ZEEROLLA

I find the Sportivo's steering too light and sensitive and has too much kickback. I also noticed recently when braking especially going downhill, before you come to a complete stop there is a slight shudder in the steering wheel. Like as if you were on uneven or loose gravel roads. Felt wierd but other than that, the steering has no problems. Mine is Dec 03 built. And again, anybody having gearbox problems like mine? Is that also a characteristic of the 6 Speed like the rattles??

Does any of you guys here with the rattle problem have difficulty shifting fast especially 1-2nd at high rpm (above 7500rpm)? A short story from yesterday night's cruise: I had this low riding Gold MX5 driven up beside me yesterday (he was driving fast) with an exhaust mod i think. It sounded and looked really nice. Suspecting if it could have been an SE version (new turbo version). Being a RWD it jumped me off the line by half a car but by end of 2nd gear i got up beside him then i stopped (70km/h zone). The point is during 1-2nd gear shift i had the problem and had to "granny shift" (wait a little before shifting) and my revs dropped to 5000rpm in 2nd. If only i could shift fast i will be able to land in lift and beat the MX5 by 2nd gear. I am sure if we carried on i will overtake him in 3rd with the 2ZZGE's top end power but this MX5 was'nt slow. In fac i was surprised by how quick it was. The standard MX 5 only has around 105-110kw with but obviously a very light car. I wonder how quick the turbo version is with 121kw and 206nm torque. Anyone here had a little run with them? The gearbox's just too slow.. damn :( .

Yeah but at least the S2000 got a capacity boost to 2.2litres increasing the peak torque value whereas the 2ZZGE gets a reduction in power and torque .

From what you are saying i guess the problem does lie in the tranny oil. My Sportivo's gearshift felt like this from Day 1, and it was even tighter then. I tried BP Ultimate a few days ago and i can say it did not make any difference to the gearbox (was worth a try anyway :P ). The engine did feel more powerful with a bigger kick in lift this couple of days but not sure if it was the petrol or the cooler weather? But i like what BP is doing by putting a sticker stating the RON on their pumps. It would say 91RON for Regular Unleaded, 95RON for Premium Uleaded and 98RON for Ultimate. Shell doesn't do this and they should because it felt better when i saw the "98RON" at the BP Ultimate pump. Regarding Transmission oil, has anyone tried Redline Transmission Oil and where can we get them here. Because a lot of people in the US and UK use this oil whenever they have gearbox problems. Zee

Is that true Oz_Viking? I will be a little dissapointed if that is true although it is only 200rpm difference. As to the rev limit, i also felt that the limiter cuts in at 8000rpm before but recently it goes pass 8000rpm with no cutout so its wierd. Maybe because the engine is still new or like qkslvr mentioned, could be due to other factors at that time. Mine has 3000kms. 2ZZGE_Sportivo's Stivo went up to 8350rpm which sould be the rev cutout point for Celica as stated in magazines. This particular Celica would have had quite a few mods done to it. The rev limit definitely have been increased by the Apexi Power FC and i also suspect he has a heavier duty clutch and possibly a lightened flywheel from the way the car performed, and how quick it revved.

I had my car looked at today by a service mechanic and he went for a drive with me. Interestingly, he took the Stivo into lift in 1st gear up to around 7000-8000rpm and on 5 out of 7 occassions he managed to shift out of 1st smoothly. From my experience, 8 times out of 10 times i would have difficulty shifting out of 1st when in lift at approx 8000-82000rpm. He told me the possible causes for difficulty in shifting could be due to the "spring" in the gearbox which loads up when i hit lift and in high revs, and that the spring is very tight now and hence a harder and tighter shift. He said to give it another couple of thousand kms and see if its okay. I also asked about the transmission oil and he said they recommend and only put 75W90 viscosity oil. He said i can try thinning the oil to make it easier to shift out of gear but will make it harder to shift into gear and put more load on the synchros. Also tested the clutch and he said its fine. So i think i will have to sit on it for now and see if anything happens.

If you are not looking at performance, i guess any muffler that looks cool will do. But i would recommend you go for double bypass mufflers instead of straight through mufflers or cannons because they are quieter and they give you a bit of performance on NA engines. You need a certain amount of backpressure to keep the low rev response, especially with small capacity NA engines. Straight through big diameter mufflers are better suited for Turbo/Supercharged cars or large capacity engines with great amount of torque. Hope that helps

Congrats man !! But the 8500rpm Celica is still something. I bet Toyota will void that fellas warranty hey revving 800rpm past redline :P

Thanks for the offer NIKICH , but here is this guy here in Shellharbour where i have sent other cars there for service and he has been pretty good. I will consider getting the car serviced there sometime soon. Zee

My Stivo has only got 3000kms and i am already ****** with the Toyota dealer here (TORY TOYOTA), all because of the service manager. The dealership also uses Toyota genuine motor oil which is mineral based 10W30W engine oil for the 2ZZGE and i reckon a fully synthetic would be better. I will get it done outside by an honest, hardworking mechanic who knows his stuff, if the warranty doesn't get stuffed. Will wait and see how they deal with my car at the 5000km service.

As to solving the problem, i don't think so because the shifter only reduces the distance.

Yup, i saw a best motoring drag of the celica and it did rev to about 8200-8300rpm. I suspect 2 things: 1)The Celica with the Apexi PowerFC had the rev limit increased. 2)People with Stivos not revving fully (like me) could have gotten themselves a bad badge of fuel, Motor oil or something? 2ZZGE Sportivo who posted a vid of his Stivo revving went up to 8300rpm before shifting so our Stivos should also be able to do that. But does fuel make any difference (causing the ECU to cut revs earlier?) or maybe its the crap Motor Oil Toyota is supplying? Or maybe Spark Plugs? Zee

I will try out the fuel thing and see how it goes. But i suspect its the transmission oil. I think Toyota isn't using Synthetic oil in our gearboxes, maybe just a mineral based motor oil

My view? If i wanted a comfy, trouble free ride, i would get the Honda Civic. Not a power house but if you are after comfort and reliability and resale value, the Honda would be my choice. And maybe in the near future you can pop a Type-R 2L i-VTEC into the Civic's engine bay since it is a direct fit then you got yourself a Civic Type-R :P !! The only cars i considered buying before i bought the Stivo were the Civic, Jazz, Accord Euro and Stivo. It all came down to my budget and feel of the car. I guess i just loved the way the 2ZZGE revved and when i drove it, i just fell in love and bought it. I would never considered cars made by Holdens, Fords, Peugeot, Renault etc. Only Jap. car manufacturers. And even then, i picked Honda and Toyota ONLY. Hence it was quite easy for me. And i guess with the problems on the Stivo, nothing is perfect. It's all human technology !

B & M also makes one for the Stivo (Celica 6-speed). It reduces shift distance by 38%. That is a major reduction but i was quoted for $349 plus fitting so it will come up to around $400.

Cool man thanks!

What a coincidence. I went to Toyota today to tell them my problem and the service person was a d***head He sort of knew what i was going to tell him even before i spoke and he said ".. you are not supposed to rev the car to 7000 plus rpm. We can even void your warranty for that...." I told him the manual never stated not to rev the motor past 7000rpm but only not to rev it into the redzone. He agreed and i told him that is at 8200rpm. He then replied "... although the engine is capable of revving that high, you are not supposed to. It is not a racecar. And when you rev that high, you would have problems shifting." WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP!!! He also said i am the first person with the Stivo complaining about this problem and i said that is the PROBLEM! I said i test drove another Stivo and it didn't feel this way. I also said if it was the transmission oil and he said no. After more exchange of words, i told him to go for a drive with me but he said no one was available and booked me in for Thursday I will show them what i mean then And regarding the 50%engine oil and 50%transmission oil thing, this is interesting. I spoke to a guy at the aprts and accessories section about the Stivo's transmission oil and he told me initially the Stivos don't need transmission oil, because the transmission and engine shares the same lubricant= engine oil!! Then he showed me a computer generated picture of the Corollas engine but not the 2ZZGE. He was explainng and then suddenly became unsure and consulted someone else. He came back and said i should go get a 75W90W transmission oil from any store like Repco or AutoOne So it has been a frustrating day today and i am very confused. I am considering sending the car somewhere else to get it checked. Zee

Hi NIKICH, agree totally the new MX5 SE should be a great drive! This MX5 would be a better MX5 than the SP version with 150+ kw and 280nm of torque. All comes down to driveability . The SP has too much wheelspin, so this detuned turbo MX5 should be very well balanced And regarding your max speed run, at what revs did you cutout? 8200rpm?

I have a black grille but i live in Shellharbour ;) .

So i guess the Stivo will not response very well to other mods unless the ECU is tuned with an aftermarket Computer or Piggy-back Chip. This is also the case with the new WRXs.

Congratulations Craig!! You did make the legendary 100kw @ the wheels! 102.5kw in fact! I think someone else on this forum also pulled 100kw plus during a dyno run. Still hard to believe the MOTOR magazine's Stivo can only pull 86kw, lowest i've seen! I have always felt the Stivo should pull something closer to the Astra Turbo. But i guess a lot of factors come into play during dyno sessions. Next, it will be my turn to try it out!

MY car used to chirp 1st and 2nd changes. Now the gearbox is wont go into gear easy past 7500rpm... What the hell is with that? The car was fabulos untill about 5k ago. I will be very upset if they cannot fix this problem With your Stivo, are u able to rev past 8200rpm? My Stivo is wierd, it sometimes revs to 8200 and sometimes cuts revs at 8000-8100rpm. And the shifting is really a problem, still unsable to shift smoothly even with nearly 3000kms. The shifter feels jammed sometimes at very high revs. The Stivo i test drove was great to shift and i chirped the tyres on the 1-2 shift too. I think i will request Toyota to check the car all over to make sure there are no problems with it. Was your car a demo or was it a brand spanking new one? And how did you run it in, like with the engine and gearbox? Maybe that made a difference? Zee

90-95 kw would be about 125-130kw at flywheel. Does that mean 1) Toyota is overclaiming the 2ZZGE's power figure or 2) The Toyota drivetrain caused a greater than usual amount of power loss to the wheels.

Come on Craig, i am waiting for your dyno results :P

I have seen Best Motoring tests of the Celica with 2ZZGE and it only managed a 15.8s vs the Civic Type-R's 15.3s. And that was in Japan with better fuel and professional race car drivers. So i just cannot see how a low 15 or even high 14 is possible for the T-Sport. Anyway, i will be doing my own tests soon to see how quick i can run mine. I was also thinking could be due to the speedo in MPH instead of KM/H. Hmm....