OT all trac celicas

[Andre]

what do you guys think about these?they wiegh only like 2400 or so and have a 2.0 litre turbo engine with 200hp. Anyone ever own one?like dont like? throw all the opinions out, good bad doesn't matter....mechanical flaws, common problems, whatever.

thanks

[fty]

I think ribs has one...

[Blackfoot]

ribs is the all-trac authority.

what little i do know is the early ones had 180 or so hp, the later ones had the same setup as the mr2 turbo, 200 hp. you are waaaay off the weight i think. awd usually adds 300+ lbs to the weight of a car, it's not lighter as you thought. i would guess you're looking at about 3200 lbs.

if my old mr2 turbo is any indicator, the car is well-built and pretty reliable. i don't care for the styling on either 1st gen or 2nd gen celica, though.

[ribs]

Oh...all-tracs...Yeah...I got one. I'll tell you a little bit about it (well..mine, a 1990 my). 200 HP/200ft-lb tq, 3200 lbs, very very nice AWD system (torsen rear diff, viscous coupling center), 4 corner coil-overs (non adjustable, but there are perch kits), hood scoop, 2.0L 16V I4 turbo with 8-9 psi max stock boost pressure (mr-2 turbo motor...3S-GTE), carlos sainz won the WRC in 1991 and 1992 (I think) with a similar car (it had probably 150 more HP, completely gutted and gaged, hard cut sequential transmission, and all the other WRC goodies, but apparently stock block and pistons, big ass turbo, water to air IC, water injection, etc).

What I like about it: interior is classy and quality, it comes with a very nice sound system (8" woofers in the doors! and 4 other mid ranges and 4 tweaters, a couple hundred watts), not overly gageterized (i.e. 3KGTVR4), the wet handling is awesome, dry handling is quite good (its a little too softly sprung for my tastes), AWD kicks ass, its a toyota so it will probably last a long long time, the 3S-GTE motor is the same exact block Toyota uses in the Japanese GT championship supra, only it makes over 700 HP (funny they ditched the I6 for an I4, but it is true). The lack of a BOV in the car makes a loud rushing noise between gearshifts as the pressurized air escapes through the air-filter, so it still sounds like a BOV. The seats are awesome...full sport seats, nice leather, adjustable lumbar, etc.

What I don't like about it: the car is heavy...it isn't as nimble as my 951, all though still quite tossible, and 200 HP is kind of anemic for a 3200 pound car...with a few mods, I am sure I would be happier, but no $$$, and I am trying to sell it anyways. The motor sounds like a vaccuum cleaner, not like a sportscar (I much prefer the way honda motors sound to this motor if that is saying anything). It still drives like a FWD car 75% of the time when you are pushing it...to drift it (I have autocrossed this car 1 and a half times, and the second time I did, I was able to get it much tighter around the cones with a bit of drifting) you need to induce throttle lift oversteer and then punch it to throttle induced oversteer, so it is a bit more complicated than just mashing the pedal when you feel the momentum for a drift coming up. It has very inadequate brakes. It eats wheel bearings alive. It will also have standard toyota problems (yes, toyotas are known for a few problems, like sub-standard cooling systems, especially on celicas, crappy brakes, A/C failure, among other things). Finally, it doesn't feel like the driver and car are connected the way my porsche (and my old rx-7) does.

That said, if I didn't go through such a crappy buying experience (it was a nightmare...read about it and see pictures here: http://hotspoons.tripod.com/cars.htm and scroll 1/3 the way down the page) I probably would like the car a lot more, but I just have no love for it. Wanna buy it?