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| 2005 Toyota Celica Review | |||
| Whether you're about to spend $40K on a brand new car, or half that on a used car, it is always important to learn as much as you can about the used car. Read these car reviews to learn about all aspects of the vehicle. Each of the usedcar reviews cover interior and exterior features, options, road tests, and more. | |||
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Introduction
| Road Test
| Inside & Out
| Other Thoughts
| Last Word
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| Road Test | |||
The Celica is a time capsule. Back in the 90s, front-drive sports coupes were serious business, and this was Toyota's response to the Acura Integra GS-R. Marking a clean break from years of sedate Camry-based Celicas, Toyota followed the Integra formula right down to the twin-cam, 16-valve, 4-cylinder engine with two-stage valve timing to squeeze every last pony out of its little 1.8-liter block.Thanks to co-developer Yamaha, Toyota got 180 out of theirs, and got the redline all the way up to 7,800 RPM. (This is the engine Lotus "begged" Toyota to let them install in the Elise.) Start the Celica from rest and, hmm, not much grunt here. But slam the shifter into third, step on it, and witness speed, tension, and the engine's shriek build in unison. Once you cross six grand on the tachometer, the hardcore camshaft takes over and - KWAAAAAAH - suddenly you're whizzing by other cars like they're parked. Don't ever stop! This engine lives for revs, thrives on revs, and the longer you hang on, the more thrills you'll get in return. The Celica is the kind of car that asks you to show your love through punishment. Be sure you have the heart. And be sure you have the patience. The last few horses don't exit the gate until 200 RPM short of that screaming 7,800 redline. Most telling is the torque figure, which at 130 pounds-feet is a mere fraction of the 180 horse count. The Celica's engine belongs to the same Toyota "ZZ" engine family as the Corolla's, which should give you a clue about its part-throttle behavior. There isn't a whole lot of life in the lower half of the tachometer; drive the Celica like a normal car and it can feel sluggish. Drag race a Mustang and watch your pride vanish. The Celica is a unique form of entertainment - its rewards are eventual rather than immediate. You might call it a case of Japanese machinery reflecting Japanese values. The upside is that when you putt-putt around town like a Corolla, it acts like one. Think fuel economy. When was the last time you met such a sporting machine getting 28 MPG? Taking credit for this all-around accomplishment is successful mass control. Toyota trimmed its prizefighter down to 2,500 pounds, which probably gives the 3,241-pound Mitsubishi Eclipse low self-esteem. Less is more - more gas mileage, more speed, more braking power, more handling. Celicas and curved roads go together like pizza and beer. Steering is among the most quick and direct of any Toyota, and combined with a fine half-strut, half-double wishbone suspension and sticky 16-inch wheels, you can slice through the mountains as if in a rear-drive car. Of course, rear-drive is something the Celica is definitely missing, but with such little weight to toss around and not much torque to handle, that handicap is minimized. Knowing how often you need to row through the gears, it's fortunate that the light-throw shifter is fun to play with. Six gears let you stay in the powerband, and the tall 0.725 ratio of that last gear lets you cruise at up to 80 MPH with relative sanity. Complaint: since the torqueless engine needs so many revs for a proper launch, and since the first inch of throttle pedal travel is wasted motion, I stalled it a few times on day one. I learned to simply overrev to avoid risking the embarrassment. My colleagues think the clutch engages a bit late and some magazines dislike the gears being so closed together physically. (Come to think of it, I missed sixth gear a few times.) An interesting choice is Toyota's positioning of Reverse to the left of 1st gear. That cures the risk of shifting from 6th to Reverse and blowing up your engine, but it means you have to be careful every time you launch the car from a stop. (Selecting reverse gets a back-up beeper buzzing at you.) The view out is another strength. This puny, low-slung car also has low windows, which is conducive to roads with twists and elevation changes. In contrast, the visibility-challenged Scion tC feels like racing by Braille. While we're beating up on the Scion, the record also shows that the Celica destroys the tC in the 0-60 derby: 6.6 seconds against 7.4. And to milk every drop out of the digital media analogy, the Celica (like the Laserdisc) also has superior sound quality than the big-block Scion tC. Rule: between two engines of similar design and cylinder count, the smaller one sounds more intoxicating. Yeah, I've driven the Scion before and liked it. It's smooth, it's a little quieter, and its wallop of torque makes it easier to live with on a daily basis. But take a spin in the Celica on the open road and you'll realize something's being lost. |
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