I finally went for a ride in a real st205, Pics inside Options

[lagos]

Having owned a 3sgte powered celica for close to 5 yrs now, I can tell you that the two cars are VERY different in terms of how they feel. The real gt-four has a lot more weight. Not exactly in a bad sense, but more like a tank, where it feels very firmly planted. You really do feel more weight in the rear of the car.

The car drove very smoothly, and was in mint condition.
The interior especially was as close to brand new as I've ever seen in a celica.
We really didn't get to open it up because of the streets we were on, but on the short run that we did, you could really tell the grip of awd in 1st gear. I didn't feel like it was hugely faster then my car over all, but it would definitely take me off the line.

The car was imported and bought by a shop not to far from me, and sold to a friend of theirs. He takes good care of it, but is not a die hard celica guy like the rest of us. Please don't ask for details on how it was imported or legalized. Just know that with enough money, anything is possible.

Here are a few pics.
The hand prints on the hood are from me caressing the car.



























This post has been edited by lagos: Feb 18, 2009 - 12:15 AM

[Cuts_the_Pilot]

ahh the genuine article, nice...bet you'll remember that moment forever.

they do feel really firmly planted on the road, steering is weighted more too, and of course the superstrut suspension gives such good turn in and handling.

not bad wheels.

needs to be lower.

[Driveby]

No ABS, no sunroof and the steering wheel is on the correct side! Glad you enjoyed a ride in the real thing mate.
Get him to up the boost to 1.1 bar and find some nice open road, you'll fall in love all over again.

[presure2]

yea, art. nice ride, isnt it?
the red one that i rode in wasnt in as nearly as nice condition.

[playr158]

i want one!

Lucky man Art, that car looks in excellent shape

[lagos]

Only bad thing about the car was the paintjob. It was recently repainted, and whoever did it, didnt bother removing any of the front grills or even the rubber between the hood and bumper. They just painted over that. Ugh. The foglights were also stained yellow with something. Overall, i thought as far as the exterior goes, my car looked better (you can kind of see it in the background of one of the pics, lol).

But the interior and the engine bay was a whole different story. Even though there was a layer of dust on the motor, everything looked and felt like you would expect it to on the show room floor. The car had a real sense of OEM. Like its never been messed with before.

Only thing I'm trying to figure out is the year of the car. The guy showing it to me said he thought it was a 93..lol. yeah, not possible. I keep hearing rumors that its either a 98 or a 99.

[lagos]

Oh and that same shop had an silver GTR inside. It was incredible. I wish I had my camera on me. And in an unrelated story, I also got to see an mr2 with a ct20b blow up on the dyno. It was quite a day!

[RUNNIN-LOW]

nice lagos!!! now all you got to do is tell him to sell it to you for nothing and then..sell it to me ...!!! haha but yeah how would u compare the car to like say a evo or subi??
well numbers should all be the same? so look at the door jams (driver) and see if u can read the vin and the year to date? like 09/98 or something..

[lagos]

It felt like it was faster then the wrx and maybe slower then the sti, but honestly I'm in no position to make such statements as we really didnt do more then a quick 1st gear pull on a very small road. And keep in mind the car is basically bone stock.

If I had cash on hand I could probably buy it, but its not cheap.

This post has been edited by lagos: Feb 18, 2009 - 9:05 AM

[playr158]

whats "not cheap"

[lagos]

In the 15k ballpark.

[playr158]

15k for 97,000 miles comparatively thats steep, considering its limited availability, its not a bad deal at all.

[Supersprynt]

I still say switch the cars at the guys house, see if he notices.

[presure2]

Only bad thing about the car was the paintjob. It was recently repainted, and whoever did it, didnt bother removing any of the front grills or even the rubber between the hood and bumper. They just painted over that. Ugh. The foglights were also stained yellow with something. Overall, i thought as far as the exterior goes, my car looked better (you can kind of see it in the background of one of the pics, lol).

But the interior and the engine bay was a whole different story. Even though there was a layer of dust on the motor, everything looked and felt like you would expect it to on the show room floor. The car had a real sense of OEM. Like its never been messed with before.

Only thing I'm trying to figure out is the year of the car. The guy showing it to me said he thought it was a 93..lol. yeah, not possible. I keep hearing rumors that its either a 98 or a 99.

didnt the 98+ fours all come with projectors? or was that an optional thing?

[Fastbird]

I'm jealous Art! Guess I should have stayed in the Philly area huh??

[playr158]

isn't the manufacture date stamped inside the door or something?

[Dr_Tweak]

isn't the manufacture date stamped inside the door or something?

Judging by the "don't ask how, with enough money anything is possible" comment, I suspect it's not there anymore

So, did it feel weird riding on the "wrong" side of the car?

-Doc

This post has been edited by Dr_Tweak: Feb 18, 2009 - 10:38 AM

[pipes]

It felt like it was faster then the wrx and maybe slower then the sti, but honestly I'm in no position to make such statements as we really didnt do more then a quick 1st gear pull on a very small road. And keep in mind the car is basically bone stock.

If I had cash on hand I could probably buy it, but its not cheap.

Well I know a lot of people say mycar is nothing to a real gt4.... but ill let you know the a stock gt4 down fall is the speed governer......but it will walk on an earlier sti a 350z and bmw 540's just telling you what my imposter car does

[pipes]

isn't the manufacture date stamped inside the door or something?

Yeah its on a metal plate in the engine bay says engine code tranny gone and manufauture date

[lagos]

isn't the manufacture date stamped inside the door or something?

So, did it feel weird riding on the "wrong" side of the car?

-Doc

Oh yeah, especially being that its a celica. I kept thinking, wow, this car really has a lot of leg room. Then later i realized that it was because I didn't have a steering wheel on my side and i never sit in the passengers side of my own car. lol.

Btw, I only had a limited time with the car and didnt get to check the door jams and all that. So Im trying to figure out its age by the things we know. That steering wheel has to be very year specific.

Im really surprised the cars millage works out to 96k. Thats almost exactly what I'm at on my car and this thing looked brand new compared to my car. Either the millage is wrong, or the car had a really good detailer bring the interior back to life and clean the engine up.

It felt like it was faster then the wrx and maybe slower then the sti, but honestly I'm in no position to make such statements as we really didnt do more then a quick 1st gear pull on a very small road. And keep in mind the car is basically bone stock.

If I had cash on hand I could probably buy it, but its not cheap.

Well I know a lot of people say mycar is nothing to a real gt4.... but ill let you know the a stock gt4 down fall is the speed governer......but it will walk on an earlier sti a 350z and bmw 540's just telling you what my imposter car does

I honestly didn't get a proper ride in the car. We were on small residential streets in the ghetto, and never really got to do a proper run.
Your car should perform exactly the same as a real gt4, but keep in mind, the one i was in was at stock boost, with stock exhaust, stock downpipe, etc...