Standard Gt And A Beams Gt

[Mitch.]

I saw in the auto trader the other day a beams celica. I didnt know anything about these so thought I would ask you guys which would be best between a gt or a beams. What I can make so far is the beams is obviously a special edition celica with more power. I also take it you only get them in white with the red engine and they are a bit more than a gt price wise but how much more should they be?

Mitch

[Jones~32]

Theres one for sale on here atm, they're very rare, VVTi 3SGE, approx 200bhp

Think they hold money a fair bit better than a normal GT, more like GT4 money

HTH

[chris202]

Thats a sought after car , pretty rare .

Probarly a touch more than or the same as a GT4.

Supposed to be very quick and unlike a turbo it wont go pop !

[Jones~32]

Thats a sought after car , pretty rare .

Probarly a touch more than or the same as a GT4.

Supposed to be very quick and unlike a turbo it wont go pop !

It'll still go pop if its not treated right

I would like to see one go head to head with a GT4 actually, see what kind of differences there are between them :D

[mikeb]

It won't match a gt4 - take a look at the torque figures and power curves. Most people don't know what they are, which doesn't help them maintain their value as much as the 'GT4' Badge does.

I didn't realise they only come in white though, can anyone confirm?

[celsteve]

I have seen them in black, although it's possible they were resprayed but unlikely. It wont match up to a GT4, someone who has driven the ss3 and the gt said there's hardly any difference but the ss3 felt a bit more 'revvy'. Don't know whether engine parts would be more pricey or hard to get hold of because it's rare??

[Special Red]

In my experience there is a big difference in 50 BHP, so can not see a Beams keeping up with a GT4 at any speed in any gear TBH. But I have to say 200bhp from a NA car is a feat, and whilst it would be slower its by no means a slow car. My two pence worth! I would have one over GT4 for the rareness of it and simply as it would be a sound investment, but would not say it would be cheaper than a GT4 to maintain due to exactly that.

Just found out that the 3s-ge is tuned by Yamaha!

Also read that as the Beams engine is so highly tuned it very rarely keeps the 200ish bhp it starts out with and a fair few owners have said they have had it rolling roaded at anything from 167-184 bhp! I expect that the high state of tuning means that small deviations in set up can amount to bigger losses.

I have heard people also say they did not have the GT4 in America, which apparently is not true, It was simply labelled Al-Trac rather than gt4.

Not all GT4s have superstrut Suspension which Im sure someone was arguing with a mechanic about recently on TOC.

Whats the difference between a coupe and a lift back on a gen 6?????

[MIP]

I would have thought that with the beams engine, with the higher compression, you'd need 99ron. If somone where to use 95, it'd lose more power. If I were to aquire one, I'd run a tank or so of 99 ron fuel through the engine, and then reset the ecu.

I'd much rather a GT4 though.

[Bibbs]

GT4 will toast it .. it's a GT with VVTi .. that's it .. 200PS (198 bhp).

All 3S engines are MADE by Yamaha .. (as are a lot of other Toyota engines) have a look at the logo on the cam cover, should be Yami's three tuning fork design .. .

The ST205 wasn't in the US, they got the 165 and 185 "all trac"s but the gen3 3s-GTE couldn't pass california's emissions (why the MR2 never made it beyond 1995 in the US).

[celsteve]

AFAIK the al-trac wasn't produced in a gen 6 model and SS suspension is fitted to all gen 6 GT4s but not previous gens. But then what do i know????

Coupe / liftback??? -PASS !!! Mine's down as a 2 door saloon!!

[mikeb]

All 3S engines are MADE by Yamaha .. (as are a lot of other Toyota engines) have a look at the logo on the cam cover, should be Yami's three tuning fork design .. .

I thought Yamaha just designed/engineered them, but they were actually MADE by toyota (just like lotus does development for GM etc)?

And my engine actually says 'Yamaha' on the cam cover.

[Bibbs]

Are they not Sister companies or something?

Where Honda does everything from sewing machines to super cars all under one name, I think Toyota does under different names ..

(But then Acura is supposed to be getting a Japan debut soon, similar to Lexus).

[celsteve]

From what I can gather, Toyota and Yamaha were different companies which used to share expertise with one another and produced together certain engines. Toyota then bought a share in Yamaha and vice versa so they are seperate companies but with vested interests!