"Better" intake on '90 Celica?

The '90 Celica that I have is an ST. I really like the car even though
it is a bit slow. Lately I have been wondering if there is ANYTHING I
could do to increase it's poor acceleration speed. One thing I was
thinking of was changing the stock intake to something "a little more
fancy." I'm not exactly sure how effective all the different intakes
are (though I have heard that cold air intakes are the best).

[url]http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TOYOTA-CELICA-ST-GT-GTS-GT-S-AIR-INTAKE-1990-1991-1999_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ38634QQihZ006QQitemZ160031136884QQrdZ1[/url]

The link above points to an eBay auction with an intake similar to the
one I was looking to install on my vehicle. Would this intake actually
benefit my car in the manner that it states (increased acceleration and
improved gas mileage)?

[url]http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/90-95-96-97-98-99-Toyota-Celica-Cold-Air-Intake-K-N-FT_W0QQitemZ230028813796QQihZ013QQcategoryZ38634QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem[/url]
What about this one (the cold air intake)?

For a cold air intake, is it true that the winter conditions exhibited
in Michigan (snow, slush, SALT) can damage the intake filter and caused
problems later on from debris getting caught in the intake?

Any help with this and more ideas on what I could do to improve the
acceleration of my ST would be great. Thanks!!

<omnineko@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1158552567.974726.178540@i3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
> The '90 Celica that I have is an ST. I really like the car even though
> it is a bit slow. Lately I have been wondering if there is ANYTHING I
> could do to increase it's poor acceleration speed. One thing I was
> thinking of was changing the stock intake to something "a little more
> fancy." I'm not exactly sure how effective all the different intakes
> are (though I have heard that cold air intakes are the best).
>
> [url]http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TOYOTA-CELICA-ST-GT-GTS-GT-S-AIR-INTAKE-1990-1991-1999_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ38634QQihZ006QQitemZ160031136884QQrdZ1[/url]
>
> The link above points to an eBay auction with an intake similar to the
> one I was looking to install on my vehicle. Would this intake actually
> benefit my car in the manner that it states (increased acceleration and
> improved gas mileage)?[/color]

Not likely enough to make the car seem fast.

[color=blue]
> [url]http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/90-95-96-97-98-99-Toyota-Celica-Cold-Air-Intake-K-N-FT_W0QQitemZ230028813796QQihZ013QQcategoryZ38634QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem[/url]
> What about this one (the cold air intake)?
>
> For a cold air intake, is it true that the winter conditions exhibited
> in Michigan (snow, slush, SALT) can damage the intake filter and caused
> problems later on from debris getting caught in the intake?[/color]

Yes.[color=blue]
>
> Any help with this and more ideas on what I could do to improve the
> acceleration of my ST would be great. Thanks!!
>[/color]

The car, and presumably the engine, are 17 years old. If you want to
noticeably improve the acceleration, install a new engine and transmission.
All other modifications are going to be marginal.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

Ray O wrote:[color=blue]
> All other modifications are going to be marginal.
> --
>
> Ray O
> (correct punctuation to reply)[/color]

I have to agree with you on this one. Unless you have totally
overhauled the rest of the gear and know its all in top notch
performance, and you remember to install the correct sized filter into
a cold-air-fed location while properly considering the road grime that
gets thrown up you will just lose power as the stock intake isnt that
bad. When i installed a K&N replacelent filter panel (direct swap, kept
stock intake gear) i saw an average of 0.5-1mpg increase over about 10
tanks on the standard car setup. I also saw this with a peugeot i ran
one on, but i did have to spend $50 on piping to get the filter to a
protected and cold intake location lol. Unless its fairly highly
modified id stay standard TBH.

The transmission was rebuilt about three thousand miles ago. As far as
the engine, it has less than 150k miles on it.

I'm not exactly looking for a BIG increase, just a noticable one. It
can be a little scary sometimes to try and hop on the freeway when it
takes what feels like half a minute to reach 70 MPH. ;)

Coyoteboy wrote:[color=blue]
> Ray O wrote:[color=green]
> > All other modifications are going to be marginal.
> > --
> >
> > Ray O
> > (correct punctuation to reply)[/color]
>
> I have to agree with you on this one. Unless you have totally
> overhauled the rest of the gear and know its all in top notch
> performance, and you remember to install the correct sized filter into
> a cold-air-fed location while properly considering the road grime that
> gets thrown up you will just lose power as the stock intake isnt that
> bad. When i installed a K&N replacelent filter panel (direct swap, kept
> stock intake gear) i saw an average of 0.5-1mpg increase over about 10
> tanks on the standard car setup. I also saw this with a peugeot i ran
> one on, but i did have to spend $50 on piping to get the filter to a
> protected and cold intake location lol. Unless its fairly highly
> modified id stay standard TBH.[/color]

[email]omnineko@yahoo.com[/email] wrote:[color=blue]
> I'm not exactly looking for a BIG increase, just a noticable one. It
> can be a little scary sometimes to try and hop on the freeway when it
> takes what feels like half a minute to reach 70 MPH. ;)[/color]

Thats not a new engine, or nearly new. Youre likely to see a 2-3hp
improvement at most, and maybe a loss if you dont keep the whole setup
sealed with only the point of intake in a cold location. Hot engine-bay
air really makes your car feel boggy. You might be suprised by how much
a new OEM filter will improve feel if the current one is old.

<omnineko@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1158576260.837297.205170@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
> The transmission was rebuilt about three thousand miles ago. As far as
> the engine, it has less than 150k miles on it.
>
> I'm not exactly looking for a BIG increase, just a noticable one. It
> can be a little scary sometimes to try and hop on the freeway when it
> takes what feels like half a minute to reach 70 MPH. ;)[/color]

My guess is that the increase will not be noticeable.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

Make sure it's tuned up and everything is up to spec. Everything else will
not help without a total rebuild.

You'll need more money than it's worth to make a Celica ST fast.

Carl


<omnineko@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1158552567.974726.178540@i3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
> The '90 Celica that I have is an ST. I really like the car even though
> it is a bit slow. Lately I have been wondering if there is ANYTHING I
> could do to increase it's poor acceleration speed. One thing I was
> thinking of was changing the stock intake to something "a little more
> fancy." I'm not exactly sure how effective all the different intakes
> are (though I have heard that cold air intakes are the best).
>
> [url]http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TOYOTA-CELICA-ST-GT-GTS-GT-S-AIR-INTAKE-1990-1991-1999_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ38634QQihZ006QQitemZ160031136884QQrdZ1[/url]
>
> The link above points to an eBay auction with an intake similar to the
> one I was looking to install on my vehicle. Would this intake actually
> benefit my car in the manner that it states (increased acceleration and
> improved gas mileage)?
>
> [url]http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/90-95-96-97-98-99-Toyota-Celica-Cold-Air-Intake-K-N-FT_W0QQitemZ230028813796QQihZ013QQcategoryZ38634QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem[/url]
> What about this one (the cold air intake)?
>
> For a cold air intake, is it true that the winter conditions exhibited
> in Michigan (snow, slush, SALT) can damage the intake filter and caused
> problems later on from debris getting caught in the intake?
>
> Any help with this and more ideas on what I could do to improve the
> acceleration of my ST would be great. Thanks!!
>[/color]

On 18 Sep 2006 03:44:20 -0700, [email]omnineko@yahoo.com[/email] wrote:
[color=blue]
>The transmission was rebuilt about three thousand miles ago. As far as
>the engine, it has less than 150k miles on it.
>
>I'm not exactly looking for a BIG increase, just a noticable one. It
>can be a little scary sometimes to try and hop on the freeway when it
>takes what feels like half a minute to reach 70 MPH. ;)
>
>Coyoteboy wrote:[color=green]
>> Ray O wrote:[color=darkred]
>> > All other modifications are going to be marginal.
>> > --
>> >
>> > Ray O
>> > (correct punctuation to reply)[/color]
>>
>> I have to agree with you on this one. Unless you have totally
>> overhauled the rest of the gear and know its all in top notch
>> performance, and you remember to install the correct sized filter into
>> a cold-air-fed location while properly considering the road grime that
>> gets thrown up you will just lose power as the stock intake isnt that
>> bad. When i installed a K&N replacelent filter panel (direct swap, kept
>> stock intake gear) i saw an average of 0.5-1mpg increase over about 10
>> tanks on the standard car setup. I also saw this with a peugeot i ran
>> one on, but i did have to spend $50 on piping to get the filter to a
>> protected and cold intake location lol. Unless its fairly highly
>> modified id stay standard TBH.[/color][/color]

As you've heard from others, the increase wouldn't be significant
enough for you to notice.

I say this with consternation but perhaps you should look into
nitrous. It's cheap and can really make a significant difference. I
warn you though to be very conservative with it as it may prove
detrimental to an old engine designed for fuel economy and not for
drag racing.

For more reliable power, look into a header and cat-back exhaust
replacement. Make sure to purchase a high quality header. Cheap ones
crack on Toyota engines (due to high heat I think).

Carl wrote:[color=blue]
> Make sure it's tuned up and everything is up to spec. Everything else will
> not help without a total rebuild.
>
> You'll need more money than it's worth to make a Celica ST fast.
>
> Carl
>[/color]

I agree, on an older non-turbocharged engine the cost of noticable
performance modifications is generally greater than the value of the
car.

J

<omnineko@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:1158576260.837297.205170@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
> The transmission was rebuilt about three thousand miles ago. As far as
> the engine, it has less than 150k miles on it.
>
> I'm not exactly looking for a BIG increase, just a noticable one. It
> can be a little scary sometimes to try and hop on the freeway when it
> takes what feels like half a minute to reach 70 MPH. ;)
>
> Coyoteboy wrote:[color=green]
>> Ray O wrote:[color=darkred]
>> > All other modifications are going to be marginal.
>> > --
>> >
>> > Ray O
>> > (correct punctuation to reply)[/color]
>>
>> I have to agree with you on this one. Unless you have totally
>> overhauled the rest of the gear and know its all in top notch
>> performance, and you remember to install the correct sized filter into
>> a cold-air-fed location while properly considering the road grime that
>> gets thrown up you will just lose power as the stock intake isnt that
>> bad. When i installed a K&N replacelent filter panel (direct swap, kept
>> stock intake gear) i saw an average of 0.5-1mpg increase over about 10
>> tanks on the standard car setup. I also saw this with a peugeot i ran
>> one on, but i did have to spend $50 on piping to get the filter to a
>> protected and cold intake location lol. Unless its fairly highly
>> modified id stay standard TBH.[/color]
>
>[/color]


Just a thought... But do you have the original size tires on your car?

GL
Dan