Celica Tuning

"This a not a "Silly car""

The Celica first appeared back in 1970 so it has enjoyed a long run. Ever since Toyota dropped the Supra, the 5th generation Celica was the only sports oriented 4 seater car they produced. It had pop up headlights and a choice of engines from the underpowered 1.6 4AFE to the 2.2 5SFE engine. The 3SGTE engine was provided with a turbo and made this the engine of choice for a Celica Tuning project.

The turbo engine produced 225 ps and came in a number of limited edition guises. 4 wheel drive/steer make the cars handling sharp and lively. The GT Four Rally presents the most Celica tuning options and had many race spec components.

The later sixth generation had round geadlights and subtle styling. The 3SGTE engine was still an option and the last version of the GT Four ST205 had a light weight aluminium roof and CT20B turbocharger taking power to 230 hp ready to meet the Homologation rules for the WRC.

By 2000, Toyota deemed the Celica to need an upgrade and the 7th generation model was introduced with distintive triangular headlights. There were only 2 engine options both using versions of the VVT (variable valve timing), with the lovely high revving 2ZZ-GE 180 hp engine. Beware though as some countries had rev limits reduced from 8400rpm to 7800 where full power is starting to come on strong.

It seemed to be a bad move at the time reducing the power and hoping that strong sales would continue. Toyota have announced that the Celica will no longer be available in the USA due to declining sales.

Celica Tuning modifications.

There is no shortage of parts around for the Celica particularly the 5th and 6th generation cars. Engine swaps are popular with owners looking to obtain the 2.0 Turbo engine. Suspension upgrades will do a lot to improve the handling and ride quality. After you have modded the car look at a full Remap using a new ecu such as that from Apexi in the guise of the power FC will unleash a few more hp.

Get the breathing right with a sports manifold and induction kit with a cold air feed. A boost controller will smooth the power delivery. Stick to boost levels of 15psi. A fast road cam and uprated turbo will take power up to around 340 bhp.

Join us in our forum and meet up with other Celica owners where you can chat and swap tuning ideas for your car.Also have a read of our tuning articles to see what the pros and cons are of the many tuning options open to you.