Put my new rims/tires on

GTSSportCoupe · Post by **GTSSportCoupe** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 9:28 am

My tercel 4wd just went from an aggressive winter 4wd to a summer sports car!

I finally got my 4th aluminum rim in the mail the other day. I brought my four AE92 GTS 14" rims and four Kumho Ecsta Supra 712 tires in to Canadian Tire to get mounted yesterday. The difference is unreal! The previous tires on the car were super cheap very aggressive 155/80/R13 winter tires; they weren't even perfectly round. My new tires are now high performance 185/55/R14 tires. The wider (5.5") AE92 rims give a much better offset for the car. The rims stick out probably an extra inch or more then the OEM steelies. They give the car a nice aggressive look; I've always hated the OEM steelies.

I took the car for a drive and was simply amazed at the handling of it. :blink: I spent a bunch of time driving around on local paved twisty roads seeing what the car could do. Definitely by far the best handling 4wd I've ever been in. The new tires coupled with the new gas strut inserts make for a very fun ride. I'm very tempted to try autocrossing the car this summer! I think it would suprise a lot of people

. The car is well balanced and sub 2500lbs which is what gives it so much potential. I guess the Audi Quattros and Subaru WRXs will always have better handling, but I think my tercel has better potential as it is over 1000lbs lighter. Not only that, I could buy 10 tercels for the price of a new Audi or Subaru!

I'll post some pics of the car/wheels when I get a chance.

20vtercel · Post by **20vtercel** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 11:25 am

I have 14x6 and 205 tires coupled to munroe struts and ground control coilovers. I remember the first time I auto-x'd my car. People were kinda surprised on how well it went through the track. The honduh guys were kinds put back in their little hatches with jaws open...."that's not possible, he had to have missed the cones"

Auto-xing a waggon might be a little harder to do considering the big rear end. Could be too much body roll causing the car to be tailhappy. But, it will be alot of fun. I suggest getting strut tower braces in your car or you will have windshield leaks and or cracks!!! I speak from experience.

GTSSportCoupe · Post by **GTSSportCoupe** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 1:21 pm

Haha!

Srut tower brace eh? I wonder if the one from my AE86 would fit? Probably not. If it does, I will definitely transfer it. B)

3A-C Power · Post by **3A-C Power** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 1:27 pm

The Tercel has different strut bolt locations than most cars. Usually there are 3 bolts evenly distributed but on the Tercel there are 4 holes, of which 3 are used with the standard strut mounts. That makes for only a half circle of support. I suppose a strut tower brace could be redrilled without too much trouble.

20vtercel · Post by **20vtercel** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 2:17 pm

3A-C Power wrote: The Tercel has different strut bolt locations than most cars. Usually there are 3 bolts evenly distributed but on the Tercel there are 4 holes, of which 3 are used with the standard strut mounts. That makes for only a half circle of support. I suppose a strut tower brace could be redrilled without too much trouble.

92 honda civic strut tower braces only have 2 holes!!! That's all you need.

Guest_warpdwhim · Post by **Guest_warpdwhim** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 7:33 pm

AutoXing a wagon isn't much fun.....especially when you're used to an AE86....
take it from one who knows....hell...I even went to the extent of mounting my 195 50R15 Yokohama A008RS's on it....WAYYYYY too much bodyroll....loss of any power down coming out of the corners....can still beat the crappy drivers...but no where even close to competitive....heck...I damn near even rolled the thing....LOL

takza · Post by **takza** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 8:36 pm

GTSSportCoupe wrote:I took the car for a drive and was simply amazed at the handling of it. :blink:Ã‚Â I spent a bunch of time driving around on local paved twisty roads seeing what the car could do.Ã‚Â Definitely by far the best handling 4wd I've ever been in.Ã‚Â

I've got 14" X 6" steel Escort wheels with 195/60 Kumho Ecstas...guess you found about the same thing as I did.

Try the suspension mods that I wrote up in the Repairs section...they will result in about a 30-40% improvement over what you have now.

30 more HP...and I coulda been a contender.......

If your Kumhos are like mine...you will lose some gas mileage...I'm running mine at 42 PSI right now...started at 36 PSI and I swear that the car would roll over before they would slip on dry pavement.

Watch your rear view mirror.......

Thereminator · Post by **Thereminator** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 9:06 pm

My local Junkyards haveing a 1/2 off sale this Sat. so Im keeping my eyes-peeled for Escort Rims.My main target is a Carb to rebuild,Nick what happend to your Carb-Project?

takza · Post by **takza** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 3:36 am

3A-C Power wrote:The Tercel has different strut bolt locations than most cars. Usually there are 3 bolts evenly distributed but on the Tercel there are 4 holes, of which 3 are used with the standard strut mounts. That makes for only a half circle of support. I suppose a strut tower brace could be redrilled without too much trouble.

Due to the short front end on these cars, I'm thinking that a set of 45 degree braces would do the best...instead of straight across?

GTSSportCoupe · Post by **GTSSportCoupe** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 9:37 am

Thereminator wrote: Nick what happend to your Carb-Project?

I put a new carb on from the wreckers which fixed most of my problems. The only remaining problem was a rough idle when the engine is warm or hot. It is especially bad when warm. It is obvious to me now that the problem is being caused by one of the emissions systems. I cleaned the carb really well before installing it, and used new gaskets on the base. I installed all new vacuum lines. I have recently done some emissions system troubleshooting and found that a couple of things were not working right including the Mixture Control and EGR. My EGR was completely clogged up when I took it off. I chipped most of the crap out, but have to take it off again and clean it up better. This might be causing my problems right now.

Anyhow, after all this I have a choke that works really well, decent mileage, good power cold and hot, and a shitty idle (rough and loping). I hate non-efi systems.

tercel4wdrules · Post by **tercel4wdrules** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 11:31 am

Hey Nick, I have a question for you: How good are the EFI systems and what are the common problems with an EFI, as I might consider switching over to an EFI system? What do you think think is bad about a carburetor?

GTSSportCoupe · Post by **GTSSportCoupe** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 1:17 pm

tercel4wdrules wrote: Hey Nick, I have a question for you: How good are the EFI systems and what are the common problems with an EFI, as I might consider switching over to an EFI system? What do you think think is bad about a carburetor?

EFI systems are excellent!! Metering of fuel and ignition timing is controlled by a computer instead of mechanical/vacuum operated systems. There are few or no common problems with Toyota OEM EFI systems on decently maintained engines. Problems are only encountered when swapping EFI engines into vehicles they were not intended for, or performing major engine performance modifications. Carburators are physically complex systems which depend on mechanical and vacuum operated components. They are far more prone to malfunction than EFI.

Please note that I am electronics hardware designer (engineer), so am probably biased towards things electoronically controlled.

Switching over from a carburated engine to a EFI engine is a good thing, but is a fair amount of work. The engine wiring harness and ECU will need to be integrated with the vehicle wiring harness. The fuel system will need to be upgraded to provide higher fuel pressure for EFI fuel injectors. Most Toyota EFI engines ideal for transplant into the tercel 4wd are DOHC engines. This means that the exhaust header will be on the opposite side of the head from the intake - which in turn means re-routing the exhaust piping (there is not much room around the steering column on the tercel).

In summary EFI systems will always out-perform carburators. The engines are far more efficient and provide more power. To transplant an EFI engine into the tercel, you must be quite mechanically capable, able to fabricate custom parts, and able to read electrical diagrams and perform integration of systems. If you decide to transplant an EFI engine into your tercel, make sure you have another daily driver vehicle you can use for the time being as it will not be a weekend project.

3A-C Power · Post by **3A-C Power** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 2:17 pm

Carburetors are comparitively simple and there is not much that ever goes wrong with a carburetor itself. The fuel metering is controlled by vacuum. Air is sucked in through a passage that contracts to a smaller size (the venturi) and the air must speed up to get through this contraction. This results in a lower pressure according to fluid mechanics laws. If the engine is going faster or the throttle is open more, there is more air flowing through so the pressure difference in the venturi is greater, causing more gas to be drawn through the jet. This works very well for how simple it is, but can't possibly provide an ideal fuel/air ratio for every condition. Additional systems are required to compensate for things like temperature and sudden acceleration. The modern carburator has so many subsystems that it tends to be more problematic than a fuel injection system. All of the additional systems are what fails. The carb itself is forced to work by the laws of physics, unless it's dirty or clogged. For raw power there are hardcore carb enthusiasts who say that carbs are better, but to get more power out of a carb than the factory fuel injection on the same engine, you would have to completely give up fuel economy and spend alot of time tuning it according to the conditions.

20vtercel · Post by **20vtercel** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 2:28 pm

tercel4wdrules wrote: Hey Nick, I have a question for you: How good are the EFI systems and what are the common problems with an EFI, as I might consider switching over to an EFI system? What do you think think is bad about a carburetor?

There are some good arguments regarding this. It is not a question of which is better cuz you will never get the same two answers. It is like saying which is better, imports or domestics....they each have their strong points. The question is, what system best suits your needs. For just start and go applications, either is viable. For fuel economy or emissions, EFI is the way to go. For maximum perf, Carb is the way to go. Efi is difficult to tune and is expensive for high HP apps. There are more things to do to a carbie engine than EFI. I personally hate injection but i like the quad throttles so....like i said it's not a question of which is better.

GTSSportCoupe · Post by **GTSSportCoupe** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 3:23 pm

Everyone will have their own opinions, but I think its safe to say that within the world of minor-modified/un-modified Toyota A series engines, you are best off with the EFI variations (as far as all round reliabiliy, efficiency and power goes). Installing an EFI engine into an originally carbed car is a fair chunk of work, but will pay off for years if done well. If you are building a 4age race engine - carbs can be great (eg. Formula Atlantic 4age).