Is A Compressor Worth Buying ?

[tsporttinny]

keep reading all the bad vibes about guys buying the compressor and selling it shortly thereafter

just wondering whether you think its worth upgrading from the tsport to the compressor (not looking yet but may be in a year or two / thinking the t180 auris would be a betta buy ?)

what ya think ? :D

[OldSkoO1]

I've had all 3 and i loved the CTS it was more fun than the compressor but i'm enjoying the T180 the most at the moment. It hasn't got the petrol screaming engine but its got buckets of torque and plenty of power with 3rd going from 20 - 70 without loosing anything on the power curve - granted the max boost doesnt come in till 30mph in that gear.

Anyway - personally i would stick with the T-Sport unless you really want to trade. The T180 in a couple of years might be a more sensible price and if you were to buy it, it is probably a bit quicker than the TS (not off the line maybe but yes once moving) - unless you remap it. Very similar to a compressor - its marginal and had first run in with Type-r today, was pulling away clearly and then he hit the powercam and the gap closed somewhat then i changed gear and nudged on a bit... so the power is there for sure. GTI's and the OCT.VRS petrol are no quicker than my T180 either glued to their bumpers.

But you realise when you see a real turbo - surprised a WRX by pulling away and then his turbo kicked in and doesnt half have some boost - i'd buy one of those jap cars next i think they are great.

[Ed_Shek]

I'd stick with the normal T-Sport too seeing as the costs of owning are Compressor are higher.

I'm looking to upgrade to a T180 in a few years when I need the extra doors!

[MarcTS]

I'd stick with the normal T-Sport too seeing as the costs of owning are Compressor are higher.

I'm looking to upgrade to a T180 in a few years when I need the extra doors!

That's why i specifically got a 5 door cts, to save me the hassle of having to change too early when the extra doors became necessary :D

As for is it worth switching, I'd say a definite NO. OK it's faster, looks better, and they've sorted *some* of the issues out from the CTS, but imo the loss of a noticeable lift, the fact you have to use 98ron+ and the overall expense of running plus the initial hit to sell the cts and buy the compressor really doesn't make it worth it.

[pauljack]

Yeah my Compressor looks like its going very soon, its just too expensive to run for what it is.

[Ed_Shek]

Another one bites the dust!

[215 compressor]

before i bought my compressor i gave it some thought as to if it was going to cost more to run which if you stick a supercharger on a car you ain,t gonna get big fuel returns .which is what i made my decision on partly so i expect higher running costs for the compreesor .therefore am happy to keep my compressor even considering haveing an intercooler upgrade later next year which will give even less fuel returns but i expect this but in return more power .this is no different to any sports cars the harder you drive them the more they cost.

[Captain Weirdbeard]

keep reading all the bad vibes about guys buying the compressor and selling it shortly thereafter

just wondering whether you think its worth upgrading from the tsport to the compressor (not looking yet but may be in a year or two / thinking the t180 auris would be a betta buy ?)

what ya think ? :D

I haven't got a Corolla, I have a lardy 2l Avensis T Spirit but I use my mate's cars on an occasional basis too. He had an early T-Sport and then got a TTE (Tee-Hee) last month so I thought I'd chuck in my tuppence worth too.

I first tried the vanilla T Sport three years ago just after I'd sold my last motorbike. It was the first car that I'd ever felt confident in purely because of its power delivery... like the early power-valve two stroke bikes. Surprisingly, they rode well at low speeds around town but still gave you that power band shove for the last couple of thousand revs before red-line.

When the raspberry ripple T-Sport (Compressor) was announced first, I remember the reviews. I think the press were disappointed because it wasn't enough of a bad boy upgrade for the face lift that accompanied the T Sports at the time. The car looked more mean but was really quite nice and you'd happily take it 'round to your granny's place for tea.

The reviews all seemed to go "yeah whatever" about the car. I think of the Toyota brand as being a little bit like Honda Motorcycles when I was growing up. They used the slogan; "you meet the nicest people on a Honda" and I think the make was regarded by lots of people as being a bit bland and uninteresting as a consequence. Toyota have a more subtle tag line but the sentiment is the same.

I think it has had a bad press. For me it was like going from a high powered two-stroke to a similarly rated four-stroke 'bike. The power is just there all of the time. The motor's "sweet spot" is still present to varying degrees according to the posts here. It's been reported as coming in as early as 5,200rpm on some cars which makes me think that adaptive software in the ECU might make for some interesting variations in throttle response across different second-hand cars.

I would not buy one myself though. It's not for the reason you'd think either, it's just because after all those years of motorcycling, I would feel I'd wasted my money on a quick ride that just gets caught in traffic everywhere... people get annoyed if you try to split lanes in a car!

What I really love about both flavours of T Sport is that they don't seem to say "look at me! look at me!" to cranky neighbours and Traffic Police as you go by. Result? You get away with a little bit more than most other rude boy racers. Their appearance is very polite and inoffensive to other road users, much like a Vicar's daughter that I knew. Like her, just because she didn't look hot it didn't mean she couldn't put a sweaty smile on your face in a tight clinch, if you get my meaning.

Choose wisely, but I think that second hand T Sport cars, TTE or otherwise, represent really good value in the long run.

Cheers

[Ed_Shek]

keep reading all the bad vibes about guys buying the compressor and selling it shortly thereafter

just wondering whether you think its worth upgrading from the tsport to the compressor (not looking yet but may be in a year or two / thinking the t180 auris would be a betta buy ?)

what ya think ? :D

I haven't got a Corolla, I have a lardy 2l Avensis T Spirit but I use my mate's cars on an occasional basis too. He had an early T-Sport and then got a TTE (Tee-Hee) last month so I thought I'd chuck in my tuppence worth too.

I first tried the vanilla T Sport three years ago just after I'd sold my last motorbike. It was the first car that I'd ever felt confident in purely because of its power delivery... like the early power-valve two stroke bikes. Surprisingly, they rode well at low speeds around town but still gave you that power band shove for the last couple of thousand revs before red-line.

When the raspberry ripple T-Sport (Compressor) was announced first, I remember the reviews. I think the press were disappointed because it wasn't enough of a bad boy upgrade for the face lift that accompanied the T Sports at the time. The car looked more mean but was really quite nice and you'd happily take it 'round to your granny's place for tea.

The reviews all seemed to go "yeah whatever" about the car. I think of the Toyota brand as being a little bit like Honda Motorcycles when I was growing up. They used the slogan; "you meet the nicest people on a Honda" and I think the make was regarded by lots of people as being a bit bland and uninteresting as a consequence. Toyota have a more subtle tag line but the sentiment is the same.

I think it has had a bad press. For me it was like going from a high powered two-stroke to a similarly rated four-stroke 'bike. The power is just there all of the time. The motor's "sweet spot" is still present to varying degrees according to the posts here. It's been reported as coming in as early as 5,200rpm on some cars which makes me think that adaptive software in the ECU might make for some interesting variations in throttle response across different second-hand cars.

I would not buy one myself though. It's not for the reason you'd think either, it's just because after all those years of motorcycling, I would feel I'd wasted my money on a quick ride that just gets caught in traffic everywhere... people get annoyed if you try to split lanes in a car!

What I really love about both flavours of T Sport is that they don't seem to say "look at me! look at me!" to cranky neighbours and Traffic Police as you go by. Result? You get away with a little bit more than most other rude boy racers. Their appearance is very polite and inoffensive to other road users, much like a Vicar's daughter that I knew. Like her, just because she didn't look hot it didn't mean she couldn't put a sweaty smile on your face in a tight clinch, if you get my meaning.

Choose wisely, but I think that second hand T Sport cars, TTE or otherwise, represent really good value in the long run.

Cheers

Spot On! The T-Sport is a quite Q Car and I'm sure mine will provide me with many more years of reliable and fun motoring!

[UKDM323]

keep reading all the bad vibes about guys buying the compressor and selling it shortly thereafter

just wondering whether you think its worth upgrading from the tsport to the compressor (not looking yet but may be in a year or two / thinking the t180 auris would be a betta buy ?)

what ya think ? :D

I haven't got a Corolla, I have a lardy 2l Avensis T Spirit but I use my mate's cars on an occasional basis too. He had an early T-Sport and then got a TTE (Tee-Hee) last month so I thought I'd chuck in my tuppence worth too.

I first tried the vanilla T Sport three years ago just after I'd sold my last motorbike. It was the first car that I'd ever felt confident in purely because of its power delivery... like the early power-valve two stroke bikes. Surprisingly, they rode well at low speeds around town but still gave you that power band shove for the last couple of thousand revs before red-line.

When the raspberry ripple T-Sport (Compressor) was announced first, I remember the reviews. I think the press were disappointed because it wasn't enough of a bad boy upgrade for the face lift that accompanied the T Sports at the time. The car looked more mean but was really quite nice and you'd happily take it 'round to your granny's place for tea.

The reviews all seemed to go "yeah whatever" about the car. I think of the Toyota brand as being a little bit like Honda Motorcycles when I was growing up. They used the slogan; "you meet the nicest people on a Honda" and I think the make was regarded by lots of people as being a bit bland and uninteresting as a consequence. Toyota have a more subtle tag line but the sentiment is the same.

I think it has had a bad press. For me it was like going from a high powered two-stroke to a similarly rated four-stroke 'bike. The power is just there all of the time. The motor's "sweet spot" is still present to varying degrees according to the posts here. It's been reported as coming in as early as 5,200rpm on some cars which makes me think that adaptive software in the ECU might make for some interesting variations in throttle response across different second-hand cars.

I would not buy one myself though. It's not for the reason you'd think either, it's just because after all those years of motorcycling, I would feel I'd wasted my money on a quick ride that just gets caught in traffic everywhere... people get annoyed if you try to split lanes in a car!

What I really love about both flavours of T Sport is that they don't seem to say "look at me! look at me!" to cranky neighbours and Traffic Police as you go by. Result? You get away with a little bit more than most other rude boy racers. Their appearance is very polite and inoffensive to other road users, much like a Vicar's daughter that I knew. Like her, just because she didn't look hot it didn't mean she couldn't put a sweaty smile on your face in a tight clinch, if you get my meaning.

Choose wisely, but I think that second hand T Sport cars, TTE or otherwise, represent really good value in the long run.

Cheers

Spot On! The T-Sport is a quite Q Car and I'm sure mine will provide me with many more years of reliable and fun motoring!

True !!! what are people's opinion on the fuel consuption of the T sport ? you think there economical for a car this performance ?? since i think it is?? as the fuel ecomony is similer to my recently sold 2003 Mazda 323F 2.0 sport & that was 135bhp a standard!!! yes quite a difference in peroformance when compared to a t sport!!

[Jock Fran]

Yeah the CTS is very economical for what it is.

Probably part of the benefit of lift, when you're not using it, you have normal high compression (=good efficiency) 1.8.

I can easily beat the official 34mpg in mine, and the trip computer is currently on around 41mpg after filling up at Keele Services yesterday, driving to Oxford, then to work and back today. Can't complain. :)

[Captain Weirdbeard]

Spot On! The T-Sport is a quite Q Car and I'm sure mine will provide me with many more years of reliable and fun motoring!

True !!! what are people's opinion on the fuel consuption of the T sport ? you think there economical for a car this performance ?? since i think it is?? as the fuel ecomony is similer to my recently sold 2003 Mazda 323F 2.0 sport & that was 135bhp a standard!!! yes quite a difference in peroformance when compared to a t sport!!

Again, as a non-owner, I can only give you my sideline opinion but here goes:

T-Sport fuel consumption is excellent for what you get. End of.

T-Sport TTE super charged versions aren't bad either from what I gather. Jack's happy enough pottering about and says that the only difference is that he uses his gearbox less. He's a bit like The Stig, ie, with The Archers on the radio or maybe Celine Dione on CD... but not really driving the car until he feels like picking off a few teeny racers.

For the benefit of anyone who cares, these are usually kids who have spent a lot of time and effort making nippy hatchbacks look and sound like they're on steroids. In fairness to these youth, they are handicapped by inexperience or modifications that are unfeasible for anything other than the track and they are driving cars that are a lot faster than they are. When they line our jack up for a dice it is highly entertaining to watch, I can assure you.

Now that his T-Sport has the TTE touch, he doesn't have to think about gear changes so often and although he's not had the car more than a month or so he reckons that he doesn't notice much of a difference in fuel costs or consumption, despite using high cut fuel. It could be that the wider power band means that less fuel is spent on spinning lots of metal 'round at very high speeds since you can get your jollies without so many revs. I just have to respect how the Europe team have set up this machine to give so much with so little loss of driveability and creature comfort On its own that is impressive but I don't see a particularly big fuel penalty in having the car blown. If he was dicing with cars every day it might be a different story... I don't know...

[Parts-King]

"Their appearance is very polite and inoffensive to other road users, much like a Vicar's daughter that I knew"

I'm sure I knew the same girl! :D :D :D

Kingo

[Captain Weirdbeard]

"Their appearance is very polite and inoffensive to other road users, much like a Vicar's daughter that I knew"

I'm sure I knew the same girl! :D :D :D

Cool!

She went on to greater things, you know. Nowadays I hear she's running a sexy lingerie empire called Vicar's Knickers. She was always a fast girl, that one!

Hang on a minute... you wouldn't be a mate of Swiss Tony's, would you?

Be good (but if you can't... be careful)

[pauljack]

I had a audi tt 1.8t quattro before the Compressor and didn't notice the fuel situation. However, with the Compressor all i seem to be doing is filling it up and looking for Shell garages lol. To be fair for what it is and the price, it represents good value! Just be careful you don't get kicked in the teeth come trade in time. I am swopping to Lotus Elise soon and the px valuations are not consistant. Some places value it on the t sport cos it doesn't show up in the car bible guides! For example, I have been offered 11,500 trade in against an Elise at one garage, but today was offered 10K at another. Admittedly they where just trying to pull a swiftie me thinks - for example our car books at blah blah and yours at blah blah so cos we discounted ours were gonna take the pi** on yours! you know that sort of thing! Lets face it for that price its a great car!

Having sold for Toyota last year and driven both cars i think the TTE is worth that little bit more - more power + better looking + limited ed = more desirable! But don't want to upset the T sport boys! :P

[Ed_Shek]

If you can afford to run one then get one but be prepared for the cost of ownership as is the case with most performance cars!