hideo

thanks for any other suggestions too

Background: 2005 Facelift Sportivo Perfect maintenance record 144,000km (yes, I drive a lot) STOCK as a ROCK Problems: Dealer has not found cause of squealing coming from the front end since my 110,000km service. Thankfully it was intermittent, and now much less regular. Just had 140,000km service and was told my brakes are fine, approx 30% left at the front and 70% left at the rear. Had an issue with pulling up a couple days ago, nearly ran into a round about and got cleaned up by a big F-350 truck. A friend offered to clean out the pads, assuming it was glazing or dust/debris problem... turns out I'm missing half of the shim kit on my drivers side and the outside pad on the passenger side is close to worn out, while the inside pad looks new... WTF!? Also, they've fitted Bendix pads, not Toyota genuine. The rears are Toyota, blue and stamped and appear to be an organic compound, while the fronts have metal filings all over the place and a DB1431 sticker on the pads. So what do I? Take the poll.

If done properly, crimping is electrically a MUCH better connection. It's also mechanically superior with most styles of crimp connector. But crimping is expensive, so soldering is much more common. On an RCA connector the solder on the tip gives most of the mechanical strength, but it's more convenient. In the end, as long as you don't have a cold solder joint, then you're unlikely to notice much difference at anything but radio frequency ranges, much higher than audio frequencies. So dont stress it. Just make sure you use good connectors and a hot iron.

I'm a dumb ***** who changed a headlight last week (the 7th in a 2yr old car! but that's a different story!) and left the box, spent globe and rear cap of the light cluster sitting on top of the suspension tower... then drove thru a carwash... then drove 30km, almost home before i realised. I had bad mist in mine, but luckily no pooling water. I'm certain I don't have any cracks in mine and I suppose you probably haven't either so you should be fine just parking it in the sun, take the back cover off and leave it there. It's taken me 3 days to get rid of 90% of it, and I'm not overly concerned about it cos I'm sure it'll be fine. I didn't do it on the cooler days, and I've been fortunate not to have much rain so it's pretty much cleared up in 3 sessions within a week of it happening. I spoke to the service dept at the local toyota dealer and he said Toyota recently released a notice that "most new headlights are made from polycarbonate and prone to water ingress"... basically getting themselves off the hook for similar situations. I was told not to worry cos there's little chance of damage, only cosmetics. Good luck

shiz0r april '05 stivo - comin up to 23,000km it's a car... so i drive it.

Coolant and some other fluids get changed at 24months, i suspect this is the extra $180-200 you're seeing. My '05 sportivo went in for the 50,000km last week and cost $230, just like all the other services... i think. There may have been a $340 one in there, or that might have been for my sister's '01 celica (with less kms on it than mine already has!)

may '05 stivo - 51,000Km

I'm 100% sure it needs the roof lining removed so you can get access to the nut, it was in my repair quote. I hope you can fix it, I had a rollerdoor lowered on my roof and this piece is $270 from memory. I'd prefer buy a rear lip with that money. Eitherway, try to protect the circuit board asap. It's there as an amplifier/filter for the radio and it's clearly the reason the part's so expensive. While you're fixing it I'd love some hi-res scan/photos of it. I've got my amateur radio licence and what exactly they've put inside makes me curious every now and then. As for fixing it, you may wanna check out the "Clear USB Drive" repair/hack at http://www.tcnj.edu/~jones37/usb.html This guy goes thru a quick how-to, using a 'clear casting resin'. You could take a mould and get a coloured resin, either repair what you've got or remake it and change its shape (add a fin-edge at the front or something), add some glitter :D or spray it. Otherwise, you can get one of those TV antennas you stick under the edge of your rooflining. The TV ones cover FM radio fine. Last one I saw was $27, but it's nothing more than a correctly measured piece of wire (see antenna link below) encased in a rigid plastic. This system uses 2 antennas for 'diversity' (auto chooses better signal, more $$$) http://www.qualitymobilevideo.com/bottomfo...rtvantenna.html GHETTO option: Antenna $3.30: http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=LT3002 Balun $3.65: http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=LT3022 Balun makes antenna characteristics closer to what the radio expects.

work i heard from one of the engineers at toyota is the V6 WILL be seen in the Sportivo by next March and "it's really beautiful". He also called it 'exquisite' and 'sophisticated'. Don't know if something called a 'Sportivo' should be described like that, but the V6 is supposed to be a monster, performance-wise.

MINIMUM 620km from about 48 litres... please don't hurt me. 7.7lt/100km. I always look for Optimax, and find the first fill of Optimax after a BP Ultimate tank always feels better than the BP fuel. I'm in the outer eastern suburbs of Victoria, so it's a 25km drive to get to traffic lights; 90-100km/h limits, but hilly. I do a LOT of recreational driving, with beach-side runs, Geelong, Phillip Island, Portsea frequently and have gone away to Apollo Bay and Torquay recently and pulled 570km with 1/4 tank left! Had my '05 Stivo since May and have 20,000km on the clock (less than 6mths), so u can see economy is important to me.

SA build quality is VERY POOR! The two left doors in my car rattle while listening to talkback radio (ie. not loud or 'bassy' music). A customer at my family's business is a Toyota testing engineer in Altona and comes home with great toys (eg: JDM 'Crown Royale' with a pre-production direct injection 230+kW v6). He asked with a smile on his face what I thought about the fit and finish of my Stivo. When I shared my disappointment he said it's a known problem and they "sent a QA guy over there", but there was so much work for him to get the quality levels up they had to send another representative from Australia to help with the workload. I honestly trust that all car manufacturers know what they're doing and they're giving us the best products they can (or close to it) cos if they weren't their competitors would be and they wouldn't be competitive. That said, I'm sure Toyota know the profile of the average Stivo owner and I think they recognise that 141kW coupled to a 6-speed is more important to most of us than having artisans sculpt our dash to award winning levels of refinement. When they stop the Stivo there'll be a hole in the market between the 'too small' Clio and the 'too expensive' Integra S for those of us who'll be looking for a practical "6speed screeeeaamer". I'm loathe to buy a 10year old turbo or anything that has a japanese manual, or the word 'grey market' associated with it. I guess I like warranty (a real one), low emissions, economy and the new car smell too much. ABS brakes are nice too (and saved my bacon last week).

I had the pre-update 2.0Lt '03 Rav4. This is what I would have loved to have done: http://rav4world.com/gallery/gallery2text/f244.html The '04 has the 2.4Lt and there's a Toyota/TRD supercharger for that engine. The bodykit show at the link above was a Japanese domestic market offering but it won't fit because of changes behind the front bar, but the handling/suspension ideas are the same.

I can certainly attest to this... my '05 'Stivo has a warped rotor after just the first 2000km! Less that one month DAMMIT! Anyway, what's worse is I'm very frugal with braking, I'll look back at my old service manual if anyone's interested, but the pads on my Lancer lasted almost twice the expected mileage. (Lots of long trips, no peak-hours and heaps of engine braking)

i got a silver sportivo and would love a set of buddyclub's. im wondering what size and how much you've been quoted

Anyone else?? Any others??

For stoooopidly big SPL, you gotta go for Alpine Type-X if you want "hoon cred" (cos it's a brand they know) For those in the know, you can't look past Treo. Their subs don't come with a warranty (well, not much of one). All the parts are user serviceable/replaceable and they're explicitly designed for competition. Tear a cone - Replace it. Fry a coil - Replace it. Crack a Cage (serious power) - Replace it Another thing, especially in cars the size of ours, maybe u should look at 'maxBass' by Waves. They're the leaders in 'psycho-accoustic bass'. Their electronics have been licenced by Sony for their Vaio notebooks and Bose for their iPod Stand to create good bass where it's traditionally been impossible to get. The circuitry tricks the ear into hearing the bass by creating the interference to other frequencies that a real sub would. When a 50hz tone is played (the 'primary'), harmonics are produced at multiples of that note (100, 150, 200 etc). By just injecting the harmonics into the mids and the tweeters, the ear hears the interval (the 50hz difference) and recognizes that it's the primary. It gets 'tricked' into hearing the missing 50hz thud because it assumes that it's going to be there. It can be used on your cabin speakers if u dont have a sub, on your sub to make it sound bigger, or on both for a huge boost. This is how im planning on getting big bass without losing bootspace. I was blown away by this stuff at the Melbourne Auto Salon www.treoonline.com www.wavescaraudio.com www.qualifit.com.au www.qmax.com.au

I understood that only the American Elise got the Toyota powerplant because Rover's "K" engine wouldn't pass emissions. I finally found something saying that they chose the engine change for all markets. As a side note, the same engine is tuned to a number of different spec's and used in the recent MG F, which is selling second hand for under $30k now and if you get the 'VVC' (variable valve) model you'll find the APS workshop here in Melbourne will fit you out with a quad exhaust, supercharged fire-breathing MoTec tuned kit, drive-in-drive-out. If anyone cares. ;)

Looking at drag clips of the celica and trolling the newcelica.org forum for performance info I've know that the US market has the celica GT (1zz) and the GTS (2zz). I've also found the US has the 'Matrix' and the 'Vibe' running the 2zz-ge. As do our domestic celicas and my S'tivo. I'm wondering if anybody else knows of any other Toyotas (or other marques) that run the 2zz-ge anywhere else in the world. Surely there's knowledge to be gained from Europe, and who can tell me how the Asian 'Altis' fits in with the Corolla? The list I have so far is: Australia -Corolla Sportivo -Celica (all) USA -Matrix XRS -Celica GTS -Corolla XRS -Pontiac Vibe GT UK -Corolla T-Sport -Lotus Elise ('05 on) -Lotus Exige ('05 on) S.Africa -RunX Rsi (Corolla Sportivo by another name) -Toyota Will Vs I'm compiling this list to make searching for info applicable to our Stivos more comprehensive.

Simply, the ECU reads the RPM on one pin from the engine loom and sends a 'logic-high' on another pin back to the engine for the entire time the engine is in the VTEC rpm range. A VTEC controller sits in between and turns on VTEC at the programmed point. I've recently looked into this myself and don't understand how the Toyota system could be any more difficult. I haven't read anything one way or other. There's been a lot of discussion of this on forums in the US and one device was pointed to and did both VTEC & VVTi (obviously only one at a time) but it looked VERY VERY CHEAP. I think the manufacturers could only HOPE that it was constructed from coconut husks in Jamaica by doped out Rastas, it looked that shoddy. If I can find the post I'll edit this one and link is here.

I was very happy with the paint protection when I bought my MR Lancer in 2000, after every wash with the stuff they supplied the car came up beautifully and felt 'glassy' to the touch. Then I got side-swiped, and the stuff was re-applied, I got rear-ended and then I hit a kangaroo and then I got 'T-boned' and somewhere in the middle of all that I didn't get it reapplied but began using Meguires polishes and giving myself a good work out once a month. I was more impressed with the Meguires waxes and polishes than I ever was with the paint protection. I didn't know that it could get better until it was. Then I got rear-ended by a 4WD with a trailer of bricks. I was stationary, he was doing about 60km/h. My Lancer became a Mirage and was written off. I bought a Black 3Dr RAV4 and after 9months I had pin-holes in the paint all over the bonnet, roof and top edges of the front guards. All this even though I DID buy the paint protection... not happy. My new Stivo has no paint protection, just a carport it sleeps in and an owner that loves it. Remember that polishing does take of a thin layer of paint - just check the pads and cloths once you're done. This is a bigger problem than it used to be cause PPG (king of paint manufacturers) is prescribing 70nm thickness for their paints... yes, that's VERY thin. You SHOULDN'T polish your car EVERY time you wash it, just when it begins looking dull. PS: when u think it's looking dull, leave it 2 more weeks :) (everyone gets overzealous)

Since getting my Sportivo I've become VERY aware of other Corollas on the road (i know this is normal). I see them everywhere, most just 'mum taxis' but quite a few clean and well maintained cars driven by young'uns who I think would be interested in the car scene in general and perhaps a few intelligent and valuable additions to these forums. I read in a thread a little while ago that some of you have printed up promo flyers that you leave on the windows of cars or give to the owners if you catch up with them. I'm in Melbourne, so I'd be particularly interested in getting some copies of the ones created by Victorian members and a look at the ones made by members in other states. If you've got a flyer in a computer format, or a scan of one, could u upload it to you gallery and drop a link in this thread, or PM it to me as I'd like to have a few handy in my car.

I like the teardrop but if you wanna get rid of it maybe you wanna head to a body shop and have them fill it in. they'll have to respray the thing ofcourse, so maybe a little extra customisation on the rest of the bar can be done at the same time. I'd chop the grill out and custom up a TRD style mouth like the one that's available for the pre-'05 models

If anyone's read the turbocharger vs supercharger thread you may have read my last post where I mention: To that end, I'm in the planning stage now and I plan to tell you all about it and show you the build and the results. Regardless of whether I do go thru with it I'll get it working 'on the workbench' and post a detailed description of the process and the plan. What I need first is any information you guys (and gals) think is relevant. What features you'd like to see in something like this, and any considerations or problems I may encounter. Primarily I'm interested from hearing from anyone who's modified their dash and console or just explored what's behind the dash and found spaces where you've put remote units for high end head-units or similar. I'd like to keep my glovebox untouched so I'll look at hiding all the parts in behind the console/dash. I am thinking of losing the ashtray and the compartment above it so if anyone's removed these I'd like to know what's involved. I'll either fibreglass a screen into there (possibly tough to see and use) or onto the dash above the headunit. Also, I'd like to put a small antenna for Wi-Fi on the car, I'm looking for a 'glass mount' like mobile phones have but if there's a roof rack for the hatches I might be able to route cable thru a hole near where a roof rack would mount and this would allow me to use a better antenna (with higher gain). If anyone can help with suggestions for this I'd appreciate it. Or if anyone's had a good look under the roof lining you may have some input that could help. Also, can anyone tell me if the towing kit includes an upgraded alternator or additional electrical capacity of any sort? I'd like to ensure minimal impact as possible and wiring peripherals into the fusebox or existing loom is preferential. Again, all questions and suggestions are welcome, VERY welcome. I look forward to hearing from you. Wish me luck. PS. I'll compile all my ideas and post the project plan some time in the coming days. I dream of an Autosalon display with a big plasma mirroring the incar screen and allowing music playlist control to passers-by thru their mobile phones with bluetooth. So who in Melbourne's interested in entering as a group next year?

I've spoken to APS and AVO (both in eastern Melbourne) about Turbo work. Neither have force-fed a Corolla but both have had serious enquiries from Celica owners and without having the chance to measure up the Corolla engine bay they're confident they can find 60% more power without touching internals or opening the head. I've asked a 4x4 specialist who regularly supercharges Toyotas and when asked if he can match the 60% figure he replied: "is that all you want?" and laughed... quite cocky from a guy who has no experience with 'buzz-boxes'. They all pointed out that there are kits out there but custom jobs ($$$) are better suited when taking the Australian climate, fuel and driving style into account. Another thing they were sure about was I shouldn't expect much change from $10k and tyre & braking upgrades and regular visits in the first few months to iron out 'minor issues' is a certainty. Aside from that, they were very diplomatic about the 'how much boost?' question. Pretty much saying they've got no idea but they'll find the engine's limits and back off a bit. 5-7psi seems realistic from their guesstimates. I'd love to see some really tough Corollas on our streets, but mine's not going to be one of them, I'm going "multimedia cruiser" style with mine. I'm off to buy an Apple Mac Mini in the morning to put into my 'Rolla with the system from my old car and a touch-screen. I'm planning wireless, gps, all audio&video formats, webserver, webcams... the lot. Wish me luck. PM me if you've got ideas or anything else to contribute.

Turbos are used in racing because they're 'PEAKY'. They deliver pressure increases 'proportional to the exhaust gas volume'. Higher revs, more exhaust, more boost. Race drivers keep their engine in the "powerband" (the rev range from peak torque to redline) as this is where it performs best. Turbo size and fin design are made for optimum performance at certain rev ranges, as are intake, exhaust, fuel and ignition systems. A turbo gets its energy from the exhaust gasses leaving the engine that are otherwise 'wasted', so knowing the powerband and the exhaust volume at those revs the turbo is designed to give maximum responsiveness and boost pressure where the engine will spend most of its time. In the real worldthe main considerations are driveability and fuel economy. Actually, superchargers provide both constant power AND bottom end instant power. Turbos usually produce more high rev power increases than most superchargers do. This is because even where the boost pressure is the same (super vs. turbo) a supercharger creates drag on the engine as it gets its power from the driveshaft, reducing the power delivered to the wheels. There are 3 styles of supercharger, only one of them produces constant boost across the rev range. The other two types increase boost pressure with higher revs, as turbos do with more exhaust volume (which happens at higher revs). In some situations superchargers increase the torque of engines so dramatically that maintaining traction during take-off from standstill can be very difficult. Some factory supercharged cars have ZERO boost in 1st gear under 3500rpm, thus maintaining traction, saving tyres and driveability and reducing risk of serious damage to driveshafts and bearings (and warranty). Others (like some turbo cars) have a bleed valve that only allows about half the boost pressure to build in 1st gear so that even when at full revs the car doesn't accellerate dangerously or behave unpredictably.