New 01 Celica, have some questions

[Av06]

Hi everyone, I just bought a 2001 Celica with 60k miles. It is in pretty good condition and I am incredibly excited to start driving it. My question is if there are any good small performance upgrades that are commonly done and actually help out? Or is there anything I should be looking for that will break first? Any other info is appriciated greatly.

Thanks

[Serge]

Well you can start off with small things. If it has been on synthetic oil, switch everything to Motul, both transmission and motor oil. as well as new denso spark plugs, you will notice a good difference. As everyone starts modding, people forget the basics like lubricants that actually drive the car and make a huge difference.

Your first purchase should be a good set of tires, and don't cheap out.

After that, you can look into intakes and exhausts. For that just look at the most popular products people use for our celica's.

Is it a GT or GTS?

Tell us something about your car, has the previous owner done any changes and anything you have been told?

[AE86_Celica GTS]

At 60k miles look out for a broken lift bolt. get that changed to the gen 2 lift bolts and you'll feel a huge difference if your current one is broken. Heres a link on how to do it if your gonna do it yourself, since the dealer will overcharge like crazy. http://www.teamcelica.com/tech/installs/liftbolts/ As for power mods, a cold air intake and exhaust should do the trick, for now, along with a full tune up.

[w203]

Celica GT or GTS? They both have different engines. One 1zz the other 2zz. For the 2zz the engine is quite potent to bolt ons while the 1zz wouldn't see much gain. For the 1zz I'd say keep up with maintenance. And also depends on your budget...

[Epsilon]

Bolt-ons such as old air intake with the Blue Bomber mod to prevent bogging, exhaust, header, and Apexi Power FC with custom tuning will be sufficient if you have a GT-S.

[Av06]

Thanks for all the replies, it is a 01 GT 5sp. It was a one owner, leased car, 60k. Nothing done to it except tinting and new tires 15k ago. I have been hearing injen is the best CAI company to go with, is that true?

[AE86_Celica GTS]

Didn't even check to see if it was a gt or gts lol, for the gt go injen, aem is also good but depending on the generation of the aem intake you might run into bogging problems. If you can find a hotshot header that gives a good gain as well, along with a trd exhaust you should be good. Weapon R makes a race header for both gt and gts but going all out n/a isn't worth it for a gt. The 1zz is good for going turbo since it has lower compression than the gts 2zz, it allows for it to be a bit safer, and produce good power. Trd also makes an s/c kit for it.

[Serge]

Just be aware that a Cold air intake may cause hydrolock.

as for other mods might cause problems, unless you go after proven products or TRD itself.

[Epsilon]

Also focus on suspension mods to take advantage of the Celica's awesome handling.