Celica Vs. 3000GT

I just have a couple questions that need answering. I am seriously considering getting rid of my 3S and buying a 2000 GTS. And if I get the GTS it'll have to have the Kaminari body kit. So here goes:

1. Which should I go for a 3000GT VR4 (idk what year) or the GTS?

2. How hard is it to get the GTS into the mid 13's 1/4 mile?

3. Is it easy to turbo the GTS or swap the GT-4 engine in? By easy I mean are there a lot of kits out there.

4. Any common problems with them? (I'm in school to be a Toyota Technician so i'm hoping i'll get a bunch of "it's a Toyota, no problems")

5. If I get the GTS will I get more than 20 MPG?? I'm so sick of getting 20 MPG and under lol.

Thanks for anyone's help.

I just have a couple questions that need answering. I am seriously considering getting rid of my 3S and buying a 2000 GTS. And if I get the GTS it'll have to have the Kaminari body kit. So here goes:

1. Which should I go for a 3000GT VR4 (idk what year) or the GTS?

2. How hard is it to get the GTS into the mid 13's 1/4 mile?

3. Is it easy to turbo the GTS or swap the GT-4 engine in? By easy I mean are there a lot of kits out there.

4. Any common problems with them? (I'm in school to be a Toyota Technician so i'm hoping i'll get a bunch of "it's a Toyota, no problems")

5. If I get the GTS will I get more than 20 MPG?? I'm so sick of getting 20 MPG and under lol.

Thanks for anyone's help.

The VR4 will be A LOT faster than a GT-S.

A few people have gotten high 13's (13.7) with just intake, drag radials, apexi power fc (ecu replacement), and weight reduction.

To swap the 3S-GTE in, it will cost about $10,000.. everything will need to be custom fitted. The engine will also have to be built up or it would not be worth it because of the weight gain. The weight of the 3S-GTE is more than TWICE that of the 2zz-ge in the GT-S.

A stage 1 turbo kit (bolt on, no need to upgrade internals) will get you to around 240whp on the GT-S. That would be mid 13's with some drag radials. http://www.c2power.com

No common problems with the car itself... only if it's driven incorrectly. Miss-shifts are common because the shift gates on the 6 speed are extremely close together.

You will definitely get over 20MPH..

hmm well that kinda sucks...now I gotta decide between speed and gas mileage and I don't know which one I want more...I like the looks either way. This is gonna take some thought.

well first you have to decide if u r running turbo or na cuz na will be more work to make it hit 13s but with turbo u could make it hit 13s easy but u will need new tires, slicks, drag radails, watever so u wont lose power at the wheels. i dont know to much but my uncle has an rsx type s which is in the same class as the gts and he is running na and able to hit 13s with drag radials or slicks. his motor isnt fully built or any thing it just has cold air intake and some internals worked on but if u do the same thing with a gts i think u would get about the same results...

o and vr4s are crazy fast but not as reliable as a toyota. and money wise ur better off with the gts i think...

Yeah i'd agree about the money thing...and that's my dilema...I don't know if I want to save money more or go fast more...i'm in college so I will probably need money...but I definitely want to hit a 12 second 1/4 mile this year...maybe I should just buy a VR4 for the summer and get the GTS after...that's a good idea I think

VR-4s are twitchy, and repairs cost an arm and a leg

my dad had one, they are very heavy too so you would need to remove alot of stuff for weight, they are nice overall though

the GTS would be the better choice for money reason as repairs would be futher in between and cheaper to have done, better economy

hmm...I don't know what you mean by twitchy...

And as far as the weight issue, all I would need is a turbo timer/boost controller and cleared exhaust to get to high 12's...according to everyone on in the 3000GT forum at least. I'm not trying to make a race car or anything...just one 12 sec run and i'll be happy until i'm in a higher tax bracket lol.

But if it would cost about the same to get a GTS into the high 12/low 13 range as buying and slightly modding a VR4...then i'd shoot for the GTS b/c it's more reliable and cheaper to repair like you said. Is there anyone on here with a low 13 GTS?

dont go for a 3kgt...im gunna get flammed by the 3kgt guys when they come over and read this but....
i love the 3kgt, but there not really good...reasons being

3600 curb weight, thats ALOT of car, not to mention the motors crap out, alot...ive known 4 diffrent people with vr-4's 2 with sl's and one n/a regular one with a 3.5 liter ontero swap that was faster than everyone else i knew, including the vr-4's, and elmost every single one had a rebuild by 100,000 miles... even an sl that my firneds mom drives had to be rebuilt

no i dont care what they tell u ur not looking at 12''s with just a booost controller UNLESS ur hittn unsafe levels of boost...yes you could run 12's but you could run 12's 1 or 2 times before yoru motor blows...not literally its jsut not safe to run that much boost w a 3kgt with a stock head gasket and not building it, and youll probably get one w semi high miles...
high miles+alot of boost=dead motor

yes i like 3000gt's alot, i was thinking abotu gettnign one becasue i love the AWD and the power it makes, but its just not as good as something like a supra, or a 300Zx simply becuase ive never seen a reliable 3000gt

i personally dont think the 3kgt motor is even that great, i would go for the celica becuase its ALOT lighter and way more reliable....meh just soemthing to think about, haha ima get bitched at for this watch

lol I would bitch at you, but that's your opinion...I like my SL it hasn't given me any sh*t at all and I haven't seen any other problems with the 3kgt other than lifter tick that are common (other than the transfer case breaking for 1st gens, which was recalled)...if I could afford Supra, I would definitely go for it...but a 91-95 VR4 w/ under 90K is in my range...The only thing about the Z that I don't like is the way the front looks...even with a body kit...cant have that...I was considering 93+ RX-7 but those seem like they would be wayy too expensive to maintain (since they naturally burn oil).

I saw stats on the one 3kgt w/ the 3.5 Montero swap, they said it ran like 13.5 in the 1/4...which is about even w/ a stock 94+ VR4. As far as handling goes, my SL handles just as well as my 92 Integra did...I didn't think it would but it does...but a VR4 does weigh about 600 lbs more than the SL.

So anywayz, if you can't tell I was aiming for someting...anything twin turbo'd...but none of them (besides what i cant afford) cover all the areas of performance and looks well enough to me...so then I started thinking what's the best looking car that I could turbo...and I searched through Ebay deciding and came up w/ a 2000+ Celica...and since i'm in the Toyota/Lexus program at school it would kinda be perfect. Which is why I wanted to know cost's and what not for doing it to see if it's worth taking a shot at.

it was probably my firneds montero swap his ran a 13.5... but yeah thats just my opinion..lotsa people have had prblems w the that i know....and then theres peopel that have no problems with them

Is it the one that got sold on EBAY?

ahha no they went off ebay and did it privatly like 2 weeks later....yeah its that one, he sold it about 2 months after he bought it cuz it had problems, clutch and tranney went out when he boutght it cuz all the power and some other shit...but yeah thats the one, it was a shitload faster than his new car, he has a 350Z

aww, why not a 300ZX?

Well sorry Celica fans...but I happened to drive a TT Stealth the other day...and i'm sold. I had no idea it was gonna be THAT fast...gas mileage doesn't seem to matter to me anymore lol...i must be a speed freak.

a dodge stealth tt is the EXACT same thing as a 3000 gt vr-4 they have the same EXACT motor, tranney, ecu, rear end, and all that...they also weight basically the same, just hte stealth is uglyer (in my opnion bt it still lookstight)

so yeah, shop for both cuz tehre the same

hope your happpy

I already knew all that but thanks anyway, and I agree on the Stealth being uglier (hideous wing). Hopefully i'll get lucky and find a good deal....and i'm not happy yet..but I will be when I get one :)

gas mileage really dosnt matter when you think about it. for example, if you have two cars, each with a 10 gallon tank(just to make the math easier), and one gets around 20(the sports car) and one gets around 25(thats what my sentra got), then the second car will get you 50 more miles than the first car. however, for the first car 50 miles is about 2.5 gallons, and if gas is $2.00 per gallon, then it comes out that you have to pay an extra $5.00 to drive a sports car over an econ car. i think its worth it...

Never looked that far into it...doesn't seem like too much of a loss to me...of course I have 2 sports cars, one gets 20 mpg and the other 15 if i'm lucky.

gas mileage really dosnt matter when you think about it. for example, if you have two cars, each with a 10 gallon tank(just to make the math easier), and one gets around 20(the sports car) and one gets around 25(thats what my sentra got), then the second car will get you 50 more miles than the first car. however, for the first car 50 miles is about 2.5 gallons, and if gas is $2.00 per gallon, then it comes out that you have to pay an extra $5.00 to drive a sports car over an econ car. i think its worth it...

MPG only matters on how much you drive. For me I drive 190 miles a week. My astro gets 15~17 (never 20 on the freeway), so I'll use 16 for math reasons. That means that I burn about 11.9 gallons of gas a week (and that's if I don't drive far on the weekends) which equates to me spending 2.20 on gas which equals about $26 a week or or about $104 a month. If could get 20 mpg then I would be spending $83 a month or fantastic 25 mpg I would be spending $67 a month. $104 vs $67? All depends on how much you drive.

Woah woah woah...too much math going on in my thread here...i'm already burnt out from school, I don't wanna have to think on here lol.

yeah i drive almost 250 miles a week...and my st only geest around 20 mpg now that theecu was tuned....so yeah...i pay outthe ass for gas

just wanted to add this

take away the mpg stuff and mod this mod that

i mean you can get enough power for the streets from either car, what i mean is that unless you want insanely high numbers then the 3000gt V6 isnt needed also four bangers can get some insane numbers too

in the end gas will be bad either way, and you will pay the price either way, moding up the celica/ repairing the older 3000gt

so i think you should figure out which one you want the most

Well who says i'd have to repair anything? i'm not gonna buy a pos one...but thanks for the input, i've pretty much made up my mind...with the VR4 the power is there, no need to do any real mods like turbo kit or anything, so I can just concentrate on cosmetics with a few BPU's. I've been paying ridiculous amounts for gas ever since I got my first car so I wouldn't be missing anything on that note. I think it's also b/c the TT was the first turbocharged car i've driven..and all the 4 bangers that i've driven were just disappointing for obvious reasons (140-160 hp)...so i'm kind of ignorant on how a 4 banger turbo feels like but i know i love the 6 banger TT feel...so that's kind of a deciding factor as well.

Thats too bad, i would have picked the celica hands down, but then again ive never driven a tt stealth, but anyways is that the UTI Toyota-Lexus program in Houston?

meh ur still riding in a 3600 pound car instaed of 2500, its gunna take ALOT more hp to get into lower numbers than it is the celica

Mee: no i'm in NY.

Celica: Yeah that's what a lot of people say, but then they get suprised by how fast the car is...overall you're right, between the weight and the aftermarket availability there's been very few people in the 10's in a VR4, but quite a few in the 11's, and a lot in the 12's...I only want 12's, so shouldn't take too much. I really would go for the Celica if I didn't see one everyday, I just can't drive a car that many other people have...at least for my leisure car.

I just have a couple questions that need answering. I am seriously considering getting rid of my 3S and buying a 2000 GTS. And if I get the GTS it'll have to have the Kaminari body kit. So here goes:

1. Which should I go for a 3000GT VR4 (idk what year) or the GTS?

2. How hard is it to get the GTS into the mid 13's 1/4 mile?

3. Is it easy to turbo the GTS or swap the GT-4 engine in? By easy I mean are there a lot of kits out there.

4. Any common problems with them? (I'm in school to be a Toyota Technician so i'm hoping i'll get a bunch of "it's a Toyota, no problems")

5. If I get the GTS will I get more than 20 MPG?? I'm so sick of getting 20 MPG and under lol.

Thanks for anyone's help.

ok to start with:
1. i would go for the 3000GT VR4 if you're looking to spend over $6000, but it's easy to reduce the weight on that car and with over 300bwhp that car can get pretty quick. also, it's about 1000 times easier to find parts for it than the GTS. I know, i have a GTS, and i haven't found a harder car to shop for parts for other than that one right there. and the parts you actually do find for the GTS are about twice as much as the VR4. But when you do find the parts for the GTS, you get so much more power out of it than any other car. but if you're on a tight budget, the GTS is your better buy. Kelly Blue Book says they're anywhere from $2000-$5000. I got mine in 2003 with 104,000 mi. at $4600... and i think that was the best investment i've made before. And weighing in at only 2300 lbs. (well my car anyway) that's a lot lighter than that VR4.
2. GTS is not hard at all to get into the 13's on a 1/4 mile. my friend's GTS has gotten in the low to high 14's with him driving, and high 13's when i've driven, that was before the turbo, so it depends on the driver too (considering he weighs about 100 more pounds than i do b/c i'm a very small person... 110 lbs). After he got the turbo, he ran low 13's high 12's.
3. It's not particularly easy to turbo the GTS b/c it's really hard to find a turbo, turbo manifold, intercooler, all that jazz, for the GTS. The only way my friend got to do it was b/c he saved up $5000 and got his customized. I'm not so sure about the swap with a toyota motor, but if you were indeed looking to swap it out, the B16 is a good motor and the K20 is an excellent motor but you're lookin at about $10,000 for the k20. or you could do what my friend did with his civic hatch. you can take integra ls heads and put them on the gsr block... gsr=high speed and ls=fast acceleration, that way you'd be getting the best of both worlds. and you would only be looking at spending about $1500-$2500 for that.
4. My GTS has not had a single problem that i haven't given it myself. Meaning, they are a very reliable car. My GTS now has over 140,000 mi., got it with 104,000 mi., and those 36,000 miles i've put on that car are very harsh 36,000 mi. and the only problems i've had with it are ones caused by those harsh drving conditions. So the GTS is a very reliable car.
5. If you get the GTS, and everything on it is stock, yes you will get more than 20 mpg. Before i did everything to my engine, i was getting about 25 mpg. But after new 650cc high performance injectors, customized 4" cold air intake, new cam gears, new cams, new crank, new pistions, new ignition system, i'm getting about 20mpg. so the gas mileage is good either way.

hope i've been of some help.

well that's very helpful actually...thanks...i'm looking to spend $10-12 grand on whatever I get...I didn't think that the parts for a GTS would be harder to find than a VR4 or more expensive, that's a surprise. Thanks for all the info.

3. It's not particularly easy to turbo the GTS b/c it's really hard to find a turbo, turbo manifold, intercooler, all that jazz, for the GTS. The only way my friend got to do it was b/c he saved up $5000 and got his customized.

Not really. C2 power makes excellent kits for both the GT and GT-S.

http://www.c2power.com/products/celica_gts_st2_upgrade_kit

5. If you get the GTS, and everything on it is stock, yes you will get more than 20 mpg. Before i did everything to my engine, i was getting about 25 mpg. But after new 650cc high performance injectors, customized 4" cold air intake, new cam gears, new cams, new crank, new pistions, new ignition system, i'm getting about 20mpg. so the gas mileage is good either way.

So you have cams and cam gears on your GT-S?? That's odd because nobody makes cams for the 2zz-ge. Also cam gears are not applicable on the 2zz-ge because of the variable valve timing. :rolleyes:
I bet that intake bogs like crazy.. lol

Not really. C2 power makes excellent kits for both the GT and GT-S.

http://www.c2power.com/products/celica_gts_st2_upgrade_kit



So you have cams and cam gears on your GT-S?? That's odd because nobody makes cams for the 2zz-ge. Also cam gears are not applicable on the 2zz-ge because of the variable valve timing. :rolleyes:
I bet that intake bogs like crazy.. lol

hmmm, who said i had the 2zz-ge engine? i have the 5sfe engine in my 91 celica GTS my friend... and like i said, it's not PARTICULARLY easy to find turbo kits. i mean they're out there, but you just gotta find them. and the intake actually increased his hp by about 12, just by the way he rigged it. if you don't believe me, just ask me how and i'll explain. it just takes a looooooong time to explain how he did it.

hmmm, who said i had the 2zz-ge engine? i have the 5sfe engine in my 91 celica GTS my friend... and like i said, it's not PARTICULARLY easy to find turbo kits. i mean they're out there, but you just gotta find them. and the intake actually increased his hp by about 12, just by the way he rigged it. if you don't believe me, just ask me how and i'll explain. it just takes a looooooong time to explain how he did it.


Heyy I rebuilt a 5S-FE, and wrote a book on it...if you ever want to rebuild yours let me know! :)

Heyy I rebuilt a 5S-FE, and wrote a book on it...if you ever want to rebuild yours let me know! :)

awesome dude. but i don't think i'll rebuild it again. i've actually been thinking of a 3sgte swap :iceslolan

ok to start with:
1. i would go for the 3000GT VR4 if you're looking to spend over $6000, but it's easy to reduce the weight on that car and with over 300bwhp that car can get pretty quick. also, it's about 1000 times easier to find parts for it than the GTS. I know, i have a GTS, and i haven't found a harder car to shop for parts for other than that one right there. and the parts you actually do find for the GTS are about twice as much as the VR4. But when you do find the parts for the GTS, you get so much more power out of it than any other car. but if you're on a tight budget, the GTS is your better buy. Kelly Blue Book says they're anywhere from $2000-$5000. I got mine in 2003 with 104,000 mi. at $4600... and i think that was the best investment i've made before. And weighing in at only 2300 lbs. (well my car anyway) that's a lot lighter than that VR4.
2. GTS is not hard at all to get into the 13's on a 1/4 mile. my friend's GTS has gotten in the low to high 14's with him driving, and high 13's when i've driven, that was before the turbo, so it depends on the driver too (considering he weighs about 100 more pounds than i do b/c i'm a very small person... 110 lbs). After he got the turbo, he ran low 13's high 12's.
3. It's not particularly easy to turbo the GTS b/c it's really hard to find a turbo, turbo manifold, intercooler, all that jazz, for the GTS. The only way my friend got to do it was b/c he saved up $5000 and got his customized. I'm not so sure about the swap with a toyota motor, but if you were indeed looking to swap it out, the B16 is a good motor and the K20 is an excellent motor but you're lookin at about $10,000 for the k20. or you could do what my friend did with his civic hatch. you can take integra ls heads and put them on the gsr block... gsr=high speed and ls=fast acceleration, that way you'd be getting the best of both worlds. and you would only be looking at spending about $1500-$2500 for that.
4. My GTS has not had a single problem that i haven't given it myself. Meaning, they are a very reliable car. My GTS now has over 140,000 mi., got it with 104,000 mi., and those 36,000 miles i've put on that car are very harsh 36,000 mi. and the only problems i've had with it are ones caused by those harsh drving conditions. So the GTS is a very reliable car.
5. If you get the GTS, and everything on it is stock, yes you will get more than 20 mpg. Before i did everything to my engine, i was getting about 25 mpg. But after new 650cc high performance injectors, customized 4" cold air intake, new cam gears, new cams, new crank, new pistions, new ignition system, i'm getting about 20mpg. so the gas mileage is good either way.

hope i've been of some help.

i wouldnt listen to this kid at all....

first off, post up wehre u got ur "cams, cam gears and all that other garbage" id love to see it, brands and sites

2nd how did u get a 2800 pound car down to 2300 withoguht making it look like a rolling chassis thats a 500 pound weight reduction...the most you can or could get w removing ur interior panels, spare, a/c compressor, back seats and passenger seat ur lookin at 300 pounds light TOPS...my st weighed in at 2650 w me in it at a scale (im 165 pounds roughly) thats about 2490 w out me and i stipped the SHIT outta it,(ur gt/s weighs 2850) no ac nothing at all, there was absolutly nothing more i coulda taken outta it (other than cutting into shit or buying lightweight glass and CF hood/trunk) and only managed to tear out a good 200 pounds

3rd toyota never make a 650 cc injecotr that would fit into yoru celica

4th what mods did ur "friend" have to hit 14's in his gts? my buddy has the 3sgte swap all new ehaust (cat back straight pipes huge downpipe) runnin 12 psi of boost and has new cams for it and hes only running a low 14/high 13 w slicks (probably around 250WHP) ud would need a good 250 WHP to get a 13 in a gt/s not nearly possible w out building the shit outta that car, not to mention it has an open diff and you really cant get bigger than 215's on it


5th ur wrong a vr-4 (dep on generation, 1st gen had 300 bChp. 2nd had 320 bChp) only has 300 or 320 hp at the crank, in an awd car thats about 260 and 280 at the wheels

6th what kind of pistons/crank did u get? comp ratio, bore/stroke?


this kid is full of shit

end of story

hmmm, who said i had the 2zz-ge engine? i have the 5sfe engine in my 91 celica GTS my friend... and like i said, it's not PARTICULARLY easy to find turbo kits. i mean they're out there, but you just gotta find them. and the intake actually increased his hp by about 12, just by the way he rigged it. if you don't believe me, just ask me how and i'll explain. it just takes a looooooong time to explain how he did it.

Well in the thread he was concidering a 7th gen, so you confused me there.