Stock.
We'll start from the 5th generation and work our way up to the 7th. Yes, there is seven generations of Celicas but correct me if I'm wrong - the older ones are not quick at all. And they're very old. Not only that but the technology and everything has been updated. I think the car hit a sweet spot in gens 5 and 6. While the NA motor was a little underpowered, the car made up for it because Toyota made swapping motors easy. The engine was designed to produce more low-end torque so that, too, really helps the low horsepower figures.
If you've learned anything from this website it's probably that low stock horsepower doesn't necessarily mean the car is slow. Think about it; there's Cadillacs from the 1970s with about 400 bhp but they are slow as molasses.
Not stock.
I considered buying this car some years ago, getting a turbo Saab instead that I really loved. However I wonder how different my likes would be in terms of the type of cars I like to drive, the engine, etc.
So let's get to it boys. There is two or three models specifically that you need to look for if you want a quick Celica. The turbocharged GT4, somewhat hard to find, came with the 3S-GTE motor that produced 221 #hrspwrs (shout-out Donut Media) and 224 lb-ft of torque. Remember also that this engine was designed for low end torque so taking off, you will beat a lot of cars.
The Celica doesn't have very much high-end power as you might have guessed but this is a car you throw around corners quick with no worries. It's not built to race on tracks with long stretches of straight road. What they're good at it is autocross and rally or rallycross. Matter of fact, the Celica did very well in Group A rally when it participated. It probably had the least horsepower of the competing cars yet was able to snag trophy after trophy.
If you go with NA, look for a GT or GT-S. Those have the 2.2l 5S-FE that makes 135 bhp and similar torque. The All-Trac version had all-wheel-drive.
If you're like me shopping for a quick car, you might see those figures (135 bhp) and say no way! But wait a minute. I've been trying to figure this out myself. WHY is this car so legendary when it weighs about 2,600 lbs?
This is why. It's fun. Very fun. It's fun to get in a V8 beast and haul you-know-what down the street but it's also fun to throw around a small car.
To be honest with you, if I just couldn't find a GT-4, I would get a GT in the meantime, learn to work on it and drive it, and when that GT-4 popped up, I would go get it. Then you already know a lot about the car. It's kind of what happened to me with my first and second LS400.
Let me throw out some other suggestions to get that NA going a little bit faster. Strip the thing! I know I said this in the Civic article but IF you just want a quick sports car to take to races, it's always the way to go.
If you get one for $500, you will sell the seats, AC parts, and whatever else if you're smart. You just got a free car.
Again, this applies to the newer generations too but consider this; an MR2 motor practically bolts on to the car because they made the wiring and everything so similar. A swap is as easy as a swap gets with this car and a motor. And if you can get 180-200 bhp NA in this car, it will be more than enough to have fun with.
Stock.
Let's continue with the 6th generation which was in production from 1993-99. This is my favorite generation although the next one is the only gen that came with a powerful NA motor but we'll talk about that later (remember I mentioned an engine swap?).
People say this model looks Supra-esque. I guess I see a slight resemblance? Anyway, somehow I really like the headlights. Usually two round ones on each side look like crap to me (just an opinion) but these cars look good. Better than the last generation, again, in my humble opinion.
Not stock.
This time the Celica got a facelift and a different engine which produced a whopping 10hp more in NA form. What is the deal here?
You see, I'm not a Celica guy although I like them but can somebody enlighten me with one question? Is it really easy to get more horsepower out of this NA engine? Is it de-tuned from the factory? Because I know the turbo All-Trac wasn't sold in the US in 1994 and possibly not at all. That's the info I'm seeing. That one was AWD and made a NICE 239 bhp.
I can see why they ended up cancelling this car... Because they made some bad decisions. Still, the car is quick, but Toyota literally didn't want to give the US the fast one.
It certainly had the looks. It handles and performs really well. And despite the low horsepower ratings in the NA cars, I still recommend getting one. They're reliable. Actually, that lower horsepower probably helps them survive. I spoke to someone who got his 6th gen NA up to just a little over 400k miles before the transmission blew and he had been abusing this car the entire time. See, THAT is a good reason to buy this car to mess around in.
As an economy car, it's great. Really. It's reliable and super easy to work on. I've been running this website for a long time now and I've wrote articles on cars I want but if I could, I would get a Celica right now.
Mainly stock.
The last one Toyota made came out in 1999 and lasted until 2006. My friend had one around that time and it was a really nice car to go to the beach in. I never drove it but if you're looking for a car to use mainly for daily driving that has decent pick-up, will fit your groceries, and that you can toss around, this is a very good choice.
For the first time, a naturally aspirated Celica made north of 140 bhp. The car came with a 1.8l inline-4 (all of the Celicas in this article have inline 4 cylinder engines) motor that produced a cool 192 bhp. I would probably be dropping this motor into a 6th gen if it was up to me.
I'm also a little bit confused. Why did it take so long for Toyota to put a decently-powerful NA motor in these Celicas? Personally, I think it's because if the 5th and 6th gen were NA cars making 180 bhp or 280 bhp with a turbo, well, even though they're front wheel drive they would have directly competed with the Supra. They cost a lot less so the idea of these older motors being de-tuned seems to make more sense if you look at it this way.
When Toyota was releasing the 7th gen, they probably knew that not only were they not going to be making Supras (at least for a long time) anymore, they also knew they could squeeze a lot more horsepower out of a different motor if they changed their minds anyway (especially with the huge strides in technology). Notice how the last Celica has a 1.8l motor, 0.2l less displacement than the previous Celicas, and makes way more power. Meaning they could've literally made another 2.2l motor with a lot more power for the Supra if they wanted to anyway.
When I started writing this article, I knew Celicas were good but at this point I'm convinced it's one of the better investments in a cheap car out there. I finally realized what makes the car great. Think about this; most car enthusiasts daily drive their cars and take it out for some fun every once in a while. Well, it's like this car was built with that in mind.
It's a good economy car, looks good, drives good, and is easy to work on. This is something that's just known, kind of like people know BMW E30s are just easy to work on. They're simple mechanically and it saves so many headaches.
1991 GT-4 motor.
If you're using this car purely for daily driving, this is one of those cars that makes it to 400k miles if maintained. That's no small feat considering there's only a handful of cars that I can think of that will do that without much problems.
2002 Celica 1.8l motor.
If you have to settle for a slow daily driver, don't settle. Get a 6th gen turbo Celica for $800 and have fun my dear readers! I hope this opened your eyes because it did mine. As I mentioned before, I always knew it was a good car but I didn't know why.
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