an example, as of now there is 36mins left, 1 bid, still £500

MustardCutter

238 posts

119 months

Friday 15th December 2017
quotequote all
Fishy Dave said:
Both suffered from ill conceived gear ratios making it very difficult to stay in lift during 1st to 2nd or 2nd to 3rd gear changes.
I always found trying to keep it in lift between gear changes part of the fun/charm biggrin

I ran a GT for four or five years and I do miss it, though I certainly don't miss the boot struts not working during the winter, the crazy long doors in supermarket car parks, and getting my son in and out of his baby seat in the back was a right pain in the rectum. I think I actually preferred driving it to my current m135i though, or maybe that's just rose tinted spectacles...?

anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 15th December 2017
quotequote all
I'm pleased to see the height and visibilty issue get mentioned, I've never forgotten how bad it was.

We had one of these as a pool car and loathed having to drive it. I couldn't see a thing and when I mentioned how awkward it was to see out of nobody else in the office had a problem with it. I'm 6'3" and apart from the Dutch and Russian blokes who were both 6' 8" (but didn't have driving licenses) everybody else was 5' something.

So far that reason, no thanks.


sgtBerbatov

2,597 posts

80 months

Friday 15th December 2017
quotequote all
I would love to buy this, just to strip the brakes and other bits and retro fit them to my 1998 Corolla.

SonicShadow

2,452 posts

153 months

Friday 15th December 2017
quotequote all
alorotom said:
SonicShadow said:
So you're backing up your point with the only 190 on eBay that's under a grand, and it's got a day to run on the auction so is likely to go for a lot more than that anyway?

Righto.
no, not at all, it was a quick example from a quick flick while preparing my brekkie - there are a few 190s currently under £500 rather than a grand - have a look, its not a locked away secret - its only as i have a saved search for cars under £500 (plus some other criteria) ending soon and seen a few finish in this category

oh and for ref... the single one pulled as an example, as of now there is 36mins left, 1 bid, still £500
Link?

Searching 'Celica 190' and 'Celica VVTLI' returns two cars - the one you originally linked, and a Cat D with nearly 8 days to run.

Gandahar

9,600 posts

127 months

Friday 15th December 2017
quotequote all
See the odd one about and it has aged really well design wise, still looks good.

Toyota really did go boring for a while, they had some very good cheapish sports cars back in the day.


s m

23,164 posts

202 months

Friday 15th December 2017
quotequote all
mrtwisty said:
I've had mine (same colour and year as this shed, but on 80k ish) for about a year and a half. As a daily, it can get a bit tiresome - noisy, every bit of interior trim has it's own rattle, hard ride, loves picking up front end stonechips, poor rear visibility for parking.

But - when you get it on a twisty bit of well sighted b-road it is excellent. Light (most sources quote around 1150kg[), low CoG, sharp turn in with good steering feel, high levels of grip with a mildly adjustable rear end. Keep it singing away above 6200rpm (can be done with practice!) and it certainly feels quick.

what I was going to do and why - he still near soiled himself - it does sound quite 'dramatic' when you do that...
Sounds about right depending in fuel etc

Autocar quoted their test car as 1185kg

I would have thought the writer of the article would have got his data from there bearing in mind it's affiliation with the magazine

MERVYN-nh7ra

123 posts

91 months

Friday 15th December 2017
quotequote all
I ran a 140 as a company car back in 2003, on the plus side it did look good with uprated alloys and a different style spoiler, my two kids were 5 and 8 and were more than happy in the back even with a booster seat. On the negative side it just wasn't quick, even if you revved it out, it handled well but would occasionally squirm and pull when cornering fast. I quite liked having something different from the Mondeo/ Vectra etc., but it never quite delivered on its looks.

8IKERDAVE

2,280 posts

212 months

Friday 15th December 2017
quotequote all
Underrated these, my brother had one albeit the 140bhp model years ago and it was really nice to drive. Typical Japanese plastic interior but handled well and didn't rattle inside. I imagine another 50bhp would give it the squirt that his was lacking.

s m

23,164 posts

202 months

Friday 15th December 2017
quotequote all
Good review from a Lotus test driver in the sidebar


Limpet

6,293 posts

160 months

Friday 15th December 2017
quotequote all
A (genuine) friend of mine bought one new, and it was a proper lemon. One of the most unreliable cars I've ever known. He had so much grief with it, that he ended up VT-ing the finance agreement just to get out of it early.

The original gearbox failed at 4,000 miles, and the replacement was horribly notchy and developed a whine on the overrun as the miles went on it. It wore its tyres prematurely due to the suspension geometry being out, the cat broke up internally and blocked the exhaust, it had constant, niggling electrical faults, and the interior got very rattly very quickly. I was quite surprised at how lightweight the general build and feel of the car was. It didn't seem very well put together at all.

It struck me, perhaps incorrectly, as a car set up to be thrashed to within an inch of its life, but without the quality of build or components to withstand it.

They do look good though, and that engine is great fun when worked hard.

Edited by Limpet on Friday 15th December 12:17

gofasterrosssco

1,235 posts

235 months

Friday 15th December 2017
quotequote all

I think its one of those cars that has been forgotten because its so cheap. A bit like the Mk3 MR2 to some extent.

Ran one similar to the shed for a year, and it done everything really pretty well, and a very good steer with warm hatch performance. It covered ground very well so could probably keep up with some slightly more exotic RWD cars over tighter roads.

A bit like what was mentioned though, I didn't love it.. Shorn of heavy interior items, and with some suspension and brakes tweaks it would be a worthy competitor to the much respected DC2 Integra for much, much less cash..

s m

23,164 posts

202 months

Friday 15th December 2017
quotequote all
They even took the 140bhp version out on track and quite liked it


Scubber

6 posts

122 months

Friday 15th December 2017
quotequote all
I really like these cars and have owned one for years, lots of cheap/used spares and online advice, reliable, good modification potential, mine is Rotrex'd, decent on track and look good imo.

greenarrow

3,551 posts

116 months

Friday 15th December 2017
quotequote all
M1C said:
I feel old now.

I worked a Toyota at 18ish when these came out in 2001ish. For a young lad, driving one of these around...i did feel...'the nuts'.

Great car to drive with a frantic engine.

Strangely, the very same engine in the Corolla 190 of the time (very rare) just didn't have the same pull. It had a very different character.
I test drove a Corolla TSport Extensively in 2004 and couldn't believe how gutless it felt outside of the "lift-zone". Any sort of roll on acceleration at motorway speeds need a change down at least a gear or 2.

Almost bought a 190 last year, I think it went for about £1100 on ebay. I still quite fancy one of these. The chap who said it was a poor mans DC2 is spot on IMO. Probably about 80% of the performance and handling for 20% of the money!