My supercharged Toyota Celica

Three years or so ago I was looking for an affordable stylish practical sports coupe and all I could find that fitted the bill was a Toyota Celica T-Sport, it had good boot space, could take 4 passengers and was reasonably quick when you hit lift. This was driven day in day out in all the UK weather could throw at it and never missed a beat. Naturally after joining Celica-club.co.uk and seeing what could be done with this car, the madness began.

I had a few goals to meet, it had to be lower, meaner, faster yet keep the overall appearence of a Gen 7 Celica. So what were the options, after much discussion with Lee Mabbot of Se7en Motorsports in Coventry, the initial shopping list came to: Rotrex C30 Supercharger, Apexi PowerFC ECU, Wilwood Brake Kit and some MeisterR Coilovers. All fitted by Lee.

 

 

 

 

This was enough to start off with and the build started in November/December 2010. Once complete there followed a drive in the snow to top tuner Greg Gush at Protuner.co.uk which resulted in a healthy 277bhp oh and a drive in the night time snow down the M40 back home.

 

 

Once winter had melted away, the clutch started to go, which I put down to a 4 hour snow journey the previous year, so time to get an ACT HCSS clutch and a lightened flywheel fitted (oh and some solid gear bushes). Not to mention a few issues with faulty injectors, maf plus a few other odds and sods it was back on the dyno again to gain a few more bhp and raise the bar to 282bhp.

 

 

 

Whilst on the dyno, it was pointed out that the cat was possibly on its way out and was being a tad bit restrictive. I was always going to change the exhaust system at some point, so decided to bite the bullet and get a 2.5" PPE manifold and mid-pipe fitted with a custom rear box by Custom Chrome Racing. Oh and while that was being done also slipped in a fuel return system. Naturally back on the rolling road again and this time leapt to a 324bhp! Oh what an exhaust system can do for you!

 

 

 

 

 

The bodykit is all replica, there is a very good reason for this, the car is driven practically every day. I didn't want to spend a fortune on geniune kit, only for it to be ravaged by UK roads and road kill. So this brings us to today. The car is driving superbly, brings a smile to my face everytime I drive it and naturally grabs attention. It would be nice to be lower for sure, but completely impracticle for UK roads. I do a 40 mile round trip each working day, half of it being twisty country roads, heaven :) The wheels are Rota Force 17x8 and I originally had gun metal ones, but these were replaced by the bronze ones which I think look a bit more classy.

 

So what's next... well not a lot performance wise. I think I am at the limit of what I can do with this car to keep it a daily drive. The next on the agenda is a trip to the body shop to tidy up the battered paintwork, scratches and dents!! Not that you can see them in the pics but it pains me when cleaning so it has to be done.

 

So what's next... well not a lot performance wise. I think I am at the limit of what I can do with this car to keep it a daily drive. The next on the agenda is a trip to the body shop to tidy up the battered paintwork, scratches and dents!! Not that you can see them in the pics but it pains me when cleaning so it has to be done.

Have to give a big thanks to Lee at Se7en, Greg at Protuner for their time and patience. Nothing like leaving some top Drift stars sat in their caravan whilst Greg spends a few hours with mine on the dyno at short notice, and lastly a shout to Jez at Horsham Developments for his work this year prepping for the MOT!!!