Increase Bhp

March 14, 2012

i have a 51 plate celica vvti and i have been driving it for about 7-8 months now and i feel like it need to have that little bit more power i have called in to a few mapping places and they say it cant be mapped???... and i have heard putting a suppercharger on it is megga bucks could anyone help???

thanks alex

March 14, 2012

First things first, you have a 51 plate 140 VVTi. How is your oil usage?

ALL pre face lift (pre 52 plate) has a design flaw that can result in excessive oil burning. Not all develop the issue though.

Make sure you do weekly oil checks. If you start noticing you’re using oil, then you can buy a new dipstick form Toyota with an altered oil level mark & keep topping the oil up regularly. The other option is to replace the engine, though if you go down this route you MUST NOT buy a recon engine. Source a used engine taken straight out of a model being broken.

Ok here are the facts to your questions:

If you want more power – You need to spend money!

Induction kit & exhaust will do naff all on their own. You'll be very lucky to see 5bhp, in fact the induction kit will more likely sap some power (though it may 'feel' otherwise), as it'll be exposed to the engine bay temperatures which the stock airbox has some resistance to.

You have 2 options:

1 – Full NA build = Big money!

2 – Go Force Induction = 2 more options.

Supercharging = Big money £4k minimum (that's for the kit)
Turbo = Bigger money £5k minimum (that's for the kit)

On top of that add in tuning, uprated suspension, brakes, tyres (decent ones) & exhaust.

If you want to Supercharge or go Turbo, you MUST speak to Lee at Se7en Motorsports on Celica-Club. He is the only guy who knows what he’s doing with this. In fact he’s the only guy making turbo kits for the 140 VVTi and it’s all custom work as there are no off the self kits.

The only 190 VVTL-I supercharger kits (as there is NO turbo kit) that are off the shelf are the Blitz & TRD, both of which only add about 50 odd bhp. Se7en’s normal kit will take you upto 300!

The other thing to remember is the running costs - Increased Insurance, fuel costs (MUST run on Super Unleaded), tyres, brakes and servicing (for example the oil for the Rotrex Supercharger is £75 a bottle!).

If you want more power you have to seriously need to think of the complete & on going costs.

My advice would be to do the following:

Uprate brakes - (eg. EBC turbo dics, Red stuff pads, braided hoses & 5.1 fluid)

Lower the suspension - lowering springs or coilvers depending on your funds)

Poly bush - Do whatever you can, suspension & steering

Performance panel filter - (eg. K&N) If you want an induction kit, spend decent money to get a shielded one.

Tyres - Get some decent rubber - Falken 452 min for midrange or Eagle F1's for bigger cash.

Strut braces - Upper Front & maybe Uppper Rear. They don't have to be expensive as at the end of the day you just need to tie the suspension tops together.

Doing that will completely transform the 'feel' of the car, it'll handle much better & you'll be able to corner a faster.

March 14, 2012

Sell the 140 before the Engine develops the "death rattle", either a pre face lift 190 or T Sport will give you around 35 to 40 extra ponies for not a lot extra.

A face lift T Sport would be the one to go for IMO, you can pick one up for around £3K.

March 14, 2012

cheers both i do have a bit of cash to throw in to it so most prob up grade its already got the Eibach Pro-Kit springs on it so its a start...

what do u mean by the "death rattle"?

March 14, 2012

cheers both i do have a bit of cash to throw in to it so most prob up grade its already got the Eibach Pro-Kit springs on it so its a start...
what do u mean by the "death rattle"?

The main issue is being able to keep the car on the road. Most of the FI Gen 7 guys either have a 2nd car as a daily drive or live close to where they work due to the running costs.

Reasearch on celica-club and speak to Se7en Motorsports first before you take any decision on FI or NA.

You'll know what the death rattle is if you heard it. Basically do a search on here or celica-club for 'death rattle'. If you get the death rattle (engine damage due to lack of oil), you need a new engine its as simple as that!