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Toyota Celica reshaped as a racy new sports hatchback coupe
Bob Plunkett
Date Posted: 5/10/2005
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PARIS, Ark. -- A corkscrew of a highway in western Arkansas rips across Mount Magazine, tallest ripple between the Alleghenies to the east and the Rockies out west.
Beginning in the hamlet of Havana, the dicy blacktop road runs up the steep southern face of the peak in a switchback series of tightly wound curves, then twists over granite ramparts at the aerie crest and descends through a forest of tall Southern Pines on a romp down to the Logan County seat of Paris.
This Havana-to-Paris route over an Arkansas mountain functions like a Formula One course to challenge both driver and car in tests we devised to sample the aggressive character of Celica, the sports hatchback coupe from Toyota recoined now for the seventh time in a racy new treatment.
Slick styling of Celica's shell conceals lively independent suspension components, big disc brakes and a zippy four-pack engine that translates all power through six gears of a manual stick shifter on the GT-S edition.
Running through all of those mountain curves while strapped securely in the snug bucket of Celica's 2+2 cockpit, one driver actually begins to feel like a race driver, but that's the intent for this cool coupe -- to lace the driving experience with motoring excitement that usually comes only from a bare-fisted sports car.
Celica's orientation with the front-mounted engine shuttles all torque forward to the front wheels, where sticky 16-inch radial tires act like talons that grip hard and pull the vehicle around each bend in the road.
There's no slippage from the light rear end, no drift, no nonsense.
Meanwhile, driver's hands are busy, the left one glued to perforated leather on a small sport steering wheel whipping back and forth through the turns, the right one on a leather shifter knob, notching up and down lower gears with only modest wrist movement required to flick the stick.
Both feet work too on the metal-plated pedals, the left one pumping the clutch, the right one rocking back and forth between brake and throttle as we charge the straights, then brake before each turn to set the nose down for a power bite that builds around the bend.
Always on tap: Juicy power.
It screams above 6000 rpm from the new aluminum 1.8-liter four-in-line rig wedded with two cams and four valves in each cylinder. The peak comes to 180 hp at 7600 rpm, which means 100 hp per liter of displacement, a high figure for a naturally aspirated small-block four.
Generous bore and stroke for cylinders combined with a tall compression ratio plus sophisticated valve control enables the high output. Toyota labels the valve wizardry as VVTL-i for variable valve timing and lift with intelligent control, as oil pressure at engine speeds above 6000 rpm increases the lift on intake and exhaust valves, thus boosting the power output.
A second version of this engine only with smaller bore and stroke and reduced compression ratio nets 140 hp and drops into a second Celica edition, the GT.
Differences between the GT-S top model and GT also include transmission, brake and wheel variations, as the GT uses a five-speed manual gearbox and has smaller front ventilated discs plus rear drum brakes while the GT-S packs the six-speed manual and solid discs in back.
Each Celica edition sets a package of computerized anti-lock brake controls on the list of options.
Steel wheels of 15-inch diameter mount to the GT, but alloy wheels go to the GT-S and 16-inch aluminum versions are available as a performance option.
Both editions also provide an optional four-speed automatic transmission with uphill grade logic to tame the tendency of an automatic to hunt for the ideal gear to maintain momentum, but the GT-S automatic also has shift toggles on front and back sides of the steering wheel.
Punch the front button to drop down a gear or the back one to bump up to the next higher gear -- they work like shifters on Formula One race cars.
These traits of Formula racers show up in various aspects of the Celica, from mechanical actions like the finger shifter to the fit and feel of cockpit seats and progressive design elements of the exterior package.
This iteration amounts to a seventh generational treatment for a car that emerged first in 1971 as the coupe variation of Toyota's compact-class Corolla sedan. Successive issues grew in form and muscle through the powerful Celica All-Trac Turbo of 1988, but by the sixth design in 1994 all high-output power gave way strictly to smooth sheetmetal shapes.
The Celica of 2000 eradicates all aspects of past designs and starts with a fresh format that introduces a shorter overall length but a longer wheelbase with brief overhangs, front and rear, in the manner of race cars.
Styled at Toyota's California design studio, this treatment features a cab-forward format with distinctive angular character lines that convey a muscular tone.
It looks aggressive in front, with racy elements from the aerodynamic bumper and a bowed hood inset with functional air scoop. Clear plastic lenses shield recessed headlamps with wild raked triangular shapes that evoke images of wings off the Formula cars.
Sides emphasize big wheelwells united by the arched line of A and C pillars flowing above side panels that bend and bow and crease in complex three-dimensional shapes.
At the tail, light clusters wrap around the corners below a lip of the hatchback lid, where the optional spoiler wing mounts.
Inside, the driver-oriented cockpit stocks sporty front bucket seats supported by bold side bolsters and separated by a broad console with indented cupholders and a covered storage bin.
Large analog gauges cluster in the dashboard instrument pod, with audio and climate controls stacked at center dash above the transmission shift lever.
A back seat adds two small spaces or flips down to expand a cargo floor accessed from the rear hatch lid.
Celica in new style contains integrated safety systems like an energy-absorbing structure surrounding the passenger compartment and front seats designed to lessen the risk of whiplash injury. Frontal air bags also appear, with side-impact air bags available optionally.
Pricing reflects competitive figures, for the entry-level Celica GT drops below $17,000 and the GT-S runs upward from $21,345.
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| Vehicle Specifications: |
| 2000 TOYOTA CELICA Specs |
| Description: |
Compact sports hatchback coupe
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| Model Options: |
Compact sports hatchback coupe
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| Wheelbase: |
102.3 inches
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| Overall Length: |
170.4 inches
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| Engine Size: |
DOHC 1.8-L I4
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| Transmission: |
GT: Manual/5, Auto/4
GT-S: Manual/6, Auto/4-E
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| Drive: |
Front
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| Braking: |
GT: Power disc/drum, ABS opt.
GT-S: Power 4-disc, ABS opt.
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| Airbags: |
2 (front) + opt. 2 (side)
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| Gas Mileage: |
GT M/5: 28/34 mpg
GT A/4: 27/34 mpg
GT-S M/6: 24/32 mpg
GT-S A/4: 24/30 mpg
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| Price: |
$ 16,700 to $ 26,000 |
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