Celica Gen7 190 - Random Questions/quries

[GoGGleZ^]

Hello Everyone!

Just a have a few questions to ask you all, not sure if this is in the right place or not as im a forum noob and couldn't find anything related but...

1: What is the difference between the T-Sport 190 and the Standard 190-VVti (apart from the Traction Control+leather seats)?

2: What, in your opinion, is the best looking Gen7 Model? (will be modifing mine when I find the right year/type)

3: Where is the best place to buy a Full TRD Kit for the Gen7?

4. What are the cheapest most beneficial modifications for performance and why?

5. Which tyres would you recommend for this model?

Hopefully after reading this you won't think im a complete !Removed! and I thankyou in advance for your replies!

Really enjoying reading and posting on this forum and hopefully I will get to know most of you very soon!

[GoGGleZ^]

BUMP

6. Would also like to know about Oil Consumption with the Gen7's as I have heard they drink alot of the sutff!

[edwardio]

Here you go!

1: What is the difference between the T-Sport 190 and the Standard 190-VVti (apart from the Traction Control+leather seats)?

The 190 labelled versions were pre-facelift. Then they were labelled T-Sports if I remember correctly. The difference between the 2 models was basically the interior going from a light grey to a dark colour, different front bumpers and rear lights.

2: What, in your opinion, is the best looking Gen7 Model? (will be modifing mine when I find the right year/type)

This is totally down to your own opinion. Depending on what mods you want to do may determine what mdoel is better. After all the only difference is cosmetic.

3: Where is the best place to buy a Full TRD Kit for the Gen7?

Unless you have lots of cash for a genuine kit from Japan or second hand, you can only get replicas. The problem there is going to be fitment. Some will be good, some ok & some crap.

The full TRD kit is:

Front bumper - intergrated spot lights

Side skirts

Bonnet spoiler

Wheel arch flares

Rear bumper valance

Adjustable rear spoiler

4. What are the cheapest most beneficial modifications for performance and why?

Performance panel filter - will provide better gains (only only minor) over an induction kit due to having more resistance to heat soak. That is unless you spend big money of a proper shielded kit with a cold air feed.

Stage 2 cams - these will give a little more low down grant & smooth out the power drop just before 'lift'. However you ideally need a aftermarket ECU to get the full gains out of the cams. This means also taking the car to a tuner

Exhaust - basically noise if you're into it, but may give a very minor gain

Lowering - this will be your best mod as it will make the car handle better and make the car feel a lot better.

If you want performance mods you need to spend money & I'm not talking a couple of hundred quid!

The stock ECU CANNOT be re-tuned. If you stick a piggy back system on (unless you spend £1.5k+ on a AEM ECU alone), the stock ECU WILL overwrite the piggy back in a short period of time. People have tried it & learnt the hard way!

5. Which tyres would you recommend for this model?

Depends on your budget. Goodyear Eagle F1's are very good if you can afford them, Falken 452'2 (now replaced by 453's) are good for a mid range as they couped with my car, otherwise any high midrange tyre or premium tyre should be fine.

[GoGGleZ^]

Edwardio, you're a legend! - Thanks for the reply I found it very helpful - just a couple more questions regarding your response's if I may.

Before I start... my budget when I have purchased the car will be around £300-400 a month until I have done what I want to it.

3. The Full TRD kit from Japan is roughly how much in ££'s? + do you know of any good aftermarket TRD kit manufacturers?

4. I dislike panel filters so will probably got for an aftermarket CAI - I have heard that the "Blitz" is a good choice?

I would only purchase an exhaust system IF it had major power gains, can't really warrant spending around a grand for an exhaust system purely for the noise ;)

5. My budget is usually around £50-100 per tyre, on my Modified 1.8T VW Golf MKIV I had Pirelli 6000's which were very impressive!

Btw, give me your motor... it looks sexy! :P

[edwardio]

As for your budget, depending on what you want to do depends on what to get. May advice to do first is:

Lower the car – springs or coilovers.

Upgrade brakes – performance discs, pads, braided lines & 5.1 fluid. The stock brakes aren’t fantastic.

If you buy a pre-facelift replace the lift bolts.

Upper front strut brace and maybe rear.

Filter – Some kind of performance filter.

If you want to go FI, then you’re looking at about £5k for the kit (supercharger – more if you want a turbo), Tune(s) and all of the above to cope with the power.

Any performance upgrades you have planned, you need to speak to Se7en Motorsports on Celica Club

The full TRD kit is ££’s, by that I mean you won’t be able to buy it from Toyota UK, as I think it’s now discontinued. Part of that was due to the tsunami. So to get a genuine kit, you’d have to get if from Japan directly.

As for a good aftermarket place, I don’t know really as you could probably order 10 of the same bumper from the same place & they’d all be a little bit different. For the skirts, rear valance and spoiler you can use RT Performance as they are very good. For the front bumper, valance & skirts you could try: http://www.epracing.co.uk/Aero-Kit/Toyota/Celica-ZZT/Celica-ZZT-TRD-Style-Aero-Kit/p-69-146-148-1301/, but I have no idea how good they are. Be warned 99% of the TRD spoilers on eBay are NOT variable angle. To my knowledge, only RT Performance offer a variable angle spoiler.

This is the FULL TRD kit

The Blitz kit should be ok as long as it’s shielded. I used to have a K&N panel filter until my supercharger install and that was fine.

For the tyres I would say it depends on what type of driving you do & how you drive. Goodyear F1’s although very good wear very quickly, Uniroyals Rainsport’s go down well on Celica club, as do Falken 452’s as I mentioned. I had them (& still do on my spare rims) when I was running 316bhp, but I bought new wheels which came with GeForce Profilers.

At the end of the day for tyres, buy to your budget (don’t buy **** though), but it’s down to drivers preference really.

[Scarlett Arrow]

Your first question is complicated by the fact there is a pre and post face lift T Sport.

The 190 (pre face lift only), had a Sunroof, Black Leather front Seats with vinyl rear, 16" five spoke Wheels, and no rear Spoiler.

The pre face lift TS had an optional Sunroof, two-tone grey Leather Seats, unique 17" Wheels, colour coded Headlight surrounds, Sony 6 disc Auto-changer, and rear Spoiler. It also featured what was called the "Dynamic" Pack. This was slighter deeper colour coded side Skirts, and a more aggressive front Lip.

The face lift TS lost the Dynamic Pack, the Auto-changer and Headlight surrounds, but I think gained VSC and TRC.

All face lift models lost the Sony CD/Cassette/Tuner, to be replaced by a Toyota branded CD/Tuner with optional Sat. Nav.

Just be aware the TRD kit on the Gen 7 has been done to death now. If you want to spend hundreds on making your car much more difficult to sell in the future, it is of course, "your money, your choice". If it was me, I'd fit a set of lowering Springs first (TTE or Eibach Pro Kit), then closely study the thread on celica-club where members have posted pics. of their Gen 7's..to get ideas on what looks "right", and what is chavvy/boy racer.

HTH :)

[GoGGleZ^]

Hello Guys,

Sorry for the late reply, work seems to be taking over at the moment which is never good!

Which are generally the best springs/coilovers to use and by how much should I lower it by? Eibach? - I don't really want it to be scraping speed bumps etc.

I will not be going for the complete TRD kit I dont think, just side skirts, rear spoiler (with breaklight LED) and possibly the rear bumper as I personally think the front bumper and lip with the TRD kit makes it look less subtle and more chavvy.

I haven't managed to find the official website for RT Performance so would be awesome if someone could send me a link ;)

Thank you so much for the replies, I have added this thread to my favourites so I can view again when I purchase the new car.

[edwardio]

Most springs are about a 30mm drop. Eibach or TTE should see you well. As for Coilovers it depends on your budget. Meister R's are well received and are the ones I'm getting.

There are various complete front bumpers or front splitters. So google some images.

The TRD rear bumper is the standard bumper, but with a rear valance added.

http://www.rt-performance.com/

[GoGGleZ^]

So... it turns out I bought a Black Gen7 2004 T-Sport with 1 Previous Owner, 72k mileage and part toyota service history for a STEAL PRICE - has all the extras and the two-tone leather seats... drives perfectly!

Only thing it dosn't have is the optional sat-nav headunit but will be replacing with either a double or single din headunit.

Currently looking for a speedo/dashboard cover as I dislike the boring orange, if anyone knows any places to buy these custom dash's from then let me know!

Will upload pics soon! ;)

[Scarlett Arrow]

For the Dials, contact Mook at skewer.co.uk

Your TS will be Storm Blue, not Black :)

[GoGGleZ^]

Strange, could have sworn on the V5 it stated "Metallic Black" - will double check when I finish work.

Thanks for the website Scarlet, exactly what I was looking for! (:

[Bouncy1000]

All the orange is are SMD LEDs in the back of the cluster you can change them if you are handy with a soldering iron there's pages on the net that explain it in step by step guide, I not try this website http://store.ledmod.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=39

Hope it helps

[Anonymousboom]

Hi,

I know im 7 years late to this thread but it seems like the only place where i might actually get an informed answer.

Basically im looking to buy a front splitter for my 2003 celica (facelift version), but the splitter i have seen on eBay is for the pre facelift celica.

Do you know if this will this fit my car?

I have sent a pic of the item in question.

Regards

[Scarlett Arrow]

No, a pre face lift lip will not fit your face lift, but this one will..

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toyota-Celica-Gen-7-Sport-Front-Bumper-Lip-Splitter-Spoiler-2003-2006-New/122175487226?fits=Model%3ACelica&hash=item1c7239fcfa:g:te8AAOSwYb9c5CKP

[Anonymousboom]

Thank you for replying to this so quickly.

But if the splitter is literally the small lip bit underneath the front bumper, surely it should be similar, no? Or would they need any modification?

For the price i just cant justify spending that much on the one in the link you sent 😕

[gezhenry]

I had your similar dilemma, the pre facelift dynamic splitter looks better and is much more common than the upgraded post facelift equivalent.

The pre facelift dynamic splitters can be modified to fit a facelift bumper, I've seen it done on celicaclub and it looks good but I don't know how much work is involved, because the fitting bits are nt as wide either side of the grille.

Alternatively you could buy the whole bumper from the above pre facelift ad, it's not much harder to fit.

Or as has been previously mentioned you can buy the delta replica in the link above as I did although the price may have gone up recently it was about £100 when I got mine not long ago, as usable 2nd hand post facelift upgraded splitters are pretty rare.

There are other aftermarket splitters available for the facelift available too tho which do also come up 2nd hand too.

As a cost effective compromise which I have also done is to fit one of the universal rubber splitters for about a tenner which I've seen quite a few people fit which look remarkably good actually, tho they do tend to come unstuck and sag overtime.

Hth

[Anonymousboom]

Thanks for your advice.

Decisions decisions 😕

As an addendum, if anyone knows of a mechanic whos very familiar with facelift celicas because my head gasket needs replacing but the mechanic who told me that said he thinks its likely it now needs a new engine but told me the labour cost to look at whether it needed an engine replacement would be too much. Because he didnt seem to know much about my car i said dont worry and for now ive declared it off. I have seen a couple of auctions from garages on eBay that advertise celica and head gasket replacing etc at around £800 and that will prob be where i'll go but thought i'd see if there was anyone on here that might know someone who might be a bit cheaper/more local to the croydon area/know the car inside out.

Sorry for the long winded msg 😕

[Scarlett Arrow]

What makes you think the HG has gone?. While not unheard of, it is very rare on a Gen 7.

Are you sure its not simply a case of a radiator leak in the bottom corner causing the overheating?.

With the weeping coolant being caught by the under engine covers, these very common leaks in the rad. aren't easy to spot.

[Anonymousboom]

That is what i was told by the garage.

I mean, it could possibly be what youre saying. My heating hadnt worked in what felt like forever, undertray was buggered underneath and kept scraping the floor (doesnt help that mine is lowered but have bought another undertray recently to be fitted when the car works again) and my coolant would leak from the car.

I just assumed when he said that the head gasket had gone if not more, that the above things had obviously contributed to it.

 

[Anonymousboom]

Im thinking i might call the toyota garage near me, explain my situation plus your information and hope that it just that. Might cost a mini bomb even for small/medium jobs like the radiator and other bits but at least i'll know its sorted. If its defintely not the head gasket/engine obviously

[Scarlett Arrow]

Whatever you do, don't pay Toyota dealer prices!.

A Toyo radiator can be bought for about £55, genuine Toyota coolant about £20. Someone who knows what they're doing, can swop the rad. and purge the system of air in under two hours (I watched a friend change my rad. and coolant on his driveway only last September). So it needn't be a wallet buster.

It's a shame you aren't closer, as I have a genuine Toyota rad. in perfect condition, sat in the shed.

[Anonymousboom]

Thanks, i appreciate the thought but yeah it is a shame that im not closer. Im going to join a facebook group for celica owners so fingers crossed i will find someone in there that will be able to carry out the work for the radiator/coolant🤞

[Konrad C]

On 6/21/2012 at 3:03 PM, GoGGleZ^ said:

BUMP

6. Would also like to know about Oil Consumption with the Gen7's as I have heard they drink alot of the sutff!

From what I know, the standard 140 1ZZ engines were affected by the high oil consumption, but not the 190 2ZZ engines!