st205 openions/feedback owners/ ex-owners

[B1NZ]

Get a Perm!

[The Skum]

GT-Fours are not the fastest in a straight line, nor are they the fastest around corners.
They aren't the best around town, nor are they the best long distance cruiser.
They don't have the best fuel economy, nor are they the easiest to modify.

The Toyota Celica GT-Four (ST205) is a very compromised car.

The are however pretty fast in a straight line, they also are pretty nimble around corners.
They are nice to drive around town (except you can't use 4th gear below 60kph!) and very acceptable as a long distance cruiser.
The engine is fine and i can bare the cost of upgrades and fuel.

What I can tell you is i'm really happy with those compromises.

I like pushing it through the twisties at about 80% of its/my ability.
The car is compliant enough that i could drive like that all day without becoming fatigued.
I like not having to 'ring' it out like some other cars to get this enjoyable experience.
I'm not the best driver, yet on unfamiliar roads i still seldomly find myself in the wrong gear or misfooting corners.
I appreciate the massive brakes!

I like that it can go from being a pretty good day-to-day car to being a sunday fun car.

The GT-Four can lay the claim to be extremely well screwed together. (Their are always exceptions)
It has history, rarity and notoriety.

My views are completely subjective.
To me the GT-Four holds a niche more comparable to a BMW 330i or a Nissan Skyline V35 than other rally/track cars.

The car does have flaws though and needs the following...

50-75 more hp (GT28RS = 310hp sounds about perfect, doesn't need/can't use any more hp)
A more substantial rear sway bar
TRD springs and quality bumpstops (Maybe)

[Prymal]

Agreed - It does the job - needs a few tweaks here and there to " liven up the beast "

It was buit to win WRC events first- so its a AWD traction tank , solid for the most part - designed to be rolled, smacked about , and jumped , pushed back on its wheels , then drive away ( didier AND juha did this - theres footage of it on youtube. )

Id love 4 doors but i feel very secure in the 205 .. Cars bounce off me - when they have hit me - and come off second best whereas mine drives on , goes to the next service stop and gets massaged back straight

ive been hit at around 40 KMh by 2 cars ( rear ended by a moron not watching I was at the recieving end ) ) one was a honda , one as a mitsubishi .. My car with its monster brakes pulled all 3 cars up before they pushed me into the next car in the chain. THANK GOD for monster stoppers - god bless you toyota

Guess which car kept going onto the destination with nothing but a mangled plastic rear bumper bar - and which two cars remained at the side of the road spewing coolant , and waitng for a tow truck.

Built toyota tough .. Thats not just for Hiluxes .......

[Lith]

The are however pretty fast in a straight line, they also are pretty nimble around corners.
They are nice to drive around town (except you can't use 4th gear below 60kph!) and very acceptable as a long distance cruiser.
The engine is fine and i can bare the cost of upgrades and fuel.

What I can tell you is i'm really happy with those compromises.

I like pushing it through the twisties at about 80% of its/my ability.
The car is compliant enough that i could drive like that all day without becoming fatigued.
I like not having to 'ring' it out like some other cars to get this enjoyable experience.
I'm not the best driver, yet on unfamiliar roads i still seldomly find myself in the wrong gear or misfooting corners.
I appreciate the massive brakes!

I like that it can go from being a pretty good day-to-day car to being a sunday fun car.

Nice post, that pretty much surmises my impression of them.

[sergei]

Guess which car kept going onto the destination with nothing but a mangled plastic rear bumper bar - and which two cars remained at the side of the road spewing coolant , and waitng for a tow truck.

Built toyota tough .. Thats not just for Hiluxes .......

you will find a massive piece of steel under rear bumper that protects fuel tank. Not like usual bumper insides.

[Very nice description that fits the car]

+1.

Also out of all GT4 the ST205 stands out on all aspects.
ST165/ST185 are dogs from factory, more so ST185 being underpowered, heavy and likes to understeer.

[dnalunchie]

hmmm im thinking more and more that the gt4 may be the car for me, Im a little tired of the hard edgedness of reving out the honda to 9k. Wouldnt mind the accessability of easy power via boost

[DeeCee]

why don't you test drive one and see how it drives

[iOnic]

why don't you test drive one and see how it drives

best advice here. you won't know which one you could live with on a daily basis till you've driven both

[DeeCee]

wel I didn't want to wade in on the debate really. As others have said, its apples and oranges and its hard to compare cars just by talking about it online.

Of course, understanding the vehicles is important for future reference, but overall, I would imagine that a large proportion of ST205 and ITR owners are happy with their vehicles and it comes out here in the emotion that has been carried through the discussion thus far

[dnalunchie]

why don't you test drive one and see how it drives

best advice here. you won't know which one you could live with on a daily basis till you've driven both

agreed I shall go and drive em, untill then consider the type R on notice

[diss7]

I read the first few posts and have just skipped to the end, so shame on me if I post what someone else has said.

Stock ST205 will do high 13's. I had one about 4? years ago and bone stock, over and over and Ruapuna I couldn't get any more than a 13.6.
Thats stock weight, full interior Minus spare, stock boost.

With exhaust, new downpipe, 17 psi and higher flow filter I got it down to 13.2. With this extra power the stock clutch wouldn't take the launching, so had to upgrade.

I have a shoe box full of time slips and probably a video or two if I need to post these up.

If you can't do a 13 second 1/4 mile in a st205, its not the car, it you.

[cat007]

I read the first few posts and have just skipped to the end, so shame on me if I post what someone else has said.

Stock ST205 will do high 13's. I had one about 4? years ago and bone stock, over and over and Ruapuna I couldn't get any more than a 13.6.
Thats stock weight, full interior Minus spare, stock boost.

With exhaust, new downpipe, 17 psi and higher flow filter I got it down to 13.2. With this extra power the stock clutch wouldn't take the launching, so had to upgrade.

I have a shoe box full of time slips and probably a video or two if I need to post these up.

If you can't do a 13 second 1/4 mile in a st205, its not the car, it you.

Stock air box? Stock exhaust? As in, showroom model?

[sergei]

I read the first few posts and have just skipped to the end, so shame on me if I post what someone else has said.

Stock ST205 will do high 13's. I had one about 4? years ago and bone stock, over and over and Ruapuna I couldn't get any more than a 13.6.
Thats stock weight, full interior Minus spare, stock boost.

With exhaust, new downpipe, 17 psi and higher flow filter I got it down to 13.2. With this extra power the stock clutch wouldn't take the launching, so had to upgrade.

I have a shoe box full of time slips and probably a video or two if I need to post these up.

If you can't do a 13 second 1/4 mile in a st205, its not the car, it you.

Stock air box? Stock exhaust? As in, showroom model?

God damn it, how many times I have to tell that exhaust and air filter do nothing on them. Stock units are well designed.

[iOnic]

God damn it, how many times I have to tell that exhaust and air filter do nothing on them. Stock units are well designed.

Exhaust upgrades do nothing on them? Are they some sort of previously unknown magical turbo cars that don't react to having less backpressure on the turbine?

I can understand that the air filter will do very little (if anything) But that's typical of most turbocharged cars.....turbos compensate for restrictive intakes in a way that n/a's can't......however I refuse to believe that there are no gains to be had in improving the exhaust system on an st205 (or most other turbocharged vehicles for that matter) I'm sure the stock system is well designed but bear in mind it wasn't specifically designed with optimal performance in mind

[Mr Revhead]

maybe its that the stock system is very hard to improve on for an otherwise stock engine? as is the case for several other toyotas....

wouldnt be the first time that spending hundreds, if not thousands on an exhasut has yeilded little to nothing

[sergei]

The only "improvement" that you will get from 3" no restriction, no cat, on the the stock turbo is over-boosting (uncontrolled, beyond 2 bars).
Of course if you just put fart cannon from back of the cat, this will lead to minor boost fluctuations and because you will end up running higher boost spikes you might notice extra performance (until you will blow a ringland). If you put fart cannon in rear section of exhaust, it will lead to no improvements.
Stock air box is very good. Better than poddie in the engine bay.

I have dragged my stock ST205 vs my mates ST205 with exhaust and poddie, the performance was the same, he drove harder his.

[iOnic]

The only "improvement" that you will get from 3" no restriction, no cat, on the the stock turbo is over-boosting (uncontrolled, beyond 2 bars)

Have you actually seen that happen or are you just talking out of your arse? This is a ct20b we're talking about......not a ct9....yes reducing the backpressure will gain you some boost - but not twice the stock amount (in fact the only exhaust I've made for an st205 gained 2psi...) Do you have any idea how many st205's/sw20's run 3" exhausts? I sincerely hope the car's owners know that their engines are now inhaling close to 30psi of boost

[sergei]

The only "improvement" that you will get from 3" no restriction, no cat, on the the stock turbo is over-boosting (uncontrolled, beyond 2 bars)

Have you actually seen that happen or are you just talking out of your ar*e? This is a ct20b we're talking about......not a ct9....yes reducing the backpressure will gain you some boost - but not twice the stock amount (in fact the only exhaust I've made for an st205 gained 2psi...) Do you have any idea how many st205's/sw20's run 3" exhausts? I sincerely hope the car's owners know that their engines are now inhaling close to 30psi of boost

BHAHAHAA
search for my overboost thread that.
Yes I have seen CT20b going beyond 2 bars with 3inch exhaust and down pipe and stock wastegate.
Reducing back pressure should theoretically reduce the boost as it is reducing the restriction. In this case it does opposite as the path via turbine is a lot easier than via restrictive wastegate ports.

[iOnic]

Reducing back pressure should theoretically reduce the boost as it is reducing the restriction.

nuff said

[sergei]

Here for you information:
http://forums.toyspeed.org.nz/viewtopic.php?t=50929