Australian Celica OWNER!! LONG POST!

[xtravagant_boi]

hey guys, im from sydney, australia and just brought a new 01 celica a few months ago..

i came on your site cuz im goin to modify my celica in about 2 months and just wanted to get some information on exhausts etc...
reading your forums is really confusing...ehhehe in australia we have KW instead of HP and km/h instead of miles or wateva..hahaha and i still dont know the conversion..

also the celica's in australia arnt known as GT and GT-S i think thats wat you call them in the states.. we call them Celica SX and Celica ZR..there isnt any difference in engine power between these two models..the difference is basically rims, ABS and a sunroof..pretty pathetic hey..heheh.. the ZR is the more expensive one if any1 is curious...

i bet you's want to know the power of the celica's in australia? hehehe well they have 140KW stock..im not sure how much HP that is, mayb some1 knows? ( but i think it's very similar to the GT-S 170-180 HP, thats wat some1 told me anyway.).. well if any1 has any questions about australia or australian cars (celica's etc).. jus post on this thread and ill get back to you or visit www.toyota.com.au

just to let you people know in australia celica's dont rip alot of cars on the road..we have the suburb WRX, which is one of the most popular turbo cars.. its about $42000 brand new..in your dollars its bout $21000... these cars rip 1/4 mile in bout 14.3 secs stock i think..they have 160kw..add about $5000 of american dollars of mods and you can get it into the 12 second bracket
i australia there are alot of imported skylines, supra's, rx7's etc..
the skyline gtr r33 is king of the road and there are many gts-t and gtr skylines..the gtr's run about low 13's stock on the 1/4
and they are sold between $20-$30g american dollars second hand, cuz most imports are 2nd hand..the gts-t skyline does high 13's or low 14's im not really sure on the 1/4 and its sold between $10-$12g american dollars..the celica in australia is about $25000 american dollars, so in other words its more expensive than most turboed cars..so basically in australia if you dont have a turbo car, you will get ****ted on..lol...but the problem with these turboed cars is that insurance for under 25's is about $4000 a yr american dollars and no1 wants to pay that much...

but i own a awesome celica and jus wanted to get your opinions on some mods etc..

exhaust- i was looking at three.. the TRD, HKS Hiper and 5zigen fireball.. but i heard the 5zigen is crap, so its either TRD or HKS..could some1 tell me which gives more KW or HP..hehhehe

Air Intake - im gettin a Injen...

Unichip- dont know if you have these in the states...its bout $1100 australian dollars, which is bout $550 of your dollars..it gives the celica bout 10-15 extra kw.. thats umm 30-40 extra HP? im not really sure..
here's a link to a dynoed celica using the unichip compared to a stock celica..
http://www.airpowersystems.com.au/unichip/dyno/toyota/celica.html

Vtec Controller - well i was thinking about gettin this, but im not sure though..im not sure if you guys know what it does..it bascially pumps in the vvti-l at any rpm you want..the celica's in australia vvti kicks in around 6500/7000 rpm and if i put in a vtec controller it will kick in around 4000 rpm.. this is better for the car because faster accelaration due to the vvti-l kicking in earlier...

Lowering - im also planning to lower my car..i wanted to get some opinions on inches? i was thinking 2 inches at the front and 3 inches at the back? any suggestions....

sorry if this post is abit long it did take me 10 minutes to type..
thanks for any feedback...

[gts24]

the biggest question I would pose, regarding the "unichip" is how does it affect new upgrades to the engine in the future. What octane fuel do you have in Australia? Most of us here in the States are lucky if we can get 93, and in California they can only get 91 octane.


Also, the VVTL-i controller......
Have you actually seen this working on a Celica before? We have had a few companies "attempt" to do this here in the states, but nobody has been successful at all. So whenever somebody mentions this, it usually gets put down as vaporware, and that has held true thus far.

Would it really benefit to have VVTL-i kick in that early?

[Acilec]

G'day son :)

I used to live in Sydney for three years. I lived in Narrabeen and Monavale. I miss Australia a ton, great country and great for surfing. Anyway, to reply to your post. I have a TRD exhaust and I love it. It's not a cat-back exhaust and the gains are minimal. I would say it gains me 4-6 HP at the most in the higher RPM ranges. The sound of the TRD is the best part of it. It is not too loud and a lot deeper than some of the other ones out there. It's not like it's farting like some of those ricey Civics out there. The HKS exhaust is a good exhaust and probably gets better gains than the TRD. My friend Adam has one and it also does not sound over done. Both are excellent in my opinion. If you want the most gains and the loudest noise get a Kazuma exhaust. It is a cat-back exhaust and the gains are a little more. See, the Celica stock exhaust piping is quite good for a stock car and therefore the gains are minimal. Your Injen intake will give you a mega increase, especially if you get the cold air intake. That has to be the best mod I have ever done. I'm getting headers next so that will help a little on te HP side.

Definitely check out Kazuma if you're up for the maximum exhaust gains, but if you want a good sounding high quality exhaust system, get a TRD or an HKS.

Hope that helps. Say hi to everyone down under. Gotta miss those Holdens! (NOT!)

Fin

[xtravagant_boi]

haahaaah thanks for replying guys..

hey gts24 wat do you mean by new engine upgrades??.
and in australia we have 98 octane in some petrol..around $20 dollars US can get you a full tank of 98 octane fuel...
a few celica's ive known have a VTEC controller not VVTI-L, and they dont seem to have any problems...i better look more closely into it..
think about it this way? the VVTI-L kicking in at 4000 rpm would take a 6500/7000rpm celica on the jump and then continue to beat it on the 1/4...but im not really sure if its an good idea...might overwork the engine..


g'day acilec...yeh i mite go for the hks exhaust..i heard the kazuma is abit too loud..and ill proably get pull over and fined everytime i drive by cops..i guess HKS will give good gains and sounds nice..so ill proably settle with it..

[gts24]

I think that you better look into that stuff about VTEC controllers on a Celica a little more. If it were that easy, we'd have companies here all over it.

I know that from what I have heard/read the only actual workin VVTL-i controller is in Australia, however it's not as simple as a just slapping a VTEC controller on there.


The reason I ask about the chip effecting future upgrades... I just want to know, is it an actual add-on chip or is this company taking the stock ECU and reprogramming it?

If TRD does actually release CAMS with the stock ECU in mind, I am simply wondering how that would be affected after having your ECU messed with if that is what this company does.


Also, since you have 98 octane, I don't think that the chip upgrade would work at all, hence the "Please Note: The Unichip is available from Air Power Systems in Australia and New Zealand only. For other regions, please contact "

If you don't want a loud exhaust and just want a nice sound I think the TRD would fit the bill for you.

[xtravagant_boi]

Im not really sure bout the VTEC controller, but i know for certain a few celica's have them installed..some of these celica's are upgraded to a turbo..230kw flywheel around 300hp?? ehhehe
so i know celicas have them, but i dont know wat other mods need to be install to support this...

with the unichip, a few celicas i know have had it too..its bascially an add on to the ecu computer..

do the TRD have more hp gain than the HKS ? if you know that is..

[gts24]

Around here it's a mystery which exhaust actually makes the best gains.

People will come on here and go "Well this one made it feel faster than this other one" and blah blah blah.


I have yet to see an affirmative dyno head to head of any of these exhausts.

nc.org's dyno run list has a few exhausts listed, but none of them are head to head at all, and of course dyno's can vary.


The TRD exhaust seems to simply help your mid point. Our switchover is right at 6000 rpms. If you look at the dyno sheets some people have reported up to 18 hp gain from 6000-6300 rpms. However, at that point it pretty much evens out and comes close to stock exhaust in some points in the rev range.

Over all I would say that the TRD exhaust gives the best gains. (with the exception of Kazuma of course)

[xtravagant_boi]

ahhh k..thanks alot..
so how does your celica run?
with the trd exhaust and aem cai? does it sound nice?
and btw your trd springs? how low are they?
i want to lower my celica 3 inches at the back and 2 at the front?
you think thats alrite?

[gts24]

The celica runs great with these 2 mods. I had a CEL right when I put the AEM on but it was simply because I had friends help me that had never even touched a Celica before, and we didnt' tighten everything up correctly.
Re-attached some things and tightened them up correctly and I have put 16000 miles on the car without a single CEL.

As far as the TRD springs go, if you want a large drop , I'd get something else. The TRD springs don't drop much at all. just over an inch on the front and back. nothing even close to what you are looking for.

I think that lowering it 2 and 3 inches is too much. I'd hit the ground all over the place up here in the frozen north :D . I also am not into the "slammed" look on a car.

I like a nice clean look. The hotchkis tuning springs would probably offer the most balanced look. The drop just under 2 inches and are great performers.....

[M SPEC]

welcome to the board,

In regards to lowering, depends on your budget and how deep your pockets are. Either custom spring set ordered from King Springs or a full coil-over suspension setup like Tein Type HA which has height/damper adjustability.

ECM mods: Hav'nt heard anyone try the unichip product on the current shape Celica as of yet. Something to think about though, you can only go as far in mapping within factry set limits for ingnition/fuel etc

VTEC controllers won't work on our cars. Making the 2nd cam switchover sooner will make your car less powerfull and slower.

From personal experiece, the TRD (US spec) sounds great with some power gains mid to up top in the rev range.

Jason

[disler]

How could making the second cam shift at a lower rpm create less power? Correct me if im wrong, but the valve lift/duration will still remain the same on the second cam change and therefore still create the same hp@rpm results. From feeling the 6000 rpm 'kick up the arse' and looking at dyno sheets, you'd assume that lowering the 2nd cam changeover down another 1000rpm or so would smooth out the power curve and create a more gradual increase in hp rather then a sudden *whack*, not to mention the power gains in the 5000-6000rpm power curve and the 1st-2nd shifts staying in the valve 'lift' range.

[M SPEC]

disler, if you read Hot4's magazine, look at OCT 2001 issue. Article title: Time Travelling in Tech Torque section on page 105. That is my car featured with dyno printouts showing switchover point at 5500rpm's and 6500rpm's and how much power you lose.

The stock switch over point at 6000rpms is the optimuim point for the stock camshafts.

in regards to staying in lift in the 1st to 2nd gear change. All you need is practice, alot of the guys in on this board can do it even when the car is stock. You need to rev it all the way to the fuel cut-off almost at 8300rpms and have a super quick gear change.

Jason

[Blue Bomber]

Check out this post to see why lowering the switchover point wouldn't give any power gains:

http://newcelica.angrypacket.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8638

[disler]

I stand corrected :P

From looking at a dyno readout from a standard celica it looks as though the power curves would match up at around 5000-5500rpm.

There's actually been a few celica's popping up in hot 4's/fast 4's 'n rotaries ive noticed, hopefully a bit more of this kind of cover occurs and some performance companies around aus (very few i know) start taking some notice. It's about time some local companies decided to get off their arses and get stuck into some serious aftermarket equipment.