3SGE Beams powered Celica, Her replacement has arrived Options

[S8S8]

I've had my Celica since 2005. It's a ZR model which was released in Australia with the 5SFE engine. The ZR came with a few nice little extras like the leather wheel and gear knob, airbag, ABS, cruise control etc. I wish it had the sunroof, but unfortunately the original owner was too tight to tick the option box!

My current plans are to build a car that I can enjoy on the weekends and take out to the occasional track day. I used to have an AE86 JDM Levin that I took to the track, so I'd really love to get back into that.

I toyed with the idea of selling it and buying a later model WRX or EVO, but I reckon for less than $10,000 I can build a car that might not be a rocket ship, but will definitely be good fun.

I'm not really into the visual side of things, so most of the work will be around making the car more fun and enjoyable to drive.

Current mods:

• 18" wheels
• Lowered springs

Planned mods:

• 3SGE Beams conversion (done)
• SS-II twin piston brakes (done)
• SS-II instrument cluster (done)
• SS-II leather steering wheel (done)
• JDM auto climate control (done)
• GT4 front end (done - but needs paint)
• GT4 rear strut brace (done)
• JDM tails (done)
• JDM projectors (done)
• Bigger exhaust to suit the Beams (done)
• BC Racing coilovers (done)
• Sportier front seats

Here's a couple of pics back when the wheels were new:









Looking forward to starting the Beams conversion and I'll probably be asking plenty of questions on here!

Cheers
Shane.

This post has been edited by S8S8: Jan 19, 2017 - 6:46 PM

[delusionz]

I agree, so long as the rolling diameter is within tollerance levels (+/- 3%) of factory fitment (ie, 1 inch up, 5% less sidewall) then his wheels shouldn't really be slowing him down, even the worst chrome wheel is still designed to be a car wheel, not a boat anchor. the cars are heavy as is, changes like that are less proportionate to Celicas as they are to sub-1000kg rice rockets.

Like for example removing 100kg from a Celica would do more for a Celica than it would for a petrol tanker if you removed 100kgs from it (exaggerated to make the point)

Let us know how you get along with high octane, as these engines run on 100 RON in Japan, anything less will start to trip the knock sensor and the car will pull timing when you start to put your foot down. It will feel like a 5S if it starts pulling timing. You'll notice it in load points above 2500rpm and half throttle, when I had 3S-GE I always noted the difference between 91 and 95 to be great throughout the entire rev range, and the same difference again in the upper half of the rev range between 95 and 98 octanes.