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Anything is possible with an angle grinder and a welder bud. Just keep us updated and some pictures boyo

I think all in all the gen 7 even with the 4wd system would still be slightly lighter than the 205. I guess what i'm trying to say is if you are going for the 400bhp mark it might be worth sorting the engine first. I guess it all depends on what you will need to pay for, what you can make/fabricate yourself etc. Then stick it in the car for fwd then accumulate everything you will need to make it 4wd. Just try work out what will be the cheapest option, usually we would say just buy a gt4 but i'm liking these conversions now and if you are committed enough then i say go for it.

Oh yeh its just as good as far as i know. If you go for 400 horses then you may need to put some forged pistons in the engine and maybe some forged rods as a nice buffer zone. You can get good power on standard internals but some good coolings mods would be needed and there is always the possibilities of the ringlands going so you would have to rip the block apart to change the pistons. How heavy is the gen 7?

Not sure on the transfer box but i am pretty sure they are compatible, i know the gt4 gearbox's can be interchanged. The CS gearbox has a bigger 5th gear for higher top end speed. Are you going to cut the mid section out of the 185 for the prop shaft channel as this is what alan did on the OC on his 4wd corolla. Are you definitely going to make it 4wd in the end as you can get some good power out your standard engine with supercharger kits depending on which stage you go for.

A quick look at the Parkers website (more reliable than the what car? site) shows that a 2007 07 plate XT5, with 30000 miles, would be £15,540 at a franchised dealer. I would say you should be able to negotiate the price down to around the £15k mark

it can be done although the 4WD conversion would be expensive and require a lot of custom fabrication. you could do it just as a FWD conversion and getting hold of an engine, gearbox, ecu and drive shafts would be reasonably easy. the engine you need from a celica GT4 along with the ecu and wiring (st-205 model would be best as it will easily and reliably make 300bhp with very minimal mods) and the transmission side is MR2 turbo (some easy mods needed to the gearbox for FWD and the outer CV joints need swapping for GT4 items) the only real headache you will have is the wiring. while its easy to get the engine running your cars stock ecu controls a lot more, like alternator, power steering, dashboard etc and as such need to stay but be fed with the right signals from the 3S-GTE ecu. adrian at fensport may be able to help you more with the details as he has done this conversion best place for parts is the good old internet, look for people breaking cars etc but as to see the car running before you buy. trevor at TCB (toyota celica breakers) is another good lead.

The XT5 was equiped to virtually the same level as a T180 but without the run flat tyres and D-CAT system so it is arguably less troublesome. For me the target would be the age and ideally you will be looking at a build date of post May 2008. By this time a series of engine modifications to eradicate oil consumption and possible cylinder head gasket problems were complete. I had 3 Series touring as my last company car. It was horrendously troublesome but very comfortable. It wouldn't move an inch if there was any snow on the ground. Get the right RAV and you will be delighted with it. BTW, start off by only using high grade diesel which will make it quiter and reduce the chance of long term problems with EGRs and injectors etc.

Hi, We recently purchased an XT5 - July 2010 and went through the exact same process as yourself. Yes really the exact same thought process. My Opinion is 1. Yes all dealers have taken advantage of the winter weather to maximise what they get for RAV4 and other SUV's 2. Plenty of base models out there but even for these they are asking silly money. 3. YES and YES and to be honest they are really worth the extra premium in my mind as I like toys 4. Toyota Dealers seem to want an extra £2K normally. I do not think they are worth it unless you are really scared of car buying 5. For 45K miles I think that £15000 should be the maximum you should pay. We ended up with a Automatic Petrol. Considered around 20 cars. If you can wait till change of plate you will find supply will increase and also I expect that prices will have eased as weather scare should have gone by then. The RAV4 does hold its price really well and I would not take to much notice of webuyanycar prices as it is for desperate or lazy sellers. As for What car and the others they did not seem accurate for RAV4 XT5 as it really does hold a premium. At plate change time I would guess that you would be able to find RAV4 XT5 Manual Diesel with 30-40K for around 14000 private or non Toyota dealer quite easily on a 57 or maybe even an 08 plate. We purchased petrol as we wanted an Automatic. I found a 56 Plate December 2006 one owner 13000 miles and paid £13500 private. A month or two later we could have had a choice of several from dealers with between 15-30K miles for £14500 - £15500 Petrol version is a little cheaper. I do not regret buying RAV4 it has been great car so far with only a few compromises as I have been used to luxury cars the last being a pre-registered Lexus LS460 SEL - £55,000 and BMW 740 before that @ £44,000 I hope you find what you want David Isom