Low and flowin' with a hyped-up pace. That's how second year university finance student Ical likes his cars; smooth, unspoiled and ultra clean - not to mention quick.
Of course we all know the standard 2.2 litre Celica is a bit of a dud when it comes to straight line excitement so this guy thought it'd be cool to shot-put the standard engine in favour of the 3S-GTE transverse engine from the Japanese MR2 turbo.
There definitely wasn't enough potential in the standard normally aspirated four to even start modifying it. But with twin cams, multi-valves, EFI, turbo and an intercooler the smaller 2-litre capacity of the 3S-GTE has no sweat easing out around 200hp. Even this factory-rated 200hp would be enough to wake up the sweet Celica but nah, nah - this dude's gotta have more, more, more!
So backed with the purchase of an ex-Mister2 engine from Japanese Motorsport, he presented Adelaide-based Whippet Performance with the honour of configuring a performance engine and engine management system.
Because the Celica and MR2 share a similar block design, the 3S-GTE went in easy-as, but the link to the drivetrain required the use of a TRD MR2 flywheel and pressure plate, and TRD Celica clutch plate. Whippet are official dealers for the EMS programmable management system with which they got stuck into firing up the Toyota pearl, initially setting some base tuning figures while driving on the road. The EMS system controls both fuel and ignition and works with the factory injectors and NGK platinum spark plugs. Don't worry, the car wasn't left in a road tuned "yeah, good enough" state for long, as the car made a beeline to Road and Track Services for a thorough dyno tuning session. Looking at the 'before' and 'after' power and torque curves they measured, its obvious what a difference dyno tuning made.
Difference? More like a monumental leap!
This graph was produced on only standard boost pressure (around 0.8 Bar), which is quite significant. Anyone who knows turbo cars will have twigged that a few extra pounds boost really wakes a car up, so Ical has also fitted a Blitz electronic boost controller with a maximum setting of 1.4 Bar (over 20psi) although a more sedate 1.2 Bar (around 17psi) is normally set. The absolute full boost setting is only occasionally dialled-up, because it gets "very scary" with that much boost pressure!
A pair of Trust racing camshafts were fitted to further aid full-throttle go. Incidentally, Whippet had to extensively fine tune exhaust cam timing to get the best results from these items. The high flow theme extends to the intake, which uses a pod-mounted HKS air filter and the exhaust is high flow as well. Whippet led the pack
[yeah, very good - Ed]
in coming up with a full 3-inch mandrel exhaust at a reasonable cost. Their work sees the car hung with a 3-inch pipe from the standard turbocharger's flange, a Mazda cat converter (temporarily!) and an RSR Invidia rear muffler. Its shining five-inch tip passes over the ground close enough to make ants duck for cover!
The mandrel pipe work for the Supra air-to-air intercooler includes an HKS blow-off valve that vents gear change surplus boost..... and in case you didn't notice, it is also very shiny! Just like the alternator, the intake pipe, the valve cover, oil breather tank - yaadaa yaadaaa. Chrome plating and polishing abounds everywhere that's half practical. For some reason it is quite rare here in Australia to find a late model car with heaps of under-bonnet detailing - but this one is a definite stand-out.
And stand out is what the belly-scraper does as soon as it hits the road.
A massive 4 and a half inches has been eliminated from the car's front ride height, while 'only' 4 inches has been lost at the back. This thing sits as low as low gets! The standard shocks would have needed extensive rehabilitation if they were mated to these short springs, so a set of four Koni shocks damp spring movements (if there is any!). About now we'll mention that the custom number plates 'Ceber' actually means 'low' in Indonesian. Makes sense really. But just between you and me, the tyres rub on the guards - real badly.
When Ical bought this 'savage' Celica new from a local dealer way back in 1997 all was well for a few months, but it wasn't long before he lusted for a lot more visual appeal. Now before you try to work out what paint mix has been used - stop. It's actually a standard colour, believe it or not - Toyota really went all-out with this shade!
The front and rear badging has since been removed and is currently awaiting filling of the holes- but this means those particular panels need a complete re-spaying, so that can wait for a little bit longer! Not impressed by the current trend toward huge rear wings, Ical even removed the mild factory rear spoiler to get a smooth, running-free look.
Wild 18-inch Momo Sport rims ensure the car always rolls in style. These are skinned in Yokohama 225/40 M7R liquorice strips which transfer a fair bit of thump-bump into the cabin because of their low-profile. And just like that confectionary of questionable taste, they are pretty sticky too - even with the turbo-motor and front-wheel-drive driveline, the car held traction far better than we had expected. But we're told when the Blitz boost gauge needle is wavering at around 1.4 Bar, wheelspin on take-off is plentiful and unavoidable. At the moment a Cusco LSD is being considered to help lock the front driveshafts into synchronisation. But now when there's no tyre slippage, the car pulls itself along at a fair rate of knots, especially in the top-end of the rev range. Enough to keep a 2-litre Silvia turbo and a Subaru WRX with a big exhaust at bay in a straight line, we were told.
On the road, the car absolutely demands that the driver re-think his or her driving style. The big rubber and near zero guard clearance means the Momo steering wheel can't be turned much more than quarter of a lock, since the tyres have an attraction to the metalwork. Being limited to such small steering angles, Ical must be good at taking the smoothly-radiused racing-line through each and every corner. All speed bumps and road ruts must be avoided or at least taken at a slow walking pace.
Oh well, sometimes convention has to take a back seat to desire!
CONTACTS
Japanese Motorsport +61 8 8260 6919
Whippet +61 8 8382 6065
