buck naked

Are you talking about the strut bar or the sway bar?

...shouldn't throw stones.

Well the fine will go to the owner of the old car, and then be forwarded to you. The fact that you didn't own the car along with details (ie: if the registration details show that it is an old car and that you driving this car was a rarity), and present that with the fact that you were doing 50kph, meaning you were doing your best to observe the law - which you believe in, maybe you have grounds for consideration. Good luck!

People in glass houses...

A handful of bolt on mods doesn't make you an NA purist. A built NA engine (you know, one with actual engine work) is going to make a supercharger kit look cheap. Basic intake and exhaust mods, along with quality suspension/drivetrain work are common fundementals in both NA and FI, which is why so many people start out with those modifications. But thats beside the point. My point is that front wheel drive and performance don't have to be antonyms.

The Trial tuner Celica, when it was Blitz supercharged and Trial stroked (1.998cc) and making 283hp at the wheels, laped the Tsukuba circuit in 62 seconds, thats quicker than some Ferrari's. Check out how that compares to other stock and tuner cars: http://www.tuningpt.com/store/tsukuba.htm I think Trial runs their own supercharger setup now, and is making even more HP. Just goes to show a nicely setup FWD application with a good LSD and suspension can be very competitive.

I haven't heard about any 1.5 VVTL-i engine, what kind of power is it making?

Quite a few people in the USA have got up around 180-190hp at the wheels with just a few bolt-on mods, plus a PowerFC. (150kw = 200hp, btw). To go further, you'd have to start opening up the engine. Getting a stroker kit (1.93 litres to 1.98 litres, depending on the package) will get you there, and you have a few options. Either raise the compression and go for a hard-tuned NA (build it to rev), or lower the compression and go for a turbo. I think Trial's (a Japanese tuning company) stroked, supercharged 2ZZ-GE Celica makes 283hp at the wheels and puts up blistering times around the track. For me, drive train mods, suspension work, lightweight rims and tyres, lightening the car and oil-supply mods would be my priority. Make the most of the 140kw you've got =)

Thanks for the info =) Regarding the braking, what is your stance on ABS? Does your Celica run with the ABS option?

Considering Type-R Civic's are import only, and Clio Sports are $35k, the Sportivo is the winner in my book =)

So you've been using that LSD since 2000? Any issues with wear?

That was a cool video. Seeing the Type-R get sideways in the last bend and beat out the S2000 was killer =) I think taking the Corolla around the track first had some disadvantages, it would have been nice if they ran them 3 times each and then averaged the times. They got the quickest 0-40mph time out of the Corolla, which was cool, and they loved the brakes. Concidering the Corolla is the heaviest, has the lowest displacement (1.8 vs 2.0) and was the only one with no LSD (the Clio has its "ESP" LSD equivilent, and the Type-R has one), I think it did pretty well =)

Congratulations Neil =) When choosing an LSD, you went with the TRD clutch-type, correct? How does a helical-type LSD compare for your application?

I was gonna get the sway and rear strut from C-one. ← No no, you want a front AND rear swaybar upgrade.

For the price, upgrading the front and rear sway bars is the best handling modification around. Strut bars are good for the bling factor.

And the resale value... :(

Handling wise the Corolla is a big step back, and there is a smaller aftermarket for the 2ZZ as well.

If you can afford the Type-S and can live without the four doors, I think it's an easy call.

It's a shame there isn't more dyno results for the Celica online here in Australia. 112kw at the wheels is what we'd expect for stock performance out of a 2ZZ-GE, but the results of the Melbourne dyno day were all below that (for both the Sportivo and Celica...). Being a less-practical car, a lot of second hard Celica's are in very good condition - very low kilometres, garaged, etc. And you see fantastic examples from 1999-2001 going for very close to $20,000 these days. Being lighter, having a better interior, independent rear suspension and a lower centre of gravity, from a performance perspective, I prefer the Celica. And the SX model seems to fit that demographic, with optional airconditioning and ABS. The SX model also doesn't have a sunroof, which is good for body stiffness and headroom (esp. with a helment).

Now if your definition of "sports suspension" is a set of King Springs, I'd say without hesitation picking up these Sportivo springs will be worthwhile. First, from a price perspective, they can be had very cheap on a new vehicle (ie: thrown in free, or fitted without labour). Secondly, they'll be covered by your factory warranty, which is really valuable. The stock shocks are good and with improved springs you'll find them fine for hard driving. If you're really serious about suspension, you'd be working towards buying coil-overs (and probably not $1.5k, for cheap ones), which would replace your current suspension struts. But until you're ready to drop ~$5k on suspension work (I'm talking about going further than just coil-overs here), you'll have driving a much improved suspension setup right out of the dealer door. Now, if you ever want to sell the car, you'd want to remove your coil-over struts and refit the stock ones - seeing as they're going to do nothing for the value of the car - and sell them off (on here, for example). Worse, some "lowering" or "sports" springs fitted to your car will probably reduce its resale value.

If I was buying a new Sportivo, I'd get the 'Sportivo' springs added - lower and stiffer than the standard Corolla springs (which are the same as the Sportivo springs).

Very simply, a lighter flywheel will spin up faster, but will also lose intertia quicker too. So the car will rev better and be more responsive, but the revs will also drop quicker between gear changes, for example.

What about the "Sportivo springs"? A few people here are insistant that these are an option for the Sportivo model as well (lowering by 1.5" and making it stiffer). Does anyone have these fitted to a Sportivo?

No one has a dyno reading for a stock post-April 05 Sportivo?! I've driven one built in July, but no earlier ones to compare.