Looking At A Gt-four

[Hardy87]

Iam looking at buying a 205 gt4 in the next couple of months. However i was taking to a friend of mine who drives a mr2 turbo and he reakons that the gt4 is boring to drive and feels under powerd compared to the mr2, its really put me off is there any truth in this?

[dawesy]

well from what i know they stick to the road like snot. yes as std they feel very smooth but they are surprisingly quick. a few simple mods and you'll see a very healthy 300+bhp.

your mate is prolly scared if he only has a rev2 tubbie as youll eat him alive off the mark and on the twisties

[gt4monster]

get one! iv just got my 1st and before had a pop at skylines and also a gto,both nice cars but remember with the gt4 your owning a piece of rally history and you wont see many on the roads compared to scoobys etc.. try and find a garage with one to test drive. have a look at the parkers used car guide and see what others have put but i dont think youl be dissapointed!

[Fizz]

look at my list of previously owned cars in my sig.

I have had a rev 3 tubby and yes.. it is more thrilling to drive as everytime you plant your foot down mid corner.. your going to sh*t yourself!

I owned it for about 19months and now via a stop gap i have jummped into a ST205. I can say that in standard form, yes they are slower in a straight line and yes they are more 'safe' and stable to drive but for someone who aint owned a mr2 turbo.. you wont have this issue.

With a few basic mods, my GT4 feels quicker than my MR2 when it was standard. Also.. its coming towards winter.. unless your used to RWD cars.. get the GT4.

If not and you have owned a mid engine RWD turbo before then get the MR2... its all about what you want form a car at the end of the day mate.

GT4's are a lot more rare though.. :)

[w3lly]

uk spec gt4's are 236bhp.

with some money and time turn into 436bhp quite easy.

[Sketchy]

uk spec gt4's are 236bhp.

with some money and time turn into 436bhp quite easy.

Well that's not strictly speaking true. All ST205 gt4's vary with their power as do most cars, the stock toyota power figure for UK is 239 and JDM is 255.

The difference is mainly due to the different types of petrol avaliable Jap get 100ron, where as at the time best the uk had was 97ron. Also slight difference in the mapping of the ECU.

Having said that I've seen anywhere between 220 and 276 with stock cars, my previous UK gt4 was completely stock and was rollered at a very health 271BHP and 260LBFT with 91,000 miles on the clock, at a GT4OC rolling road day which was covered in the FeB 06 copy of J-Tunner.

Basically my advice to anyone considering a gt4 is read up on the things that go wrong then get out there and test drive as many as you can, there are a fair few about at the moment and the prices are dropping likes stones thanks to the flood of imports. There are bargins to be had you just need to look.

Whatever you do don't just look at one and buy it test drive as many as you can that way you'll get to know the difference between good and bad, and won't get layden with a ****ter.

[chris202]

Yeah be careful there's a lot of dogs out there......i've been to see 5 now and only one was worth buying !

[w3lly]

That was taken from fensport site.

[Hardy87]

Rate iam still gonna get one then, i think theres some truth in the fact that hes abit worried ill hand him his ****, he takes the ***** out of my honda all the time so it will be nice to even things up a little :P . Iam not into cars that try and kill you in the corners anyway (bad experience :( ). What kind of mods/cost are you looking at to get around 350bhp and the handling and stopping power to match?

[Jones~32]

I've just fitted D2 Coilovers to mine and they have transformed the car, so much grip!! and NO bodyroll :D

Stopping power is pretty damn good standard on the ST205, although if anything just get uprated discs/pads for the front ;)

350bhp is gonna cost you some ££££ but it is possible quite easily... would recommend a rebuild and have forged pistons put in though

Exhaust/Filter/Boost Controller should get you in the ballpark of ~300bhp :)

[adamgt]

and stopping power to match?

tbh with 300-350 the standard breaks are still good. They are supra brakes as standard and bigger than most similar car.

but if you do want to uprate them a set of groved and dimpled discs with red stuff pads are about

rear - £200 ish (i have done these)

fronts - £300 ish (and will do these when they need replacing)

that should do :)

[dawesy]

for 300-320 bhp you will need a panel filter, exhaust with decat if poss (if you get a pre 96 JDM car then you can get around the emmisions issue), and an electronic boost controller set to 1.1 bar, 320+ you would be advised on getting the engine rebuilt with forged pistons. toyauto centre in nottingham will do a forged rebuiled for about £3k. thats drive in, drop off and pick up, and the whole engine is overhauled with new bearings, gaskets, oil pump, relief valve, and fluids through out oh and a set of je forged pistons. the cylider head is also fully rebuilt. you will get a 1500 mile warranty with it to boot

[Hardy87]

Excellent! sounds like most of the original gear is well up to the job anyway. Think ill stick to the Zorst,filter and boost upgrade for now, if that can get me to round the 300bhp mark ill be more than happy. iam gonna upgrade the brakes like you mentioned with the discs,pads,hoses and fluid. And from what ive read a set of TRD springs improves the handling and IMO the gt4s need lowering abit to look right, Anybody have any experiene with these springs? are they worth getting?.

[Fizz]

well.. i have a cat back custom zorst, panel filter and a manual boost controller set at 16Psi. I managed 276bhp and 275 ft/lb of torque with that setup.

Going to add a downpipe to get rid of the cat which should free up some more power and also going to add a Greddy E-Manage fuel management system on it. That should see me to 300+ fingers crossed.

TRD springs have been advised to me by one of the chaps at fensport and lots of the GT4OC chaps swear by them. :)

In all honesty, I left a mates standard rev 3 by a couple of car lingths by the end of second gear in my current setup but it all depends on the condition of the cars as well.

Enjoy the power bud.. and congrats on deciding... if you dont like tail action then the MR2 aint for you. The GT4 is like a train on rails... whereas the MR2 Turbo is just like a train

[adamgt]

I have Tein Springs on mine. Lowers it by 37mm and are said to be same quality as the TRD ones... but the TRD ones lower only 25mm.

Im very happy with my Tein springs! ;)

[Sketchy]

I've got TRD springs on the new four along with brand new stock dampers, as Adam said they give a 25mm drop.

Compared to the old four which had stock suspension it does corner alot flatter and feels more responsive on turn. Well worth it if you haven't got the cash or find coilovers to harsh.

Would highly recommend getting new dampers if the ones on the car are quite old, and with a set of either tein or trd springs you'll be well sorted for abuse on the road.

Another recommended upgrade in the suspension department is a whiteline rear ARB, as standard the GT4 does have more of a understeering tendency the rear ARB upgrade addresses that nicely by all accounts.

With regards to Exhaust i've got:

3" Aussie Decat DP - 3" Aussie Sport Cat Flexi - 2.75" Blitz Nur Spec R

Which addresses both the crap flowing standard system and the emissions issue all in one :D

Be selective with the exhaust though some of the 3" systems out there are a bit too free flowing and result in boost creap on the stock turbo.

Don't worry about getting an induction kit just get a panel filter the stock intake is plenty up to the task just need to remove the resonator box from the wing and connect a cold air feed from air box to intake on the bumper under the indicator and your good to go.

If the car you get has an induction kit already try and knock up some form of heat shield and again fit cold air feed. Also from test Apexi seems to be the best working filter blitz one has slightly better flow but filtration is well down from the Apexi.

[Hardy87]

Cheers for the info and the fast replys there really helpful. Iam a great fan of the biltz nur r exhaust as my dads got one on his supra but what does it fit like? cos on the soop it hangs low and is always scraping on the ground alsoI live reasonably close to hyperSR and have heard they are good for gt4 downpipes is this right ?

[Jones~32]

Sketchy, hows that exhaust setup sound? thats exactly what im after :D

[dawesy]

blitz nur spec exhaust fits fine on the 4, also sounds the nuts (but may annoy the neighbors

[Sketchy]

Sketchy, hows that exhaust setup sound? thats exactly what im after :D

It's great mate holding stock pressure fine was 13psi just after fitting back when there was still some sun. most i've seen is just over 14psi in the cold of night and i've seen my old stock car go over 15psi in the cold.

The cat does make the exhaust ever so slightly quiter but the extra diameter has also made the tone a bit deeper and meatier if you get what I mean more growly... :D and not as droany.

Definately lets the car breath better pulls harder and comes on boost much quicker than the old one. Just need a boost controller and then things are going to start getting expensive (ECU, hybrid, FMIC etc).

Tell you what though I thought the blitz would have been louder the way everyone bangs on about it, no where near as loud as my mates old mongoose system on his cossie but that really was loud.

Cheers for the info and the fast replys there really helpful. Iam a great fan of the biltz nur r exhaust as my dads got one on his supra but what does it fit like? cos on the soop it hangs low and is always scraping on the ground alsoI live reasonably close to hyperSR and have heard they are good for gt4 downpipes is this right ?

I've heard there where problems with the HyperSR one in the past due to the design stopping the wastegate from opening fully, however this may have been modified by now.

Blitz is fine on a GT4 even lowered ones, the bottom of the back box is slightly lower than the stock exhaust due to it's increased size but other than that it follows the stock system route, I've not had any problems with in grounding out.

[Jones~32]

Dawesy/Sketchy - Thanks guys - Should be good! I dont mind annoying the neighbours

Just need the £££ to buy it now :!Removed!:

[Hardy87]

Rate then the search begins!