Gt4 Wrc

[michael urwin]

Hi all

Looking to buy a GT4 WRC.

What are the differences to look out for???

How can you be sure that it is a WRC??

Has it different wheels?

A big spoiler?

Any interior differences that tell me?

Basically anything that will tell me that it's deffinately a WRC, most garages can't tell the difference and will try and sell you the car as a better model than it really is.

Any info will be very helpful

Thanks

[Monster-Mat]

i am just importing a WRC now from japan, it has cost me £6000

im importing for someone else

as far as i am aware the WRC has aluminium body panels

anti lag and intercooler spray but not connected!

we had the car checked out and is a WRC..so withing 40 days i shall be picking it up from the docks

[Leeky]

supercharged is right, some wrc's i saw before i got my one were fakes.

The best way to tell is the little spoiler on the bonnet nr the wipers.

the WRC's All have these

[dosenöffner]

All information courtesy of www.st205.net.

Differences between the standard ST205 and the ST205 WRC

One of the main questions asked on the UK GT4 newsgroup is "What are the differences between the standard ST205 and the so-called 'WRC' or 'Group A' model?". And no wonder, because Toyota themselves made little or no attempt to publicise the special model, of which 2500 were built to comply with homologation regulations. Only in Australia (And NZ? not sure on that one) was a "Group A" badge added, along the same lines as the Carlos Sainz versions of the ST185.

Here are some ways to spot a WRC, and some things not to get duped by when some salesman is asking a premium for a WRC you're trying to purchase.

Chassis number

Firstly, we need to look at the vehicle's chassis number. As the WRC/Group A special edition (we'll call it WRC from now on) was built purely to allow Toyota to go rallying with it's new ST205, you would expect these 2500 to be some of the first ones built. As it happens, half of the first 5000 units were constructed as WRC cars, though in no particular numerical order.

Therefore the chassis number should be in the range ST205-0000001 to ST205-0005000 for the car to have a 50/50 chance of being a genuine WRC. HOWEVER see note below for a possible exception.

High-wing spoiler

All the WRC cars came from the factory with the Hi-wing spoiler. Closer inspection of this reveals that it is is fact the usual ST205 spoiler with extension blocks. These have the effect of noticeably increasing downforce at speeds over 100-120 km/h. It is also reported to knock 20km/h off the 260km/h top speed (I said REPORTED, officer).

However they are not a reliable way to determine WRC-or-not-ness. They can be added or taken away from any ST205. Look at the pictures below - which is a WRC? The answer is both; my car has the blocks in, Wiggy's car has them removed.

Bonnet spoiler

Just to confuse the matter further, there is the issue of the little spoiler at the back of the bonnet (just in front of the wipers). Toyota noticed that at very high speeds (250km/h) the bonnet could flex, sometimes alarmingly. They added this spoiler for downforce.

This spoiler is present on all Japanese domestic market WRC cars. It is however present on all non-JDM ST205 cars as well, WRC or not, although I believe not until slightly later in the production runs. Get the confused picture? Don't rely on it for identification.

Antilag

This is the nitty gritty. If this isn't here, it's almost definitely not a WRC. I suppose it could have been removed (say for ease of repair after a crash) but it's unlikely.

The rally cars had antilag fitted to keep the turbos spinning during gearchanges and other closed-throttle states. This is not activated on the road cars for the simple reason that the thermal shocks and stresses involved are too great and turbo and manifold life is reduced to hundreds of miles. Homologation demanded the bits be there though at least. For an explanation of how it works, as well as detail of other obscure bits to do with homologation check out Richard Doig's excellent site.

Look at the picture. On the rally car the round valve at the bottom right of the intercooler diverts some air away from the dump valve through brass pipes into the exhaust manifold. You can see the #1 pipe attached to a brass nut to the left hand side of the heatshield. This valve is not present on non-WRC cars.

Intercooler spraybar

The second main piece of kit that the rally program required to be fitted to the WRC special edition was the intercooler spraybar. This is basically an extra way to cool the intake charge by wetting the intercooler radiator, thus making it more efficient (now fitted as standard to 2002 model WRX Imprezas). Look at the photo of the inside of the front bumper, the three nozzles you see comprise the spraybar.

Again, it is not activated. In addition to the nozzles, all the hardware (pump, piping etc) is present to run the spraybar, and many owners have reactivated it, although not triggered as TTE originally intended since this appears to be a horrendously complicated arrangement!

FOOTNOTE: Chassis numbers higher than 5000?

One owner has claimed to have a WRC with a chassis # of around 7000. He has examined other easy-to-spot points and they all check out. I have no reason to suspect that his car isn't a real WRC, or that he is lying. However I don't see why Toyota would continue to build a car whose complexity and resultant cost is greater, where they are not allowed to sell it for any higher price to the end user.

The only other conclusion to draw is that possibly this exception car has had certain bits added after factory, which is quite possible as they are all standard freely available Toyota parts. We will have to conclude however that chassis number id is not a foolproof method.

All information courtesy of www.st205.net.