I had to get a new clutch in my car so I didn't have it for a week b/c the shop was backed up. I did not know how much I would miss my car.. (94 ST). While it was in the shop I had the chance to drive all my roomies cars. I drove a 94 Honda Accord, 94 Integra, 97 Ford contour V6, 96 Jeep wrangler. I tell you from all those cars, my celica handled the best and had the 2nd best Accel (integra faster). I read all these posts how the celica handles so well and I tell you it is soo true.
The Accord took off slower than the speed of smell and handled like ****.
The Jeep, well its a jeep, so thats a diff catergory(but it was fun to drive, I reccomed driving on if you get the chance).
The ford was faster than the accord b/c of t he v6 but handling was **** and I still think my ST is faster off the line. It was slow.
The integra had great pickup, but I didn't handle the corners as well as my Celica does.
I also prefer the interior of the Celica to all the cars that above. The only mods I have are SRI, and front strut bar. I love my car soo much more now that I drove other POS's.

Has anyone else experienced this and Loved your car more than before??

i do i do i do


2nd gen eclipses (95-99)

they handle very good as well. just like celicas. the interior is cool too. only they have more power.

I think the eclipses are nice to, and they definately have more power, but I believe that teh celica has better reliability

-jayi12-15psi+Oct 19, 2003 - 3:28 PM

-6gencelicasrule+Oct 19, 2003 - 4:03 PM

yea i dont know what people are talking about with dsm's not being reliable

i see 1st gens EVERYWHERE

i know a few people with over 200K miles on there stock motors

the only people that damage turbo and n/a cars are people that dont know what they are doing

I agree with you that there are alot of dsms with alot of miles on them, but sad thing is is that some people dont know how to take care of their cars and its my opinion that a dsm would fall apart (if not taken care of) long before a toyota

but thats just because I am die hard toyota, no offense to dsm lovers, I think the gsx/gst is an awsome car

so my friend just got a 99 or some year camaro and he was lettin me drive it. and im just cruisin down my street and i go to take a corner i usually take at about 50 in my celli, in only 35-40 (cauz i was goin slow, its not my car) and i thought it was gonna flip. My friends like... 'cmon dude, u cant take corners that fast in this thing'... i couldnt help but grin >>

the celica is the 3rd best handling car i have ever driven right behind my first car (Adui A4, and my cousins MB CLK 55 AMG) but that doesn't make me love my celi any less..

I have like 4 friends (girls) who all drive eclipse GS's....all of them have had problems at some point with them. Same thing with my friends who drive accords too, like random crap goes wrong with them like gas tank problems or the check engine light comes on constantly.

After a year and a half of owning my car ive had nothing wrong except a CV joint that needed replacing, but thats nothing out of the ordinary for a 94. It's also faster and way nicer than any N/A Eclipse ive ever been in, and handles waaaay better than anything ive driven, minus the BMW Z4, but that doesnt count. >> Even then, the celica was damn nice in comparison and i still preferred its interior.

From what ive seen in comparison, it doesnt get much better than the fine balance of sportiness, handling and ride quality, and practicality of the 6th gen celica, thats why im so glad i happened to buy one. >>

-Matthew+Oct 19, 2003 - 6:45 PM

I've been bitten by the Dodge SRT-4. It's faster than most every car on the road, and FAR faster than the big time imports= Hondas Acuras, and even the WRX. With a little tweaking, I could spank camaro's in one! I realize that the handling isn't near the celica, but that can be fixed to some degree. On the other hand, it would take crazy money to get the celica anywhere near the SRT in the performance area. Even then, my drive shafts would explode, so.... I don't know. Maybe I'm thinking outloud.

Jon

the 2nd gen turbo eclipse has a major engine flaw that will cause the engine to cranwalk sooner or later.

its such a shame cause they are great looking cars that you can get in AWD turbo.

-lagos+Oct 19, 2003 - 9:10 PM

-FallenHero+Oct 19, 2003 - 11:48 PM

hi guys, well I don't think that Celica's are ALL-THAT and ****!!! They are nice cars (no **** I got one), mine is fairly moded, but there is lot better cars for about the same amount of money (celi's are sometimes overpriced--- regular dealer toyota reliability bla bla)...

examples:

UNDER $10,000 (94-97 celis are under that amount)

Acura Integra GSR (nice ****n acceleration, premium braking)
Mitsu Eclipse GSX (awesome all wheel drive power distribution)
Nissan 240sx (s13/s14) (**** yea, REAR wheel drive rules, drifter)
VW GTI VR-6 (the old style, nice V6 for the $$$, easily moded)


***Oh and I'm not sure if you know, but most of you ST owners are still rolling on ****n "break drums"; which really suck dick compared to "rotors/disks"

my .02

-97sccelica+Oct 19, 2003 - 11:17 PM

Ive driven quite a few hondas and i like my celica much more. granted both integras that i owned weren't tpo of the line, both the '93 and the '95, but niether is my st. and the civic si '96 wasn't all that wonderful even with the vtec.

-6gencelicasrule+Oct 19, 2003 - 12:03 PM

yeah my best friends eclipse gs second gen. has ALWAYS had problems with it... i wouldnt trust one, even though others have had no problems... too risky in my opinion...

I drove a 90 300zx Twin Turbo that cornered like I have never felt before but my Celica does a nice job as well. My coil overs make it even greater than stock but lacking the comfort that I find myself wanting sometimes. None-the-less, I love the way it handles.

I like my car a lot more than other cars that I've driven as well. I've driven my friend's '00 Eclipse GS quite a bit, a couple third generation Integra GS-Rs, a few Civics, a couple Neons, a couple Mustangs, and I like my car more than all of those. I love my friend's RSX Type-S though, it's such a nice car, but it's also a lot more money than my Celica was.

-Komlofske+Oct 20, 2003 - 9:52 AM

ive only driven 2 cars ever that ive thought were more enjoyable than the celica, a 95 BMW M5, and the MR2T. other than that, the celica just feels great in every aspect. the speed thing is fixable... most times handling is alot harder to fix. alot of times it has to do with weight distrobution, wheelbase, and unsprung weight that is the culprit for crappy handling, this kind of stuff is really hard to fix unless you have the specialized tools.

I to have drove alot of cars but almost none have compared in control like my celi.

I love the celica, I love the reliability, but my old vette would out run, out break, and be close to the handling of the celica. I'd still rather have the celica though. It's such a better looking and higher quality car. Plus, as the Ghost said, for 8k I can spank camaros. >>

Jon

Im new to this site and this is my first post, but I have been doing a lot of reading over the past few days and have learned a lot. I used to own an Eclipse RS until about 2 weeks ago when someone ran me off the road and I did 2 360's flew off a 25' embankment into the woods (the bastard didnt even stop). Needless to say the car is totaled and in the meantime Im driving my moms GT. As far as the performance comparison I think the celica definitely handles better stock for stock, but then again its hard for me to remember how my eclipse handled stock. As far as the performance my eclipse was definitely faster (15.46 w/ intake, exhaust and UDP). The celica has loads of torque when compared to mine, but the top end completely sucks. My car seemed to come alive around 3500rpm, felt like Vtec, and pulled all the way to its 7200rpm ignition cut. Right now Im searching for a replacement vehicle and since my car has been totaled Ive been borrowing my moms car and Im definitely impressed. Plus the option of putting the 3sgte into a celica would be cheaper than the money I was planning on spending on a turbo kit for my eclipse. That opens a whole new world of performance potential. I think that if I had the choice of another NA eclipse or a GT, Id go for the GT. >>

Heh...I can write a laundry list of which cars I've driven that accelerate better than the Celicas, and a big list of which cars have more power than the Celicas, but I can't write a very large list of which cars are more refined, in terms of handling, power where it counts, quality, and reliablility. Celicas are one of the longest running toyota vehicles, and it shows in the craftsmanship of the car.

I did drive one of the New Solaras, and I fell in love with them. The 4 cylinder 5 Speed doesn't have the power of the V6, but that car is fricken beautiful and is very well built/designed. If they offered a 5 or 6 speed V6 option...I would buy it in a heartbeat.... whooo!

All in all, I love my Celica and Celicas in general.

I drive my mums old corrola sometimes. I want to push it off a cliff.

The 300zx TT I got handles real good at 200Km/H so I am not complaining. But it rattles some of the bolts in the dash.

And the celica is just a great car for anything really which made it, being my first car, a good choice.

It all depends on what the You like. I just love the celica it handles nice and power band is to bad for the corners.
so far ive driven:
datsun 510 sitting in the drive way no paint stock everything and it hauls more ass then my celica. ( 2nd gear launches are the best)
v6 camry (nice)
1990-2000v6 accord (ehh same as camry just more body roll)
civic SI (good pick up and corners) the new body style ones
mitsubishi GST (NICE TOP END)
old ass jaguar V10 i think (nice high end)
85 corrola (ehh)
7th gen celica (very nice)
EVO 8 (this owns ALL)
STI (DAMN!!!!!)
trans am mid 90's (good drag car not a corner car)

they all kick the celicas ass in one way but over all i love the way the celica looks and handles.