CCUK

Finally after 1 month away from home and ultimately my Celica, I have something to post on this blog. Before I came to the UK, I contacted some members on their homepage and was invited to their meet (TT) last night and I met one member on FaceBook and he drove me there (Thanks SJ). Being very excited to finally be in a Celica again, I headed to their meet with high hopes.

We talked during the drive and I've learned many differences between the 2 countries and I was glad to see the Celica scene in the UK. I was introduced to the 2 rotrex supercharger owners and learned more about the system as no one has attempted it back home in Malaysia. Other things that I've learned about UK Celica's are what's the best engine management, why there is no turbo 7 Generation and the difference between a JDM and an UKDM.

I'm gonna stop talking here and let the photos do the talking. There are 4 videos that would also be posted here as well. Hope you all will enjoy.

Final Act

During my installation of the Camcon, I was promised higher power and better fuel consumption. I barely gained 2 whp and now I feel that my fuel consumption is still the same as before although there is an increase in acceleration. Furthermore, after removing the butterfly valve the power seems laggy and not smooth.

Butterfly Valve

After talking to many other owners, I have decided to go for another tuning at Sunway specifically at Millennium Auto. This facility uses a lighter dyno machine, Dyno Dynamics that produces a lower reading. I had to add 20 whp or 15.4% exactly. At the end, I got 149 whp with a total of 10 whp increase from Camcon. This is what I call power.

Millenium actually took much longer than I expected on my car and the result was tremendous. My car has increased in power and is much smoother. I hit 202km/h after the tune and I'm pleased. In the end, the conclusion is that Trials has fallen and is time to try other tuners. This was my final act on my Celica before I left Malaysia and went to UK for studies.

Busy week

It has been quiet in the mod area as I was busy with a lot of maintenance trips to get my car in top shape. However, in the sprit of modding, I did manage to squeeze in 2 mods which was great. The first one I did was installing a digital speed meter. Not only does it tell a more accurate speed than an analog meter, it also has the function of eliminating the Japanese speed cut of 180km/h.

At first I thought about removing the speed cut but I dun really get to that speed normally on the road so it would be a waste of money. However, when I found this really cheap one, I immediately wanted it. The one I bought is a very old Pivot Speed Meter/Limiter Cut which removes the speed cut, tells the fastest you driven during that drive and provide time attacks. According to the meter, my top speed is 199km/h but I could not reach that the 2nd time.

The 2nd mod would be installing my long bought much thicker TRD front anti roll bar which was bought months ago. Finally, I have found someone to install it. Along with my TRD M Sports suspension tower plate (recently bought), my handling has improved tremendously even after the realigning of rear tires and lousy tires that brought down my performance.

Suspension Tower Plates

Standard (black) & TRD (yellow) anti roll bars

It has been a long week with literally many trips to mechanics and it really took everything out of me and burned a big hole in my wallet. However, I'm happy with my mods.

Test Result

After the installation of the Camcon, several people convinced me more about the big effect it will have on my Celica. My friend stated this, "Because your air fuel mixture is better after tuned, your power comes in more consistent even though there is small 2 hp increase.", which is absolutely right. I went to test the power with my friends and boy we had so much fun.

The different that the Camcon did to my Celica is increasing the torque in my mid range after 3200 rpm and I do feel the early engaging point of my lift and my 3rd gear now has lift now. Acceleration at higher gear without downshifting is smoother and easier. The pull in mid range has improve fairly but the front range still feels sluggish.

The better fuel consumption statement is yet to be tested and I do hope it turns out true as that is a crucial point and sadly, as I don't drive above 3000 rpm daily, it is hard to feel the new found power in the mid range. I will do more testing for it and I have been told that it could be further tuned to achieve better result. I would be itchy to try that but not anytime soon. Gotta save up my money for other things.

ps. I re-taped the camcon.

Camcon CC-101

After my lose in bidding for the rare exclusive Power FC for auto Celica made by Brash Boy, I had to find other options to boost my Celica's power especially since I have a heavy car from big rims and big rotors. Many of my members recommend the Camcon CC-101 which in the end should include the combination with E-Manage. That would be another story.

So, the Camcon can adjust the cam angle to mess with the timing system of the engine. I also get increase in torque and better fuel consumption. It cost me quite a lot for me but only with a small increase of 2 whp in total. Some would say this is a waste of money (I'm very convinced), but there is the explanation where my engine is so healthy that it just increase by a little.

So, now after spending a lot and having a small device tape inside my glove compartment, I do not know whether I am happy that my engine is very healthy compare to many others or sad that it cost so much to only get a small bump in power. I have yet to fully test the car. So gotta go test it soon. Hope it goes well. I should have taken more photos during the installation process but I was just too busy waiting for the result.

ps. The mechanic taped my Camcon upside down. Gotta fix it myself.

Dyno

Whenever you buy a sports car, the power is always the interest in mind. Some prefer the torque while some prefer the raw power. Nevertheless, one must know its current level before further improvement could be made. This is done by doing a dyno test on your car and measure its fuel air ratio, wheel horsepower and torque levels.

There has been several members who had share their dyno results and I have always wanted to try to know what my Celica is currently capable of. So, I finally had my first dyno testing at Trials, a well known tuner for Celica in Japan. Since my president is good pals with the owner, I got my test at a low price. This was my first experience of this sort. It was pretty awesome to hear the roar of my Celica. 

The outcome was great. My car make 139.64 whp and 14.05 Kg-M of torque which is pretty healthy for an auto Celica. I was thrilled to hear the result as my car is stock with a mod on the air filter and exhaust muffler. Overall in comparison with my member's car, his achieve lift earlier and have a lower fuel consumption compare to mine. My car is very heavy and I think I need to mod power next as I got my handling and braking system upgraded.

Last TT with a Twist

Since according to Chinese Law, after a funeral, one must stay away from entertainment for at least 49 days. My outing with the club is deemed entertaining and I could not attend anymore TT. So, with the coincidence of the venue for that week's TT was conveniently my housing area, I convinced my mum to let me attend.

Due to the busy schedule to launch our club, our main members are busy with arrangements. Thus, most meetings hence forth will carry the duty of having meetings regarding club agendas. We had quite a turnout and as usual we were talking about the club and the car. Soon it was getting late and most members stay very far from my place. It was down to me and my friend Chew as we both lived there.

My car was having noise issue and I let him drive my Celica to test it out. Coincidently, he just changed is suspensions to a C-One 4 way adjustable suspensions. I asked him to compare to my setup. He was not pleased with his soft setting although it was the maximum but it is still far more better than his previous setup. When I send him back to his car, I told him I always wanted to test his car as his is a manual.

He taught me how to do proper launching with a manual car and rev out the potential of his slightly mod Celica. It was mind blowing the fact that a manual Celica alone is capable of such power where my auto seems pale in comparison. The torque was awesome and the shifting was fun. I'm not really great in manual but still I made it fly.

His car made me want to keep my car a NA car as it is already quite powerful. Thank you for that chance and I hope your car get well soon as he suffered a blown engine with a camrod and oil pump broken down. Our manual Celica is prone to oil pump disintegration from the effects of over rev and mis-shifts.

His is the white one and mine is next to him

His mod

Tires

After a year and 2 months of driving hard my tires started losing its grip and gone bald. So like what a normal person would do, I started looking for tires and my dad looked for his supplier as usual. My members introduced the Dunlop SP Sport FM901 and I asked my dad to look for it and it costs RM700+ for one tire which is ridiculously expensive for my standards.

I bought Falken ZIEX ZE912 for my Vios and it was pretty good and cheap. So, I decided to get it for my Celica. My Celica uses 225/40 tires and it costs RM550 per tire. So far it is just alright but I felt that it is not that grippy compared to my previous tires. I just have to wait for the tires to season and see how it goes.

Here's comes the problem. My Celica has a setup of negative camber when I bought it. I loved it for its stability but it will kill or already kill my wallet as only 3/4 of the tires would be used. So I wanna make it straight but the guy said it's not possible and long story short I have to set it up again. I'm gonna show some people to get the right setting. Also one of my wheel cap is off and needs to fix it. Wish me luck.

Lower Arm

Ever since I got my Celica, there has been none stop clanking sound from the front part of the car. I thought it was meant to be like that as Celica has low sound proofing. This was later known as the sound from busted ball joints from my Tein suspensions and bush from my lower arm bars. I have searched for all alternatives to remedy this problem.

Most of the dealers sells the whole 2 lower arm bars and not just the bushes which will cost me RM5k. Luckily one member introduced me to his mechanic from Gee Spec and I got it done with a steal of RM540 including the reattachment of my skirts as it is coming off. However, the guy told me my upper pillow mount plate is busted too but I don't wanna change it. Too much work.

In the end, all skirting are firm except the rear right side that keeps coming out. The clanking noise has been reduced and I'm satisfied except for a sound of loose parts or plastic at around 120km/h. I'm going to get it done till I'm satisfied.

Ball Joints

Lower Arm Bush

Official Club

Due to the passing of my grandfather, there has been no update on this blog and now I am back with more news. First of all is the approval of my club, Celica Club Malaysia (CCM) by my government and it is an official club recognized. This is all thanks to my visionary president and my vice-president who works in the government. Everything has been smooth so far and soon there will be an official ceremony but I can't attend due to my mourning curfew.

For celebration, we went for a karaoke session where we sang our hearts out and took some photos. I have been sworn in as a committee member. Lucky me. Happy birthday to CCM and here are some photos.

Test Drive: Kia Picanto

Didn't expect that I would be writing another post with this title but here I am with another test drive. This contribution is thanks to my friend's new addition to the family, a 2011 Naza (Kia) Picanto. I have never been much into Korean cars except the Hyundai Coupe (because it's a sports model) and the recent very popular Hyundai Sonata and Hyundai Tucson (already reviewed here).

From my friend, I got some information regarding the Picanto. It is a small car, smaller than a Myvi but bigger than a Viva. The front is not to my taste with its teardrop shape headlights but the rear is quite stunning with looks that does not spell cheap car design. My friend got the sports edition which includes front diffuser (plastic), side skirts and 15" sports rim.

The interior is very minimal and plasticky all around as expected but the meters are very a nice touch with red illumination. My friend did not know about the car's foglight although it is clearly visible from the exterior (he is a little more blur than I thought). We had a tough time locating the switch for the foglight and found out that it is a button on the center console. The back seats were too short although there are lots of headroom which is weird. Hard to lean down as headrest would be at your neck and upper back

Soon we went for a test drive. This car has a small 1000 cc engine and the performance is bound to be disappointing. According to my friend, the first gear is useless but the other gears were decent. When I drove, I felt it was just acceptable and realize the floor was shaking which lead me to worry about the sturdiness of the chassis. The brakes was fantastic as a light touch could stop the car. I also did a U-turn to test the absorber and it was great with minimal body roll.

I would say that besides the engine power, not bad for a car under RM 50k where the brakes and suspension set up is acceptable. When in comparison with his Myvi SE, I would say it is worth the money.