Thinking of buying a caldina

[adam_ae111]

hi all. i am thinking of buying a caldina gtt. I havent comitted to one yet tho because at the moment i have 1996 sti wrx slightly modified that i have recently spent alot of money on but i am in need of a bigger more comfortable car and i would like a wagon, so i was wondering if someone here who has driven one or own one can tell me abit about them and how thy compare to the sti.

[flygt4]

it would be slower than ur sti. typically, an sti will do ~175 kw atw reasonably standard, a caldina gtt will do about 155-160kw atw.
they make really comfortable easy power, as they have high 9:1 compression and a well sized turbo.

they are very comfrtable tho, plenty of room and youll have no problems over long distances.

the manual versions have a really nice gearbox, derived from the last version of celica gt4, and decent lsd diffs.
the auto isnt bad either, and i havent heard of any failing.

the main issue ive heard of of the exhaust manifold cracking. the turbo and exhaust manifold are a single cast item, apparently toyota failed to cast an extra flange into the manifold, even tho there is a bolthole there for it, and they are known to warp and crack in the top left hand corner. toyota released the proper version of the manifold later on, and there are other options to fix it too. may pay to check if it has been replaced already before purchasing.

the other thing is they require a strict diet of high octane gas, and they dont take kindly to the boost being blindly upped above 14psi., mostly due to a combination of the high compression and slack factory ecu.

oh and there are two versions, they facelifted it in 99 and it got clear tail lights, white dials, nicer black seats, different alloys,and the two tone interior door cards became the same colour.

[gleem]

sorry to thread hijack but when do the exhaust mainifolds generaly crack? Where should i be looking to see if it has been replaced?

[flygt4]

i have seen a couple go in the top left hand corner where the missing bolt hole would be. if you can get your heat shield off it should be obvious. apparently its not a matter of if but when they crack/warp, but no idea how long the originals ones last sorry. i only know a little from playing with other peoples gtt's when they let me and from when i was considering buying one

[99gtt]

Mate you can run over 14 psi . As long as you use 98 octane ,i have had my car for 4years and never had a problem and frequantly attend the night speed dragwars.

[gleem]

yo 99gtt please reply to your emails or pm me about the exhaust cheers!