Squalled

Yeah it definitely does, something different which is cool. Never seen that colour before.

Great pics man. I'm really loving the wheels and the valve cover colour too! Engine bay looks so clean.

Thanks a lot Blacksheep! Yeah I'm pretty happy with them, may redo them again, if I can be bothered Quite a bit actually, I'll shoot you a message with what I can remember. Also I need to get cruise together asap so we can catch up!

When does the oil light turn on? Is it when first turning the ignition or white driving? The sensor for it is on the back side of the sump, it could be faulty.

As promised, here's a minor update. So I haven't done all too much to the car in the last month or so. I've being trying to keep it clean, as long as Sydney's unpredictable weather holds off. With fuel prices sky rocketing over the last month, I for some reason have never had more of an urge to drive everywhere. Not long after my last update, I had the car serviced by my mechanic just to give everything a good check over. It appears the valve cover may have been slightly loose and was tightened but not long after it was tightened and cleaned up, the oil leak slowly came back so I'll need to address that sometime this year. Other than that, I haven't had any major issues recently at all. Here some various shots after washes in the last few weeks. Also note the newest addition on the front windscreen, my mate Alec provided the goods and I joined the growing number rocking Gorilla Industries. Some night shots from a mountain run with some mates a few weeks back. I've also decided to attend a few meets recently, one been a Downshift x Tuned meet and a Toymods Monthly Meet. I haven't been to a non Toyota only meet for well over 3 years now, since I owned my Honda Prelude, and it was the first time taking my car into one. It was a smaller turnout but none the less a great day out watching some racing and admiring other people's creations. We were the only 2 Sportivo's that were there and surprisingly my car managed to turn some heads which is something I'm definitely not used too. Sadly I didn't get any photos at the Toymods meet due to the poor weather on the way. So the list still remains the same as last, I've really got to get started before the end year not only for Toyotafest but another trip I'll be doing. I'm doing my first long distance drive with the Sportivo along with my partner from Sydney to Melbourne. We're mainly heading down for some much needed relaxation time, do some exploring and also getting the chance to meet some fellow Sportivo mates down there. In the final stages of booking now and really looking forward to the trip. Hopefully my car doesn't fall apart! Fingers crossed Other than that, I'll keep updating when I can.

Update coming this week. Stay tuned, just need to get some photo's uploaded.

Does it only make the noise while moving or even on idle? It's not a belt squeak or anything at all? (although the belts are well away from the clutch).

I've used the Rainx water repellent after using their glass scrub on my windows. I must say after following a video on YouTube on how to get the best results from it, it worked an absolute treat. Driving in the rain was great, the water beaded easily of the windscreen on the front and rear. It's made it just that bit safer when driving in heavy rain conditions. I haven't had any issues since I applied the coating almost a year or more ago. I was pretty impressed overall for literally 20-30 minutes of work, that I recommended it to my parents. I put in some time to do both of their cars, ironically enough it rained not long after and they both said how well it worked.

Most ZZE model Corolla's came with remote locking keys. What trim level is your car? Also, does your current key look similar to this key? The best possible way to add the remote locking function would definitely be to invest in an alarm system with locking. It would be better than most factory locking systems. Price would be depending on what model and brand you choose.

Going from a 2005 Corolla Sportivo to what ever comes next, AEB has definitely saved the car plenty of times with some emergency stops. Traction control would be a bonus, although the European ZZE123 models came with traction control. I have driven various newer model cars recently, one thing I do find quite annoying is the lane departure assist. At times I find even when travelling in a straight line in the middle of a lane, it will want to correct the steering.

Definitely try some of those steps and give it a nice service. There's actually quite a few things I've seen over the years causing cars to not engage lift correctly. As campbeam has shown, you can also remove the battery terminals to reset the ECU.

No idea mate

If you've already replaced the lift bolts, it's safe to say you should check the following. Have you also performed any servicing, mods or other changes recently? Has lift engaged without problems before? - Lift solenoid - May need to be cleaned. - OCV filters as they can get clogged over time - - Check any wiring - If there are any loose or broken wires. - Possibly try an ECU reset.

Update time. So, now that I managed to install the black housing headlights, they were in much need of attention. They were quite oxidised and had some marks on the passenger light which really did make the car look a little less presentable than I wanted. I got a detailer to come out and work some magic with getting them cleaned. Sadly there is some oxidation on the inside of the headlight which can't be removed unless I pull them apart again but it really isn't all too bad now. The detailer arrived and inspected the headlights and told me of what he could and couldn't do. Told me all of the steps that he would perform to get them up to scratch. He would simply use 2 different grits of sand paper to remove the layer of oxidation from the outside, followed by a intense and softer buff with different pads to get them cleared again and lastly adding a protective coating to prolong the oxidation. The results were great, and Derek who runs his own detailing business was great to chat to and was very professional. Sadly I don't have too many photos of the before but they honestly looked like any other oxidised headlight. Derek during the sanding and buffing processes. After the 2 stage sanding was completed. The final product Later that evening I decided to take some shots. Car hadn't been washed until last weekend where it later rained anyway. I'm really loving the new look now, I seem to always look twice at it now forgetting that I was able to get the headlights on. The car exterior wise is right where I'd like it to be and probably won't change all too much in the future. The Sportivo also went through a service in the last couple of weeks with the brakes and fluids checked over along with rotating the tyres. I'm trying to rotate the tyres more often as the RE002's I had were never rotated and I had to change them a lot earlier than expected. Other than that, it has been running like a dream! I still have my to do list which now stands as.... - Brake Calipers to be painted - Install shifter cable bushings - Clean engine bay - Hydro dip interior trim pieces Stay tuned.

I may have to adapt this method for the future. Despite the lack of power, I'm quite happy with how it performs, especially now in corners where I can gain ground on my mates more powerful beasts

I guess I could take a note out of Bil's book but my bank account may not be so happy But hey, it could be wheel spinning some cheap tyres and not being able to put the very little power it has down already

Forgot to update this post. I did end up getting the PS4's after deciding between them and the RE003. Safe to say I'm beyond happy with how grippy they are compared to the RE002's that were originally came with my rims. No matter what conditions, the tyres maintain grip. I've had no issues in the wet with wheel spin or traction loss at all. I highly recommend them for anyone, and they are definitely well worth the price tag if you don't want to lose grip in any condition. I ended up changing tyre profile from 205/45 R16 to 205/50 R16 which definitely fills out the arch a little more giving the car an overall beefier look. Although the 45s allowed it to rev out a littler quicker, I haven't noticed any major downfalls of the size other than a lot more scrubbing when I hit a bump on the road or if I have people in the back. Thread can be closed.

Hey TOCA, I know this has been covered many times in the past on the forum but I thought it would be worth making a newer thread for those that may be interested in purchasing a V-Manage. The unit is becoming increasingly popular to use as most won't have the funds for stand alone units, or may not be able to source the unit itself due to production age. This is information I've learnt from a fellow long time Sportivo owner who has had over 3 years experience with using Greddy piggy back systems in Corolla Sportivos and various other cars also. Most of this information is in my own build thread but I thought to make this separate to make it a little easier to find. What to Expect Once the ECU is all wired in, tuned and running without any major hiccups, you can pretty much expect the following if setup correctly: - Snappier throttle response. - Less throttle input required to get up to speed. - Torque hole down low drastically reduced. - Revving quicker - Lower lift engagement (Even if lower engagement can't be completed, the benefit with standard engagement is still to be had) - Different intake sound (Not a benefit of sort but, the lower RPM induction noise is more pronounced and deeper and with lower lift a much deeper tone for the crossover) The Facts & Warnings - As the V-Manage is a generic unit which can be shared across multiple cars which use VVT, it may run differently on each car. Some cars such as mine as I'm told luckily are running fine but others experience difficulty running with the V-Manage and aren't able to fully benefit. - This unit is only able to modify VVT and Lift. - The E-Manage can also be used in conjunction with the V-Manage to increase the red line, ignition, fuel etc. This essentially gives all the benefits of having a standalone ECU but it retains the standard ECU. - Due to the lower lift engagement, a specific method is to be used to make sure it is working. Simply revving out slowly in first gear, engaging lift and revving to 7000 RPM then increase throttle more to make sure the car doesn't have a "jolt" (similar to boost cut but not as aggressive) from 7000 onwards. This is due to the fact the V-Manage is a piggyback system and the factory ECU needs time to learn. It will trigger the 7000 RPM limiter (usually when the car is cold for example) which the V-Manage seems to bypass causing the jolting as opposed to a rev limiter. - Jolting generally occurs during the first month or so after the unit has been installed and can occur when not driven long enough. The method above is the best to use to make sure the lower engagement is working correctly. - Not every car is able to run a lower lift engagement. Each car is different, some jolting for a month or so which is the best scenario as this will no longer occur at all or as frequent once the ECU learns. Other cars will actually engage lift slowly and begin jerking back and fourth without any power increases from what I have been advised meaning that the lower engagement can't be run as it may not perform normally after the ECU learns. - Only specific V-Manage units are able to lower lift. From what I'm told you need to open the unit and check a chip on the board, as lift drop units have a slightly larger chip. - You will also need a V-Manage Dual (best to look for), which is simply a small black box that is a solenoid. The dual unit allows the solenoid to trigger both oil pressure solenoids on the VVT and VVL. You are able to buy 2 separate solenoids to do this but having the dual unit is far simpler. - The V-Manage unit itself it quite small, similar size to the standard ECU (with the E-Manage unit being a little longer). It can be kept in the glovebox out of the way but the harness is long enough to move to the passenger side floor or possible even the center console if you wanted to use middle storage section. I'll add any new information to this to keep it up to date. Hope this helps anyone looking into purchasing a V-Manage.

Hey mate, I believe this is what you're after.

Alrighty another update. So after a bit of hiatus from some cosmetic modifications, within the last weekend something new, well kind of for me, was finally installed. Here's a hint... So after my mate Alec gave an idea of how to get my headlights off the car, I tried it and it worked! Big shout out to him again for giving me the idea. With the passenger light out, the drivers side was actually able to come out with ease thankfully. It took me 3 hours all up because I was essentially pulling the harness out of the headlight and putting it back through the new lights, made harder especially with the seemingly stuck plug. Sat like this most of the morning while I sat patiently pulling it apart. So now I finally have them in, they do need a really good restoration which I plan getting done professionally as soon as I find someone to do it. Now here's the new look. Looks a lot more aggressive. Although it was a pain to do, I'm glad I was finally able to get them installed. I gave them a quick clean up with some car wash and RainX polish which got rid of some of the yellowness of the lights. Here's the latest shot as of this evening. Haven't had a chance to wash her recently. And as of recently, the valve cover has begun to leak again so another trip to the workshop is in order. With the V-Manage issues, the jolting at low RPM has dramatically reduced in the last 2-3 weeks. It's since only happened twice in the past few weeks so seems to be the ECU learning still but a re-tune may be happening later this year. Other than that, I'll be keeping the updates coming.

What ECU are you planning on using? I have a mate down in Melbourne and can ask for you where he got his cams installed. Try joining the Melbourne Corolla Sportivo group on Facebook, good place to ask.

Time for another update. So in the last few weeks a few more things have been bought and/or installed. Got a correct size battery installed now and a new battery stay so a lot more secure than the previous battery which was a few sizes too big. The other things that are on the to do list now include Speed Source shifter cable bushings, painting the brake calipers and getting a new trim set hydro dipped. I'll be sure to add photos of the finished results for the calipers and trims. I'll also try to get some photos of the bushing install when I get around to doing it. Recently since coming back from overseas, I've noticed the valve cover seal seems to be leaking now although it was replaced last year which is a bit of pain. But other than that, the car has being running great. Haven't had too many issues with the tune recently, the jolting at low rpm seems to be a less common issue in the past week so fingers crossed it was just the ECU learning. Here are some of the latest photos from the last month or so. Size difference between a 2005 and 2017/18 Corolla. Really shows how much bigger smaller cars have gotten. Finally had a chance to give it a quick wash today. Will keep the updates coming.

Alrighty time for an update (pictures to come later) So for most of last month I was on an overseas trip and returned early this month. Not all too much has changed with the car since my last update. The changes that have happened, will be added in another post with some photos. On to the V-Manage, it is still experiencing the occasional jolt around 7000 RPM which should go away in the next couple of weeks as I keep driving. A new issue that began to occur was an occasional jolt around the 2000-2500 RPM area. Most the time it does happen all too much but upon returning from my trip, it seemed to occur every 30 minutes of driving. From discussions I've had, it may actually just be the tune itself down in the lower RPMs causing the issue. It was initially thought to be ground issue but due to how often it's happened that has being ruled out. Luckily it doesn't happen all too often. But other than that, the Sportivo has being running great as of recently. I also discovered that the recently changed valve cover seal appears to be leaking all the way around so I'll be organising the same workshop to look it over and re-do the seal. Another update to come with photos.

May have to keep your eye on eBay because that would be your best bet. They may appear on some social media sites and possibly other sales sites (Gumtree etc).

Alright time for another update. So yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet the man behind my intake modifications and who was able to do this... He was able to able to install the Greddy V-Manage and also tune it accordingly with my car. The installation itself was extremely quick and he was able to install it within about 40 minutes and made it look easy. A massive shout out to Ed who not only improved the intake but installed and tuned the ECU and came all the way up from Melbourne (absolute legend!) He then got his laptop and we went through some gears while he would make corrections to the map to make sure the car would run and perform at it's very best. We mostly performed 2nd, 3rd and 4th gear runs. All gears were monitored to make sure that there were no issues with the tune. Initially we performed the changes retaining the 6200 RPM lift engagement point and what a difference that made. The car became a lot more responsive and revved out so quickly I wasn't even ready to shift it yet the first time I did a 1st gear pull. When we pulled over I decided I wanted to lower the lift engagement point. Some additional wires were connected and tests performed to make sure the engagement could be changed. With the tests done successfully I took it for a drive and noticed even more of a difference than before. The power band is so much more usable than it has ever been before. For more information on VManages, view this thread: