Just got a Tercel and plan to Auto-X it!

[phillyj88]

Hello my name is Jesse and i have just recieved a 94' Tercel from my grandmother for free. So me and a couple of my friends got together and came up with the idea of making it a full time Auto Cross car, which means that we do not plan to put tags on it. The engine runs good and the over all condition of the car is pretty good. So far we have taken out the rear seat to save weight, relocated the battery to the trunk, installed a custom CAI that we made our selfs, and disconnected the exhaust before the muffler. Our future plans will be to lower the car by cutting the springs, custom sway bars, and custom side exhaust.

IF ANYONE HAS ANY MOD'S THAT COULD BE USEFUL OR COMMENTS ON THE BUILD UP IT WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED,

We also will be selling the parts of the car that we will be taking out so if any one is interested in some parts please post or email me wreckademiks@gmail.com
(I will be posting pics of the build up when i get the chance to)

Thanks,
Jesse

[drehtwnftbl]

i know a homemade strut tower bar would be a must, and they are very easy to make

[Donald]

Is it a real CAI, or a short ram?
If it is a short ram, you might move your torque curve up the RPM range which might not be the best thing. I had on a short ram but swapped it out for the stock intake tube with a cone filter on the end because I do not have space for a propper CAI yet. The engine responds better with the stock intake tube than the short ram for me.

If the car is a stick shift you might want to get a 4AGE gear box and swap the gears into your gearbox for a better 1 - 2 shift, which I find is the weakest feature of the Tercel for auto crossing. I am planning to do that to mine also.

[Tercel Drifter]

Suspension, suspension and suspension. this is what you need most.

Strut bar, paseo front sway bar, lower arm bar, floor bar stabalizer, lowering springs, anti lift plates, kyb gr2's, starlet whiteline rear swaybar. Camber kit.

[phillyj88]

I would call it a CAI, we removed the right front headlight so that air can flow freely to the air filter. We just used some exhaust tubing for the main body of the tube and a performance cone filter from pep boys. I forgot to mention that we are trying to keep this low budget and we would rather make parts our selfs than have to buy them if it is possible.

[Tercel Drifter]

Performance Bolt on's include Throttle body, Under drive pulley, better spark plug wires. custom exhaust (no more than 2.25 inches or you'll loose torque) Custom ex headers, CAI.

http://board.tercelonline.com/viewthread.php?tid=21608

There you go. Remember suspension, is the most important part of AutoX (IMHO) then you can have some power to back it up. The fact that our cars weight only 2000 lbs is a great asset. Good luck and have fun too.

[Tercel GTS]

When you say autoX are you talking solo2 or multi car events? Normal autoX is not a cheap hobby and requires special license.

[Donald]

Originally Posted by Tercel GTS

When you say autoX are you talking solo2 or multi car events? Normal autoX is not a cheap hobby and requires special license.

I beg to differ with you GTS. I participate in local club events and it is only as expensive as you want it to be. You can really sink some bucks or just run your daily driver. Ofcourse there is always the risk of a busted clutch if you get too aggressive.

Suspension and brakes. Yeah!!! I didn't say anything about that because I am running an older model and I am not sure what the differences are with the newer models, but I am running Paseo suspension and front brakes. A good suspension and brakes will beat engine power $ for $ I think.

[Tercel GTS]

The only multi car autoX I've seen around here is over $100 per entry. Solo2 is $20 per event here. I wish we had more reasonable autoX's.

[ToyotaTechGeek]

UGH! I-chops...yuckz! removing the exhaust is going to net a big fat zero in the performance catergory. i also agree that a short ram type of intake is going to net another big fat zero. maybe you should leave the car the way it is, get some race compund tires, and learn to drive the car without mods. it keeps you in a stock class and the cost is little more than a major tune-up.

[AstroVannin]

If you look an ebay for 13" yokohama tires, theres a guy that sells slightly used Yokohama A048 race tires from those formula ford cars. Ive got a set and thy work pretty good. Just to go with what TTg said that would probably be a better start than just hacking stuff up. Although I think it probably sounds better minus the muffler.

[idavid76]

Dudes, does the Paseo front sway bar bolt on directly to my 95' Tercel or is there fab work needed? Also, "home made" strut bar....please tell me more on this mod!

[wedge]

Originally Posted by phillyj88

we do not plan to put tags on it. The engine runs good and the over all condition of the car is pretty good. So far we have taken out the rear seat to save weight,

If it's not getting plated, and you want to save weight. You should completely strip out the interior. I mean COMPLETELY! No seats, no carpets, no dash, no wiring, no sound deadening, nothing! Leave just a driver's seat, pedals, and steering wheel. NOTHING else! You'd be amazed how much weight can be removed. I've seen this done with great sucess. A guy in my area has done this to a Civic, and another guy that did the same thing with an MR2. It's just got suspension, tires, and is ultra-lightweight, and it's crazy fast, with no engine mods at all.
Edit: oh yeah, and they also took out all glass (except the windshield), and exterior lights, and whatever body panels they were allowed to remove... the list goes on...

[Donald]

Originally Posted by idavid76

Dudes, does the Paseo front sway bar bolt on directly to my 95' Tercel or is there fab work needed? Also, "home made" strut bar....please tell me more on this mod!

I don't know about the '95, but I put one on my '89. The suspension dimensions are the same so the links on the ends line right up. There are already the holes in the lower control arms, all you have to do is remove the rubber plugs. I had to drill holes for the brackets that bolt to the body, your car might already have those.

[Donald]

Originally Posted by Tercel GTS

The only multi car autoX I've seen around here is over $100 per entry. Solo2 is $20 per event here. I wish we had more reasonable autoX's.

Our local club here in the Triad area of Nortn Carolina costs $25 per year for membership, and participation in events costs $20 for members and $25 for non-members. We have 9 events each year. The third for this year is next Sunday. We run solo2.