need help with 87 fx16 gts - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

87corollafx16gts · 07-20-2011, 04:48 PM

i just got my corolla and i was wondering what i should start with first to make it faster and perform better, any ideas?

ariel_86 · 07-22-2011, 08:02 PM

A tune up and any other necessary maintenance it needs.

Seriously.

What are your plans/goals for the car? What type of driving/racing will you be doing with it? Street only, track only, drag, circuit/time attack/autocross, daily driver and weekend warrior?

Once you have that decided, then people can help point you in the right directions.

Donald · 07-24-2011, 11:05 AM

I agree with the maintenance and tuneup first.

Get the Toyota workshop manual. It is worth the money. < books4cars.com >

Check the TVIS system and make sure it is working. Mine wasn't working when I got my GT-S, the diaphram was bad. Fixing it made the car behave quite differently.
Check your exhaust systam. Make sure that it has not been butchered and pieced together with many different size pipes.

When all that is good, look into some good shock struts. For regular daily driving, KYB GR-2s are great for the price. Konis would be better, but cost more.
I don't think there are any quick bolt-on go-faster parts for this engine that are worth the expense. The best bang for buck, without a complete engine swap, will be to get pistons from a 90-91 GT-S, or some Wiesco high compression pistons (you would be looking at about $600 for the Weiscos + the cost of installation). I have never done that myself, but the increase in compression should give you a decent improvement throughout the RPM range.

bwh13 · 08-10-2011, 12:23 PM

Anything to help the engine rev faster to get up to speed will help. I installed a fresh air intake an noted increased peppiness of the revs.

Reducing weight will help too. I replaced my 33 lb battery with an Odyssey weighing 8 lbs and can tell the difference. Along with the new wheels and tires I've managed to drop 41 lbs off the car. That's a 2% drop, with 32 lbs of that off the front end. Handling will only improve with changes like that.

Handling wise, get a larger rear sway bar and replace the front lower control arm rear bushings with polyurethane. Ground control kit will allow different spring rates and heights.

Had mine aligned the other day and the shop (which does a lot of the track cars here) said it was a sweet handling car after test driving it around.