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

[S8S8]

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.

I've filled the tank with 98 octane plus a bottle of 2.5 octane booster, so I should be sitting around 100 now. I haven't really driven it over 4,000rpm since then, so I can't say if it's made any noticable difference. I'm going for a longer drive today were I can get stuck into it a bit more.

If he were to put some steelies on the car it would probably feel a sh** ton faster. Just my .02, it's irrelevant since he had the wheels before, but it would make a difference.

I highly doubt it to be honest. Maybe on a super light weight car when comparing lap times at the track, but I doubt the average person would feel any difference on the street. When I switched from the standard 15" alloys to the current 18"s I felt no difference, so I wouldn't expect anything different if I switched back. Not on the street anyway.

nice job man. Now tell us how it feels to drive

Thanks man, I appreciate it. The car feels good, but I think my expectations of the Beams were a little high. I need to take it for a run through the mountains or on the track to really get a feel for how much better it is.

But overall I'm pretty happy with the result, and it's still way cheaper than if I'd have bought something newer of similar spec. In the back of my mind I'm still wishing that I went 3SGTE instead, but I'm sure the Beams will grow on me as I learn how to get the most out of it.

If he were to put steelies on there then the car would have massive torque steer and traction issues thus negativing any lightweight gains.

Yeah traction would be an issue. Even with the old 225 tyres I was getting plenty of wheel spin. The new stickier 225s are much better though. If I went back to 185s or similar I think I'd be struggling big time!

In other news, I just bought a GT4 rear strut brace and plastic covers on ebay for $150 shipped. I had priced the same parts new from Toyota and it was about twice the price!