Hi!

[lukenobrains]

Hey, I'm looking into buying a 2002/3 Celica, and i'm unsure weather I should be looking at 140s or 190s.

I've been told that if I get a 140 I'll regret not buying a 190, and if I buy a 190 I'll have a crappy gearbox that is hard to keep in the powerband...

I've also done some research and it seems to be quite expensive to get power out of these cars..?

Currently I drive an MG, I can easily increase the power of it by about 20/25 bhp with simple induction mods, exhaust mods and a remap to suit...
Apparently you cant remap the toyota ECU? Also I could do all the mods under the sun and without fitting a blower of some kind I'll be lucky to reach 200/210bhp?

I'm not looking for an incredibly powerful car, but I've read that all the power is virtually redline, I do a lot of town driving and live in a small town where high rev power will be useless, is there any way I could get more torque and power lower in the band?


Also any reliability issues? Good stories? I'd love one of these cars but I'm still looking for someone to sell them to me if you know what I mean...

Also I don't know where the majority of this forum is from, but I'm in the UK, so hi




Cheers,
Luke

[Snowfork]

You can't remap the ECU if it is an automatic.
Same as with most any car, longer intake runners give you more torque and less horses.
I also assume you have a GT trim car, not a GTS.
These engines respond to the ordinary mods that L4's respond to, 200hp isn't cheap, but it isn't difficult either

[lukenobrains]

Originally Posted by Snowfork

You can't remap the ECU if it is an automatic.
Same as with most any car, longer intake runners give you more torque and less horses.
I also assume you have a GT trim car, not a GTS.
These engines respond to the ordinary mods that L4's respond to, 200hp isn't cheap, but it isn't difficult either

In the UK manual is far more common, so no I wont be getting an automatic, does this mean it will be remappable?

I don't know the difference in trim with the US spec cars, the one I'm looking at getting is the more powerful engine with about 190bhp, the one that uses Toyota's equivalent to VTec.

Also, I am a mechanic so I know my way around an engine, but I'm not sure what an intake runner is? We probably call them something else...
If I could get to 200bhp keeping NASP I will be happy, it shouldn't be that hard as the car is 190 as standard...


Cheers,
Luke

[2000celicagtmg]

Not meaning to be a die hard but you pretty much gave every reason NOT to buy this car.If you know all these cons then why do you still want to buy it. if you dont want to put lots of Pounds into it to get it over your ps mark then why bother? The european models all came stock with 6 speed gear boxes and the gears are a lot different than in the states so that will be a plus to you. Putting a good exhaust with an intake system under the bonnet will give you that extra nudge you seem to be looking for, but bottom line is the Celica is a high rev motor and there is no way around it, if you want decent bottom end for your city driving supercharge it.

[Snowfork]

Originally Posted by lukenobrains

Also, I am a mechanic so I know my way around an engine, but I'm not sure what an intake runner is? We probably call them something else...

The metal passages between the intake plenum and the head.