My 93' Corolla From New Zealand

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Hey all, I'm new here so thought I'd start by posting some photos of my Corolla. It's a 1993 SE Limited (manual) with a body that has done 230,000km (142,000 miles) and an engine (5A-FE) that has done 60,000km (37,000 miles).

The mods so far include:

* Lowered on 40mm Jamex springs.

* Rolled rear guards.

* Optional strut brace.

* Monroe GT Reflex gas shocks.

* 17" alloy wheels with Hankook 205/40/17 tyres.

* Pod filter with with 3" CAI (cold air induction).

* Custom exhaust manifold and front pipe (4-2-1).

* Removed the catalytic converter.

* Resurfaced front discs.

* Sony Xplod head-unit, Sony 6.5" 4-way front Speakers (300w max, 75w RMS), and a Sony 444w amp.

* Sprinter GT front seats.

* Painted valve cover red.

* Chrome Simota oil cap (not shown in photos).

It's my daily driver so I haven't gone too crazy with the mods so far, but I hope to eventually do a 4A-GE 20v conversion sometime in the future.

Here's some photos, comments welcome:

[ricc]

jesus thats tidy!

oh for roads that dont get plastered with salt/grit. :(

[john905]

very nice, some great pics mate

[MarcTS]

That is a lovely looking car mate, congrats

Do I spy a little bit of HDR in those pictures too?

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Thanks guys. I try and keep it looking as clean and tidy as possible :).

Yep, most of those shots are HDR . It's one of my addictions, lol.

[Younesz]

Wow that's a nice corolla. Nice engine bay ;]

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Thanks mate :). I've got some sideskirts and a full exhaust system that will be going on in the next month or so. They're just sitting in the shed at the moment. I'll be sure to post pics after the install B).

[KPARRIS-JONES]

Awesome looking ride mate, very clean.

And I can't tell you how much I wish for clean roads like you do ricc... it's simply horrible.

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Awesome looking ride mate, very clean.

And I can't tell you how much I wish for clean roads like you do ricc... it's simply horrible.

Thanks for the comment mate .

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Here's some shots I took about an hour ago. Thought I'd take advantage of the fierce looking clouds in the sky, so headed to a local park and starting taking photos. They are all HDRs, but no editing has been done to the background, sky, car, grass etc. All I did was resize them to cut down on loading times:

[Kiwi-Corolla]

It's been a while since I last posted here, so a few things have changed with my car since last time.

The new mods include:

* BMW M3 trunk lip spoiler.

* Aftermarket fibreglass sideskirts.

* Full 2" exhaust and Dynomax muffler.

* Painted front and rear bumper lips.

* Sprinter GT rear folding seats.

Photos of how it looks now:

[KPARRIS-JONES]

Good to see you back mate.

Extras look mint, good work. I bet you're happy to have such a clean and tidy rolla!

[welshdavy]

looks really clean nice rolla mukka!

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Good to see you back mate.

Extras look mint, good work. I bet you're happy to have such a clean and tidy rolla!

Thanks mate. Yeah I'm pleased with where it's at right now :). Doesn't grab too much unwanted attention, but separates it from the hundreds of other Corollas on the roads :D

looks really clean nice rolla mukka!

Thanks! B)

[madvinegar]

Great car and the pictures are really great! What is HDR?

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Great car and the pictures are really great! What is HDR?

Thanks man . HDR is a form of photography that can generally only be done using a DSLR while shooting in RAW. Basically what I do is take 3 photos of the exact same scene - One properly exposed, one underexposed (dark) and one overexposed (bright). Then I put all three of them together which leaves a perfectly exposed image that has no parts which are too dark or too bright.

Typically with a normal JPEG you will get the car correctly exposed but the background will be too bright, or the background would be too bright and the car would be too dark. Since you're taking all three exposures with HDR, the exposure is evenly spread throughout the photo. When processing the HDRs, you can decide how intense you want it to be, so sometimes you can get a slightly surrealistic look (like some of the shots I posted back in March), but if you want the photo to look 'normal' then you do it lightly (like the latest photos I posted). If you want more information on how to do it and which programs to use, flick me a PM and I'd be more than happy to help B)

[madvinegar]

Thanks for the info! I got an idea of how you do it, but I don't think that I can do it...

In any case, they are some of the best pictures I have ever seen. You only see these kinds of pictures in some Car-magazines.

Keep up the good work!

[Kiwi-Corolla]

I decided to return to a couple of my favourite photo locations today as I haven't been back since installing my new wheels and window tint. Here's how they came out:

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Time for a massive update for this thread :)

The mods so far are:

Engine:

* 4A-GE 20v Blacktop engine conversion.

* C160 6-speed ECU (8,500rpm redline).

* 100mm billet trumpets (ram tubes/velocity stacks).

* Custom made 3" intake bellmouth.

* Fujitsubo (FGK) 4-2-1 stainless steel extractors.

* 5-speed C56 gearbox.

* Spherical shifter cable bearings.

* TRD quick shifter.

* Full 2.25" exhaust with Dynomax muffler.

* 2-core aluminium radiator.

* Carbon fibre cam & spark plug covers.

* TRD spark plug leads.

* Catalytic converter removed.

* Oil catch can.

* Tomei Type S fuel pressure regulator.

* Tomei fuel pressure gauge & fuel rail adapter.

* TRD 1.3-bar radiator cap.

* TRD aluminium oil cap.

* TRD fuel cap.

Exterior:

* OEM AE101 Toyota Corolla FX-GT front bumper with fog lights.

* Rare OEM factory option ST215 Toyota Caldina custom fitted front lip.

* Rare OEM factory option ST195 Toyota Caldina custom fitted rear lip.

* OEM AE111 Toyota Carib BZ Touring sideskirts.

* Genuine OEM AE101 Koito Toyota Corolla BZ Touring headlights.

* Facelift AE101 red/clear tail lights and garnish.

* Ducktail boot spoiler.

* Ducktail roof spoiler.

* 35% "Night Rider" window tint.

* Front door locks eliminated.

* Volk CE28N rep 16x8 +15 alloy wheels with 195/45/16 tyres.

* Front and rear guards rolled.

* 'SE Limited' Badge removed.

* 'TWINCAM 20' stickers on sideskirts.

Interior:

* Toyota Corolla GT seats front & rear.

* 60/40 folding rear seat conversion.

* Reupholstered door cards with OEM Corolla GT fabric.

* Sound deadened front doors.

* AE101 Corolla FX-GT SuperStrut Momo leather steering wheel.

* 240kph speedometer & 9,000rpm Corolla GT tachometer.

* OEM Lexus IS200/Altezza RS200 aluminium foot pedals.

* OEM floor mats.

* TRD leather shift knob.

* OEM BZ Touring 6-speed leather gear shift boot.

* Rare OEM factory option Graphic Equalizer.

* Rare OEM factory option 'Air Fantasy' fragrance control system.

* Rare OEM factory option roof-mounted Air Purifier unit.

* Rare OEM factory option rear-mounted Air Purifier unit.

* Rare OEM factory option motorised driver's seat rail.

* Rare OEM factory option key light.

* Rare OEM factory option floor lights.

* Rare OEM factory option velour extended armrest.

* Rare OEM factory option Burger Tray.

* Rare OEM factory option Clean Box.

* Rare OEM factory option felt-lined 'NO SMOKING' ashtray coin holder.

* Rare OEM factory option under-seat storage drawer.

* Rare OEM factory option tweeter pods and tweeters.

* Rare OEM factory option 'Conlight' automatic headlight sensor.

* Rare OEM factory option A-pillar map light.

* Rare OEM rubber moulded boot organiser.

* Rare OEM factory option carpeted boot lid liner.

* Pivot Speed Meter-V.

Brakes/Suspension:

* Lowered on BC Gold BR coilovers.

* OEM 24mm front swaybar conversion.

* Whiteline 18mm solid rear swaybar.

* TRD 3-point strut brace.

* Ultra Racing 2-point rear strut brace.

* Carbing front lower tie bar.

* 275mm SuperStrut front disc conversion.

* AE111 SuperStrut twinpot front calipers.

* 266mm rear disc brake conversion.

* Safebrake braided brake lines.

* Whiteline adjustable rear camber bolts.

Audio:

* JVC bluetooth USB head-unit.

* Pioneer 6.5" component front Speakers (60w RMS each).

* Lanzar 6.5" 3-way rear Speakers (95w RMS each).

* Sony Xplod 4-channel 444w amp.

[Kiwi-Corolla]

My latest additions - OEM metallic black stereo and driver's vent surrounds. These were only available in Japan for the late model facelift AE101 Corolla BZ Touring wagons from 1998-2001. They're not an overlay or sticker, but the effect is actually 'painted' onto the actual plastic, likely using a hydrographic printing process (the same process Toyota used to achieve the wood-grain effect on other models). I've wanted these for quite some time but it was only a couple of weeks ago that I had the chance to get my hands on a set in good condition. They were a direct swap with my existing flat black ones and look amazing in direct sunlight due to the metallic flecks underneath the clearcoat. They don't add functionality or anything like that, but it's the small details like this in the build which sometimes make the biggest difference :)

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Insanely Rare JDM AE101 Optional Rain Sensor

In Japan they had all sorts of crazy and quirky optional extras for the AE101 Corolla, and this optional rain sensor is definitely in the top 3 in terms of it's rarity. For almost 6-years I've only ever been able to see a tiny picture in the original sales brochure of the rain sensor and have never come across one in real-life, until early last week when I stumbled across one myself! :D. The only other one I've ever heard of was back in 2005 on eBay so the rarity of these are truly off the scale. It works by sensing the intensity of rainfall and automatically controls your windscreen wipers, varying the speed without the driver having to even touch the wiper stalk. For a full and very interesting read-up on how it works check out this link: http://www.fujitsu-ten.com/business/technicaljournal/pdf/2-7E.pdf

It was made in Japan by Fujitsu Ten for Toyota Motor Corporation back in the early 90's as an optional extra for a small selection of Toyotas and likely would have been a fairly expensive add-on. It simply plugs into the existing wiper connector for the combination switch and 'watches' for rainfall, while still allowing you full control over the wiper speed using the stalk if you prefer.

I very rarely drive my Corolla in the rain, so I'm still deciding whether I'll install this or sell it to someone who will get more use out of it, but either way it's a really cool thing to have found and another thing to cross off my 'optional extra bucket list' :D. The photos showing the sensor on the hood are how it's intended to be installed by Toyota, but if I was to install it on my Corolla I'd mount it on the cowling as seen in the other photos, as I feel it'd look a lot cleaner that way.

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Here's something else a little bit different, and as usual, very rare - These are optional AE101 ultrasonic sonar parking sensors, available as an optional extra for the AE101 Corolla SE-G in Japan back in the 90's. I've had these sitting in a box for over a year, complete with the computer module, matching display/clock and all of the clips/wiring. I personally don't like the look of them being fitted to the corners of the front/rear bumper as intended by Toyota, but in future I hope to discretely mount them underneath the bumpers instead. This is only the second set I've ever seen outside of the factory JDM sales brochure and I haven't had the heart to sell them due to how rare they are, but one of these days I'll put them to good use :)

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Here's some latest photos. The first two were taken today (about 4-hours ago) and the last one is a cellphone shot from last Sunday :)

[Kathrynweaver]

Thats beautiful very tidy indeed :)

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Thanks! :D

Here's one more shot from yesterday that made the cut: