1993 Toyota Celica 5th gen coupe, non Turbo review from UK and Ireland

Front hub, C. V joint and bearing shot (fault from previous owner neglect) @ 160K miles.

Radiator core went at 162K miles.

Wear to drivers seat bolster.

Toyota Celica 2.0 GTI 16v.

A review by cashman156 on this site (I sent the review before registering..dough!)

The model I’m describing here is a ‘K’ reg 1993 5th generation, 2.0 16v GTI, 3SGE engined front wheel drive version of this wonderful car; it has 154 BHP on tap and is in a non turbo form.

The reason for the GT4 coming about with its 200 odd HP output is because there was too much power for just a 2 wheel drive car to handle, torque steering and wheel spin being major drawbacks to power being put down on the road. So split into 4 wheel drive (GT4) evened out the power, thus enabling major upgrades in performance to be had by this body design. The Celica range harks back to the early 70’s and is still being sold today in its latest form, so they surly got something right in the design of this car; the model range has a great pedigree and I’ve always loved Japanese’ sports cars! My previous experience in the Toyota range was a 1986 3.0 Supra (3-MGE, MA70) non turbo. I find the two cars similar in many ways, but, this one is smaller, lighter and handles a whole lot better than my old beauty that suffered the ravages of the metal moth, and ended up as a 1.5 ton metal cube!

First impressions.

Looking at the shape and pleasing curves of this vehicle will have you growing ever more pleased with your choice of obtaining this car, it grows on you big time, and to me it kind of reminds me of a shoe shape.

I look at it at and want to drive it, fast!

It is low; it sits just right and is hard to find fault if viewed from any angle.

The clean lines that flow around the body are classic sports car design, and in my opinion blast most of the new car shapes out of the water, what with the trend for geometric lines and shapes to add interest to their egg or boxed shaped computer aided designed rubbish for the masses, aka things like the Ford focus, all mid range sized cars like your new Vectra’s and Mundaneos, that all look the same to me (can't tell um apart) the new egg shaped Civic, and taking this to its lowest ebb in car design, the spaz cars that are the Suzuki Wagon R, Kia, Agila and similar mobility oriented boxes on wheels for the over 70’s @ 30mph max lovers. (For god’s sake …GET OUT OF MY WAY!!) Get off and milk it why don’t you.

Interior.

Anyway, getting into the car is a stoop down and slide in experience, mainly if you care about it, to avoid damage to the fabric on the driver’s side seat bolster, something time will tell in this dept’ as fat arsed previous owners will have worn away the fabric till threadbare, as my one is.

The front bucket seats fit snugly around your body (electronically squeezed in on the GT4 & Supra)

The seating position, I find is a bit on the low side from what I’ve been used to for a clear view over the bonnet, me being (a short ass) of medium height 5’ 8”

The steering wheel has adjustment for the up and down placement, but not the in and out position, the seat is adjustable for leg length, tilt for the back, head rest position (3 clicks) and a minimal amount for height. Generally though, a good comfortable fit can be found.

The dash arrangement is good for the driver, the dials and switch functions being laid out nicely for easy operation and a clear view, at night these will take on a nice green glow, the brightness of which is adjustable.

The wiper adjustments are well catered for, the fronts can be set off by pulling the stalk toward you, clicking down one notch will set them to intermittent (delay time adjustable) 2nd position = normal speed & 3rd fast wipe. The rear is operated by turning the same stalk, wash and wipe in the same axis.

On this one there is a battery charge dial, on the GT4 this will be boost pressure dial for the turbo.

Blanks of plastic inserts will fill holes that on the GT4 would normally occupy switch functions for the electric seats, cruise control, and probably some other stuff I wish I had in this one!

Of course, should you wish to, these upgrades can be had from the second hand market or eBay for little expense to greatly improve the basic spec’

The flowing lines of the dash will please the driver’s eye and give a confident feeling while driving.

Visibility is pretty good all round and no problems have been found in sighting the vehicle into tight parking spaces or traffic junctions & high speed motorway driving awareness of other road users providing the door mirrors have been set correctly.

Others I have spoken to have said they found the interior claustrophobic and tight? Me, well I just love it, makes me feel more like part of the car.

I will say though that it can become quite painful on the ears after a long drive, road & exhaust drone will be a gripe to some in the first week of owning the vehicle, if like me though, you will soon adjust to this and will become normal.

Depends what sort of car you’ve been used to driving.

I’ve gone from a Mercedes S class to this Celica, so is a profound change in noise levels!

The fabrics used inside are of good quality; the plastic items and trim fittings are pretty good too and can see no real problems in their long service life.

From my own experience an opinion with these cars, 1993 onwards saw some big upgrades in the sound systems fitted as standard, the head units being (yawn) pretty boring, but the speakers fitted (6) including tweeters, are of a quality that most will ignore as being rubbish, but give them a try before junking them as you may be very surprised.

’ve got a 180 watt head unit pumping some high (in my opinion!) dB bass levels through these standard speakers and found no distortion at all.

Should you want to strip out the center console to replace the sound system you’ll find it a very easy and logical task to get into the depths of where you want to go, just keep your eyes open and look for the screws, obvious snap in point fixings and you should be OK to complete the task.

The head unit space will accommodate a double DIN set up should you want to fit one.

In the back the seats look inviting, but will be a tight squeeze for two adults, 2 kids will be fine though.

Flick a leaver on the driver’s side floor and the rear tailgate + the fuel filler flap will pop open, the boot area is quite good I find for even a pretty hefty weeks shopping (rare for me!) both back seats also fold flat should you want to carry some bigger loads.

Under the rear boot carpet will find (hopefully) a full sized alloy spare wheel, to the sides of the boot area you can find a set of original Toyota tools wrapped in a case and a jack in case of a puncture.

The superb engine.

The engine will always fire up straight away, if it doesn’t this will be unusual and indicate a rare fault!

The engines are bullet proof, so provided they’ve been regularly serviced (and cam belted every 60K) they should go on for over 200K + miles without any need to worry, remember fresh oil is the lifeblood of all engines, so don’t neglect this, especially with the turbo versions, and while we’re on the turbo side of things, if you have a GT4 don’t just turn the engine off after a blast, leave it running on tick over for at least a min (or get a turbo timer) to let the turbo slow down as it is oil fed from the engine, cutting the power too soon will have the turbo still spinning with no oil feed!

Thus starving the center bearing and leading to premature failure of the turbo.

Pay attention to the cooling and air con’ systems too as premature radiator/ condenser failure is not uncommon on these cars, always make sure of a strong and clean mix of antifreeze/coolant to protect, lubricate the water pump and keep the internals of the engine corrosion free, avoiding too the possibility of premature head gasket problems. Always use the air con on a regular basis (even in Winter) as the lubricant in the gas will keep the seals in the system good, avoiding the possibility of the gas leaking out before its time.

Recommended spark plugs are platinum tipped that are expensive, but will last a long time, (30k odd miles) cheaper NGK BCPR6EY-11’s can be used also with no problems but will need changing at regular service intervals.

The engine takes 4.5 ltrs of good quality 10w / 40 oil preferably thinner and synthetic if mileages are low, but as mine has 160K on the clock I think 10/40 is par for the course (thinner grades on high mileage worn engines possibly leaking past valve seals causing higher oil consumption & burning, blue smoke).

The standard air filter is of a high flow material similar to the K&N type and will keep the performance up to scratch by breathing fully, but more horses can be found by using a full K&N kit, especially the ones that keep the intake air cool leading to a better oxygen mix with more power as a result.

De-cat pipes can also be fitted probably gaining another 10 BHP approx’ £45 from eBay (but I never said that did I, race track of course officer!)

Fuel filter replacement is very important (accessed from the engine bay and tres fiddly to fit) to keep a steady idle speed, top performance and fuel economy.

On the road.

First drives of the car will have you wondering where the corners are, but this will soon disappear from your mind and become natural, your brain will soon wrap around it in a short time.

Driving off for the first time will impress upon you the free revving and quick acceleration of the engine, the excellent gearbox is close and positive, clutch light and easy, brakes powerful to the touch and inspiring confidence.

The suspension is taught and as standard strut braces are fitted across both front top suspension mounts, thus eliminating most body roll and any out of shape problems when cornering hard into bends, as the chassis is much stiffer.

Steering is very light and positive, the car can be squirted into tight turns and mini roundabouts without any a problems and little body roll, but the turning circle I find is not very good, most 3 point turn situations could turn into a 4 pointer in my experience when the space is limited.

On the road though, in fast driving situations, I’ve not found this is ever to be a problem.

A recent round trip to Wales, favoring the bendy up and down route via Ross, Hereford, Brecon etc had me enjoying every mile this car ate up… maybe you know that feeling where you and the car are one, the more you do it the better the feeling, fast and precise; a joy to drive is probably the best way to sum this car up.

I personally feel that if it had another 50 bhp to play with it’d be the dogs, but, the only way to get this is to upgrade to a GT4.

For now this car is a peach to own and drive, I am very happy with it, well recommended to anyone thinking of buying one, I reckon it will last forever if you look after it!

(this review has appeared an a couple of other sites both written by me under the names of mr.blue.sky & cashman46 these being Ciao.co.uk and dooyoo.co.uk respectively)