Important Note: please feel free to add or edit (correct) any information that you think it is necessary, let’s have a good reference for people who needs. I myself struggled a lot to find reliable resources and thanks in advance.
I have done lots of research and it seems there are not many 4AFE&7AFE engines upgraded for higher performance I am not surprised because that’s almost common belief that; this little car is A to B car which I am partially agree with this idea but i believe it is possible to transform this little charming lady to a "sleeper tiger" and probably no need a bank full of money for these upgrades . If exclude number #1 in this list which I myself do for my car and you are not afraid of being dirty, and enjoy a little challenging tasks. You will have a little "sleeper tiger" in the end with relatively low costs. I know everybody thinking how much? .I estimate ~~, < $1500 if just go for "must be done category" please please don't argue with this number it is "JUST" my opinion and if you are planning to spend X thousand dollars for your corolla it is your choice and because you have that money. just remember maybe there will be better option(s): sell your car and add that X K dollars then look at the cars like MitBi GT twin turbo or Supra twin turbo if you are Toyota lover . "be aware of cheap turbocharger in ebay" this is advice based on other people's experience. If you do research and be little patient you can find good used TC for very cheap and probably need ~ $ 100 to rebuild that . (I myself bought 1- Subaru turbo for $90 with wastegate 54k miles on it and ready to install 2- T2 (small Garrett which made for 80th -early 90th Nissan and probably the worst TC made by Garrett! ) for $50 without wastegate and needed to be rebuilt. I destroyed both TCs for my personal research .
What people do for higher performance? (Some of these lists are general for upgrading any car)
1- Engine swap; this is the common route; swap to 20 valves silver top.
2- Cold air intake, intake and exhaust manifolds (IMO, Installing TC or not, this upgrade will help a lot)
3- Transmission upgrade necessary for Automatic TM and IMO optional for standard TM.
4- High pressure fuel pump& pressure regulator and upgrade injectors.
it seems if you are looking for low boost TC around 3~4.5 psi even no need for intercooler.(some say till 6 psi) . After upgrading your fuel system no need for new programed ECU (just remove speed limiter) but I am a little critical about this part even though there are evidence psi<4.5 no need for intercooler & ECU upgrade. (EX: Nissan Z270 turbo Garrett T2 4.5 psi no intercooler) . if you are interested, do your research and inform me too, thanks in advance. But IMO intercooler and ECU upgrade will help a lot even it is not "must be done" upgrade.
5-shocks and struts upgrade, you will find enough info in TN.
6- motor mounts upgrade in higher level probably in psi>6 boost range no need to upgrade if you are not regular drag racer! If you enjoy working on car you can do this upgrade yourself extremely cheap around $20 instead buying $200-400 high performance motor mounts (Read "Piloter" pages)
7- Tires, brake system! (Probably not in "must be done" category)
8- Clutch system in standard cars ( same as above maybe you can call it optional)
9- Upgrade cooling system, very little attention to this part, but in my opinion this is in "must be done" catogary! Just my opinion.
10- Engine management Unit: This is the most challenging part in my opinion toward upgrading corolla 7th generation. Just keep in mind the last thing Toyota engineers thought&think is having a HP corolla! . Corolla is an affordable and reliable& low gas mileage car. Actually the original post was about ECU which I changed to what you see now. ECU became smarter and smarter after 1996 which resist to upgrades and reprogram pretty well (thanks lord my car is 1995 ). This is the fact for Toyota cars in general. There are two way to approach this task.
1-Standalone ECU:
You replaced your ECU with new reprogramed ECU or take out your ECU and send it to certain companies . They reprogram your ECU and send you back. Cost: $ 200~1000 I myself don't like this option for Toyota. As I said before it seems Toyota ECU is so clever and realized the changes and back to its original program after a while, in addition it seems there is not reliable company for this task. (Please edit and correct for new info).
2- Piggyback:
This is a device installed between engine components such as ATI & MAF& and 1995 1.8 lit and 1996 and newer models CSS (somebody correct about years and the models if I am wrong) and ECU actually this device trick poor ECU , ECU absolutely has no idea what’s going on under hood because piggyback sending the modified signals in safe range to ECU in addition control fuel/air ratio which is critical for HP cars. In instance if you are driving 140 miles in mid-July in Texas which I believe is 25 miles beyond speed limiter and fuel cut ( maybe these numbers need Edit) ECU receives signal that you are driving 80 MPH and have very cold air in intake therefore no fuel cut or speed limiter activation and xtera fuel because cold air . It seems this is much better option for our cars but the products are so limited and scams and B.S. products so unlimited !!!!!!. And trustable products extremely expensive > 500 $ and some even goes beyond $1000. There was an article on ebay about this part with very clear explanation that article names just three companies with known trusted products which my personal research proved that is correct). I hope I will find that article and post it here. Follow those three companies’ products. You will see a product with very good price $ 200~300 with very good options. I don’t want bring any companies name here. I will try finding the article and posting the link here. If somebody knows the link very welcome to post it here.
???- Performance chips; what you see all around internet for price $20~200 is nothing but simple resistor between ATI and ECU. Probably you yourself can do better job if think a little bit with almost few dollars. Oh lord tired of typing enough for now
Truthfully the ONLY reaql performance upgrade is the engine swap. All the rest may give you a little HP, but you run into other reliability issues.
Engine mounts are maintenance items and should have been done to any car here already.
Better suspension is always a great idea. Coilovers on stock struts= crap, and NOT an upgrade even if you llike the way it "looks."
my opinion too.
-sp
Speedy thanks for clarification.There is very important point that I want to remention again : COROLLA IS NOT MADE TO RUN FAST! period.People like us have this car for any reason and few of us(like me and probably you too) enjoy higher performance. And probably all of us know very well: "This is Corolla not a porsche or corvett or NissanZ or Toyota Supra Or even a Celica!!!" Engine swap is the easiest route as I and you mentioned "silver top" or maybe "black top" but not the only way. unfortunately there are not lots of Turbocharge Corolla that we can talk with numbers. the point in my OP was: we want high performance car: IMO 3 options :
1-Engine swap + all I mentioned in OP
2- Engine swap + turbo(or SC) + ////////
3-Stock Engine + turbo(or SC) + ////////
the last one is what I am interested and thats me and definately option "2" is the top choise if money is not an issue. And agree with you if we are not doing anything about engine powers, all I mentioned in OP just will give us a few hp.
About motor mounts: agree %100 with you that is routine maintance but when using "polyurethane" the rigidity will increase which is better in higher performance in accelration period. probably you know in drag cars(which are not allowed to drive in daily base!) engine attaches directly to the frame without any mounts. But agree with you who wanna take a corolla even high performance one to the drag strip who cares about 0.0X seconds ?Then lets stick to original mounts and look at that as routine maintance hahahha. Appearance is different story which there are many users in TN that have knowldge billion times more than me, no words about that.
Last edited by Danny289; 01-08-2012 at 03:23 PM.
Reason: correction
A 3S-GTE swap from an all-trac Celica turbo or a late-model Caldina will give you all the performance you can want and more. UK-based tuner Fensport Performance that had one swapped into an AE102 sedan a couple of years ago which was running 300+whp and had a top speed of 150+mph. Last I heard of it, Toyota Team Europe (TTE) purchased it from them and used it for research and development projects. Definitely the route to go for big power numbers if money is no object.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TURBO Das Automagazin
A BRZ, a curvy mountain road makes one liter of happiness hormones.
i Agree with Speedy. I Drive An AE102 93 And I cant Do Much To It, I Say Just Leave It As A Daily, Only Thing That Would Do is an Engine Swap. Rather Go With The Supra Or The MR2
i Agree with Speedy. I Drive An AE102 93 And I cant Do Much To It, I Say Just Leave It As A Daily, Only Thing That Would Do is an Engine Swap. Rather Go With The Supra Or The MR2
Fensport took down their page for the 7th gen Corolla build a long time ago after selling their car but here is a later model that has a 3S-GTE swap just to give you an idea of the potential that exists out there: http://www.fensport.co.uk/FensportCars/Corolla_GT4.aspx
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TURBO Das Automagazin
A BRZ, a curvy mountain road makes one liter of happiness hormones.
Thanx.. even though u can't see the pictures but still helps.... The swap shouldn't be really hard if Toyota made the trd 200 Corolla from factory with a 3sgte
Fensport took down their page for the 7th gen Corolla build a long time ago after selling their car but here is a later model that has a 3S-GTE swap just to give you an idea of the potential that exists out there: http://www.fensport.co.uk/FensportCars/Corolla_GT4.aspx
you missed one of the most important mods you need to do. brake upgrade. corolla's are notorious for not stopping. motor upgrades are worthless if you can't stop. drilled slotted rotors and better pads are a must! every time i go to the junkyard i see 90% of the corolla's are front end damage.
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解体屋 Just a gearhead in paradise...
i think the 6 piston/4 piston is somewhat overkill unless you're running turbo and pushing +250hp. i find standard brembo drilled and slotted rotors with Performance friction components carbon metallic pads is adequate. PFC's carbon metallic pads are the exact same pads TRD used to sell. i found a PFC break in procedure inside the box when i bought one of the final sets that were available. i'm still working on a cheaper brake upgrade, but haven't had time to work on it. i got some mini cooper rotors that come in at 11.5" and some corrado rotors that come in at 11". the problem i'm finding now is fitting a caliper.
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解体屋 Just a gearhead in paradise...
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. If exclude number #1 in this list which I myself do for my car and you are not afraid of being dirty, and enjoy a little challenging tasks. You will have a little "sleeper tiger" in the end with relatively low costs. I know everybody thinking how much?
.I estimate ~~, < $1500 if just go for "must be done category" please please don't argue with this number it is "JUST" my opinion and if you are planning to spend X thousand dollars for your corolla it is your choice and because you have that money. just remember maybe there will be better option(s): sell your car and add that X K dollars then look at the cars like MitBi GT twin turbo or Supra twin turbo if you are Toyota lover
. "be aware of cheap turbocharger in ebay" this is advice based on other people's experience. If you do research and be little patient you can find good used TC for very cheap and probably need ~ $ 100 to rebuild that . (I myself bought 1- Subaru turbo for $90 with wastegate 54k miles on it and ready to install 2- T2 (small Garrett which made for 80th -early 90th Nissan and probably the worst TC made by Garrett! ) for $50 without wastegate and needed to be rebuilt. I destroyed both TCs for my personal research . 
, ECU absolutely has no idea what’s going on under hood because piggyback sending the modified signals in safe range to ECU in addition control fuel/air ratio which is critical for HP cars. In instance if you are driving 140 miles in mid-July in Texas which I believe is 25 miles beyond speed limiter and fuel cut ( maybe these numbers need Edit) ECU receives signal that you are driving 80 MPH and have very cold air in intake therefore no fuel cut or speed limiter activation and xtera fuel because cold air . It seems this is much better option for our cars but the products are so limited and scams and B.S. products so unlimited 
!!!!!!. And trustable products extremely expensive > 500 $ and some even goes beyond $1000. There was an article on ebay about this part with very clear explanation that article names just three companies with known trusted products which my personal research proved that is correct). I hope I will find that article and post it here. Follow those three companies’ products. You will see a product with very good price $ 200~300 with very good options. I don’t want bring any companies name here. I will try finding the article and posting the link here. If somebody knows the link very welcome to post it here. 
but not the only way. unfortunately there are not lots of Turbocharge Corolla that we can talk with numbers. the point in my OP was: we want high performance car: IMO 3 options : 
who cares about 0.0X seconds ?Then lets stick to original mounts and look at that as routine maintance hahahha. Appearance is different story which there are many users in TN that have knowldge billion times more than me, no words about that.
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