6G Celicas Forums

I know a few members have a Beams in their 6th Gens. I'm thinking about swapping my stock 5SFE with either a Beams or a 3SGTE but I want to hear about member's experiences with either. What are the pros and cons of both and why pick one over the other. I know the 3SGTE is amazing and powerful so why did some of you decide to got with the Beams?

Thanks everybody!

Well from my experience i can most definitely tell you that aside from my issues im having with my beams i sure as hell enjoy it.
upside to having a beams. well for starters man its a BEAMS its a strong and reliable engine great gas saver too its an engine that just keeps the fun going when you floor it i almost feel like thats how the celicas here in the U.S. shouldve made them but like always the japs always get the good stuff.
As far as the bad well for one get ready to have a ton of money because finding parts are sometimes rare and pricey luckily there's a few inter-changeable parts (from what i have learned) if you live in the U.S. and depending on what state you live well Smog this engine is illegal so as long you are good at keeping low profile then you need not worry thankfully there are loop holes
but with all that said i enjoy my beams aside from the issues im having with it its a love hate sort of thing at the moment (hate due to its start up issue but love once it runs normal and im able to just sit back and drive

Get a 3S-GTE.

If you search the site, you'll find many posts from BEAMS owners saying "it's fun, but I want more." The BEAMS feels no different from a 5S until about 4,500 rpm, then it really comes to life. It screams to redline and still begs for more when it hits the rev limiter. And that's great and all, but unless you live on a track, you can't possibly keep a BEAMS in its happy rev range. You'll spend 97% of your driving time well below where the BEAMS makes decent power. That's where the 3S-GTE comes in. It makes 50 hp more than the BEAMS as soon as you drop it in, and you can easily get more power out of it with a few bolt-on's. It makes power much sooner than the BEAMS so you don't have to wait for it to rev up.

I chose a BEAMS over a 3S-GTE because I wasn't familiar with a turbocharged engine and I didn't want to get in over my head. I've daily driven mine for over 2 years and I've had a lot of fun, but I'm ready to move on. The BEAMS has been great, very reliable, 34 highway mpg, but I just can't use most of the power often enough. Just my two cents.

Beams is prolly the faster of the two, harder to wire and troubleshoot.

3sgte is heavy but has a lot of support and is a fan favorite because its boosted.

But if I did it, I'd go 1mz or watch what may come for the 5sfe in the near future.
ITb's anyone?

Completely incorrect. The BEAMS is as easy as a swap gets, easier to wire than a 3S-GTE, and at 197 hp (BEAMS) vs 250 hp for a 3S-GTE, the BEAMS isn't going to win any races. Diagnosing the BEAMS is as easy as any OBDI car, done with a simple paperclip.

If you want a daily commuter car that gets you to your job which is 60 miles away, and yet still allows you to have a good bit of fun...do the beams swap.
If you want a monster that can give EVOs and STI's a run for their money.... do the 3sgte swap.

Its as simple as that.

U forgot civics. Beating civics.

Op. what do you think you want. You will get so many replies youll be confused. So what a re your goals

Nice, I have a good idea now. I want my st204 to be a beast but I also wanted to see what the Beams had to offer. I know what swap I want to do now, the 3S-GTE. I know there is a lot of threads on here that will fill me in on how to do the swap.

What is the best transmission for my st204 with the engine swap? I heard the standard transmission on st204 will not be able to handle the power of the 3S-GTE. Also, has anybody done an AWD conversion? Is the AWD conversion worth the money? I'm not particularly worried about the money but I also don't want to spend over the top. I love my Celica but I just need it to run like a beast but with the best bang for my buck.

For now, I'm going to work on getting the 3S-GTE and getting some mods for the exterior. Btw, I live in Las Vegas, Nevada. I don't hear a lot about Celicas. It would be cool to have a meetup in Vegas.

you'll be able to tie with near stock 2002-2004 rsx type s, Stock 5th gen Golf GTI, and stock RX-8. from a 15 roll you'll be able to keep up with s2k ap1 till about 80mph

This post has been edited by BonzaiCelica: Mar 13, 2014 - 5:29 PM

I am in Vegas. Let's meet for a beer. We can both do our 3S-GTE swaps together

ITBs are coming soon for the 5sfe. It takes serious money to build a 5sfe.

Could I get a "like" button for this?

Lol. Or ...

All opinions aside, get something reliable and easy to work with

3rd gen 3sgte. If u want to get Into costs if you buy a full clip you'll be able to sell many of the parts you don't need as I did with my swap which brought the cost down 50% .V6 is garbage its not fast at all and beams isn't worth the trouble for all the work and money. 3rd gen 3sgte hands down best bang for your buck. Reliability faster than hell and you don't have to mod anything to get performance. All I have in mine is a boost controller and 3 inch down pipe and 300 wheel hp.

First thing first you need to decide with which kind of power you want. either NA or FI. I personally chose NA 5sfe because like above, less.moving parts means less hassle.

Just have to chime in because I think opinions are like ***holes and you will never find the answer you're looking for. I would first ask how are the emissions test/state inspections in your area? Reason being is if you put any engine in your car that is a non-US/non-EGR model version you will fail emissions and like so many cars it will be for sale once you need to inspect it again. So go and do what you want drop a 4th gen 3SGTE in best bang for your buck motor that will bolt up to a 6th gen GT and drive away into the sunset or at least until you fail inspection at which time you can list it on craigslist for a huge loss . Just my .02 GL and do what you want, the only opinion that matters is yours

This post has been edited by Lamont: May 31, 2014 - 3:03 PM

Thread cleaned. This is not another 3S vs V6 debate.

^You missed a few posts.

And from the looks of if he already decided to do th 3sgte on his second post on this thread, and last post on this site, on march 13. And he never came back to post. And yet we kept swinging here, lol.

And the man at the back said, "Everyone attack!" and it turned into a ballroom blitz!