I am the new owner of a 95 celica gt hatchback, I just sold my truck and I have $2500 to spend on my celica. I want to buy a Turbo, what size should I put in, and would I have to bullet proof the block or is it strong enough as is.
Or maybe I should spend it on some custom graphics and a body kit w/wing?

Or hell maybe even a system?

I even thought about a 3s-gte engine swap but I dont think I want to go that far, or maybe I should. You guys are the experts, Tell me what you think.


Thanks in advance for your help,

-Brandon

well if your going for a turbo a few people on here will be able to help you with that... you can get something real nice with that amonut just have to spend sometime looking....

if I get the turbo would i have to bullet proof the block? or do anything else to it or my engine to help it withstand the extra boost?

not if you run it at like 8 psi and IC will help... and injectors and a few other things....

buy the 3sgte!

if you turbo the 5sfe and run low boost, it will work, but only for a short time. youll be lucky if you get a year out of the car.

you could just buy the 3sgte and use its parts to turbo the 5sfe. then when the 5sfe blows, youll have the 3sgte waiting.

-lagos+Oct 15, 2003 - 6:36 PM

Get a 3sgte st185 or st205. Also with a 3sge tranny. That will give you in the range of 225-245hp at the crank. A front mount intercooler and custom exhaust will also be needed for the 3sgte to work. A top mount intercooler can work but a front mount intercooler is better. Although that is just my opinion. Running straight 3" exhaust from engine to tip is what I would recommend with no catbacks. Just straight piping or as straight as you can get it. Do not get a 3sgte from a MR2. Make sure that you get the engine from a GT-4

-lagos+Oct 15, 2003 - 6:36 PM

you can run the 5sfe with less than 6 lbs very reliably, saying you would be lucky to get a year out of it is a bit arbitrary, I mean ****, you dont even know how many miles he has, or what condition the engine is in. you would be fine running boost on the 5s, but get an intercooler

for further information on turboing your 5s-fe please check the thread at the top of the engine performance forum

now I am in no way putting down the 3s-gte swap, if you have enough money, go for it, but it will be initially more expensive than turboing your 5s-fe

good luck in whatever you decide, and welcome to 6gc

-jayi12-15psi+Oct 15, 2003 - 7:49 PM

All depends where your priorities are. If you want to build up an insanely fast fwd car think about the 3sgte, I don't think 2500 will be enough when all said and done though.
If you want a nice boost go with the turbo, I personally think its cheaper and even if you do blow the engine learn from your mistakes and 5sfe engines arn't that difficult to come by and you can just reuse the turbo equipment, but if you feel your car is fast enough or you see no reason to go fast since if its your daily driver
Think about other things like a new paint job (if your existing one is bad) wheels, interior make over or whatever else intrigues you.

-1bwilson+Oct 15, 2003 - 7:26 PM

Does anybody that swaps in the 3sgte plan on keeping it stock? Either way you look at it you are going to spend more and more money. There are tons of mr2 people with very reliable 5sfte and 5sgte set ups.

Timimg is the key to the 5sfte, Nuke will admit that was his problem too.

Hell your car from what I can remember doesn't have 50,000 thousand miles nore does any 3sgte swap or 5sfte have ever. These things are new maybe 3 years old.

-Bryan-

-lagos+Oct 15, 2003 - 6:36 PM

wow...turn off your flames!!!!

jesus....i wish i could have an opinion on something.

yes i have done a ton of reaserch.


if you are going to tell me that it will work, and be probelm free, then show me some proof. show me one person who had their 5sfte for 2-3 years and is not loosing compression in their engine.

i would like to refer you guys to this site . this guy really knows his **** and has documented all of the ups and downs of a 5sfe turbo. from what i remember this site will tell you how he had to rebuild the motor 2 times, tried lower compression pistons that didnt work...and after pouring all that money into his engine, he is still trying to work out the bugs and have the car running.

in my OPINION and 3sgte is a better way to go because you will have less problems to work out, the engine will live to see 100,000+ miles and youll spend less money and have more power in the long run.

-1bwilson+Oct 15, 2003 - 7:26 PM

3sgte all the way

hey sorry I havn't been on to reply on this topic.

Wow i didn't mean to spark and argument on this topic. lol.

But I have some bad news I have decided to work on the body of my car before performance. I need to learn more about my celica before I go messing with my engine. I am going to get a erebuni 404 kit and an exhaust.

Do any of you out there have a GReddy Evolution exhaust? how does it sound on your celica?

Thanks in advance,

-Brandon


ps. sorry if I wasted some of you guys's time with the 3sgte/turbo thing

the evoulution exhaust wasn't really meant for your car, I suppose you could have an evo. muffler, right now, your best optionwould be to have a custom exhaust, or if you can get your hands on a greddy sp

does anyone know where the sp2 is?

oh and 5sfeturbo, your scaring me

he LOVES you

wow 6gc's first couple...how nice


the greddy evolution was not made for the celica

the greddy sp is not in production anymore

the SP2 is not due out till next year...i have a group buy already set up for it

haha >> what would I do with out you guys...probably get ripped off. ok so what is a good exhaust for the celica, I want a deep rumble.




-Brandon

for exhaust go to an exhaust shop tell them you need full piping from cat back and go on ebay and get an apexi n1 muffler...those sound really good.

should be like 300-400 total

tell them that you want mandrel bends in the exhaust piping not crushed bent

the different if you dont know

crushed bent is like those straws that you can bend n stuff and they dont cut off flow...but with exhaust it does cut off flow

mandrel bent is just smooth bent. i guess thats a simple way of putting it

Yeah mandrel bent piping has the same diameter around tight corners. Crushed bent usually wrecks air flow because the inside of the pipe doesn't stay smooth around bends.

Also Matt said from cat back but I think you should get a full exhaust, from the engine to the back - which includes a header, probably a new catalytic converter (removes toxins from exhaust) a new muffler, and the piping between them all. There are a couple of reasons for getting a custom header. Firstly if you get it in stainless steel it will look great. Secondly you will get a noticable performance gain from a well crafted header. Go for 2-2.5" pipe. If you go to a decent shop you will have the choice between stainless or mild steel. Stainless buffs up nicely while mild is unrelective and looks dull. Mild steel will hold up rust ok though.

I'm getting a full exhaust in the next month or two, and I'm going to get a stainless header, a stainless cold air intake, and the rest of the system (piping and cat) will be mild steel except for the stainless muffler and tip.

PS. If I was getting a body kit without mags, I'd get some lower springs to drop the right high because it will look weird without them. In fact if I were you I'd get some nice wheels and a suspension drop with the money for the kit. Celicas look nice on the outside without kits, especially with wheels and lowered. You could get a kit when you get some more cash, but that's just my opinion!

I was gonna get a kit but instead got rims, and i havent lowered yet and i have gotten nothing but compliments. Definetly go wheels and drop first. If u get a kit then u have to save for paint. or just paint the kit and have it not be a perfect match

It could be a perfect match if you use Toyota OEM Paint Codes. Just paint the kit piece by piece and then when it is all painted, slap it on the car.

But I, in no way would go that direction. If I were to get a kit, I would get the entire car painted again.

This post has been edited by Inferno: Oct 24, 2003 - 4:09 PM