1988 Toyota Corolla SR5

[Dave A]

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I'm contemplating the purchase of a 1988 Corolla SR5 but I have a few questions about how desirable this car would be. I've seen the car but have not looked under the hood or heard it run. I was hoping you guys could give me some advice so I'm a bit more educated when I go drive it.

It is a 5spd with a/c. The body is very solid and I only observed a few rock chips on the hood. The interior is very clean and the seats look like they're in great shape. I've been poking around the internet to find out more about corollas and I see that some are rear wheel drive. This one appeared to be front wheel drive.

What is the significance of the SR5 package? Is that just a trim level? Where does the SR5 fall in line compared to other corollas of the same year.

Is there a particular engine to look for or avoid? Are there any particular characteristics (problems) of this car that I need to keep an eye out for?

Any general advice regarding this model and year would be greatly appreciated. I figured this would be the right place to come for honest advice.

By the way, the present owner says it runs fine but has a "leaking hydraulic line leading to the transmission".

thanks in advance,
Dave A

[RedruM]

good reliable car but if you want performance then go with the GTS- comes with side skirts and body colour matched bumpers and a better motor... 4 wheel disc brakes.. stock strut bar and much more over the SR5

[EmptyMethod]

My SR5 has bumpers that match the rest of my car.

[micro214_kp61]

Originally posted by EmptyMethod
My SR5 has bumpers that match the rest of my car.

it was prolly re-painted already!

[REN69]

maybe its another GTSR5!

[4AFred]

if I had the choice (which I didnt when purchasing my car) I would have bought a GTS instead. And now after almost a year I have the sideskirts, spoiler, strut bar and the rims for the GTS. It would hve been alot easier if i had bought the GTS.

[toyotaspeed90]

my sr5 came with factory painted bumpers (paint looks factory, and doesn't have characteristics of aftermarket painted bumpers.... not a single chip anywhere).... it also came with a moonroof... but no a/c... it also had 13" factory toyota mesh wheels.... and nicer seats than other sr5's i've seen

what the GTS has over the SR5:

bodywise: lacks the 3rd brake light in the dash, most have a rear spoiler with a 3rd brake light built in, they come with 14" wheels (1" larger than an SR5), sideskirts... looks wise that's about it

suspensionwise: the struts are a bit stiffer (and i've heard they're taller as well... some have serviceable struts which makes things much cheaper down the line).... they have a front swaybar (23mm) and a larger rear sway bar (sr5 has a smaller rear and NO front swaybar), and a front strut brace that ties to the firewall, the gts also has rear disc brakes

enginewise: the engine of the GTS is more of a performance engine, with a TWIN CAM (the sr5 has a DOHC, but it's not a twin cam).... also, 88-89 sr5's came carb'd where as all gts's came efi

that all being said, i have an sr5 which is in the middle between sr5 and gts.... it's a good running car, but generally you can find a GTS for only a few hundred dollars more and you get a LOT more car for your money.... compared to the 4 door corolla's of the same year, the engine and suspension is the same, you lose a little weight and 2 doors with the SR5 and obtain flip up lights in the process

[Punisher]

Go with a GTS... I have an '89 SR5 coupe and I love it.. but I got it a year ago when I didn't know bullspit about cars..

Anyway, since them I have had the cams hardwelded and re-ground so they have a longer duration now.. I also got a weber 32/36DGEV carburator on it.. I cleaned the intake manifold and cleaned the intake and exhaust ports out.. so much gunk and crap was stuck up on top of the valve heads and in the intake manifold and the intake ports had tons of muddy oil build up..

I did the rear disc brake swap from an '89 GTS coupe.. Re-did the whole exhaust system.. new headers to new muffler.. Now I'm in the processes of adding a ram-air intake on the right quarter panel.. gonna be a scoop.. Just gotta get back from my vacation to do that.. Got some 55w round fog-lights I'm gonna put in the bumber.. stuff like that.. I also got the strut bar from an '89 GTS and put it on my sr5..

So .. all in all the SR5 can be mod'd and made into a nice car.. but it still doesn't have the 4AGE engine like the GTS.. w hich has the twincam.. btw, DOHC and twin cam difference is

they both have 2 camshafts.. 16v's ... but twin cam means that there is a timing belt gear on each camshaft.. where as the 4AF (AE92 SR5 engine) is just DOHC, the exhaust camshaft has the timing gear on it.. and the camshaft as a gear on it which drives the intake cam

So yes, twin-cam is easier to get precision tuning from..
If you want to be able to easily mod and tune the engine get the GTS... more products available for it now over the SR5's 4AF engine.

[Xenon]

I wouldn't definetly tell you to go with GTS if you're looking to get power and a good package..

The GTS has a lot more to offer for only a few hundreds more...

I'm an SR5 owner myself...

Here's the website of my SR5 if you're interested..

1990 Corolla SR5

[Punisher]

Yea, the SR5 is a car for the seriously determined folk.. You can't own an SR5 if you get easily discouraged.. My goal is to have a car that screams on the road and everyone is utterly shocked to find out it's the lower SR5 model..

Although eventually it's gonna be a 4AGZE job for me.. hopefully in the same '89 corolla body.. who knows.

Get a GTS if you can bud!

[boroEF]

u guys forgot to mention: OIL COOLER!

gts has oil cooler, sr5 doesnt. if this car is ever going to see track on a regular basis, i recommend u get a gts.

4 wheel discs
better suspension
more torque
more hp
higher redline
stronger block
more aftermarket support
and i'm not sure about the gearing but it's a possibility that it's different. 4.3 final drive ratio

[Xenon]

Punisher, I have bad news for you.. In order for your SR5 to carry a 4AGZE you would have to change your whole front end pretty much! I already researched that and didn't like the answers I got...

[Punisher]

4AGZE is originally RWD isn't it?

Oh well...

Yea, well you could add an oil cooler if you wanted.. quite easily.

As far as I know the gearing is the same

[Xenon]

No! 4AGZE is perfect for our cars, it actually came on AE92's in Japan. The 4AGZE is also made for the MR2 which is RWD Rear engine, so that would fit in a FWD front engine setup, it's actually a direct bolt on into the GTS.

But with the SR5, you have to change the following in order to run the 4AGZE in your car:

- Wire Harness
- ECU (Expensive)
- Transmission
- Front suspension (The SR5 front suspension is different from the GTS front, the rears are the same)

So, you should pretty much get a front GTS clip, it would be easier, or even just buy a GTS

[Punisher]

Unfortunatly though if I make my SR5 nice and purrrtty I wouldn't want to scrap it and get a crappy cheap GTS just to drop the 4AGZE in it.. I'd want to keep my beautiful SR5 body and have the 4AGZE in it.. Damn ECU... WHat would have to be changed with the suspension? I guess if I just got a front clip that would give me everything to change the suspension over.. plus it would have the ECU in it.. and the tranny.. But on top of that I need to do even more work to get rid of the EFI crap cuz I would have it carb'd.. hmmmm

And with the suspension I would probably get new aftermarket parts.. To be completely honest all of this work and money I would go through to get it done I wouldn't just drive this car every day for work or play.. I would most definitly be going into AutoX stuff or some type of racing with this car that I could make the money back that I put into it..

After I was done with mod'ing the engine it would be screaming fast..

Xenon, if you got MSN Mess. get me on pink_floyd17@hotmail.com