You can start off in second gear and that'll help in slippery conditions. That and when coming to a stop make sure to do a good job rev matching your downshifts or just coast down in whatever gear you're in until you're around idle speed then go to neutral before stopping. Biggest thing is being smooth with your inputs and not to upset the balance of the car, so also being gentle on releasing the clutch and getting the engine speed matched to the next gear helps. If it has all seasons on it you should be ok so long as there isn't any ice and it's not heavy snow.

Anyhow, I hear the BRZ/86/FR-S does really well with a tune to help with the torque dip and E85 helps even more. If I were getting a newer car through financing it'd probably be a certified used BRZ, great chassis and enough power to get by. That and it's plenty fine as a daily if you don't have kids.

Hope you're doing ok with the ice we got up here. Once you get the winter tires you'll be fine until then, DRIFFFTTOOOO!!! hahaha enjoy the car but don't forget about the celi.

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Yeah, I've been doing 2nd gear. I will say one of the few things I don't like is how short the gear ratios are: 4th gear, 30 mph, 2,000 rpm! But it's still saving me good gas I guess compared to my 6gc. Trying to rev match is interesting in this car. The clutch is so light and the pedal is so far up I tend to "rev" when I shift. Not overwhelmingly though, I'll have to adjust the pedal when it gets warmer and get used to it some more.

I was originally looking for a BRZ limited; but this one is close enough (doesn't have the heated leather seats; but it does have the nice GT86 HID lights) considering it's additional upgrades (like the Head Unit, fog lights, exhaust). Other BRZ at the price I got it for more roughly x2-x3 the miles so I'd figured the mileage would make up for the price.

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Monday was a nightmare; but fortunately I was able to get my Blizzaks early. I can say night and day on winter tires man. Ha ha I seriously was drifting all around the small streets and highway.
And yes, I'm still planning to spend most of my money on the Celica. Now that I have this car I can do much more w/ the Celica knowing I don't have to put it all back together to drive on the weekdays.

Ah, the FRS was a car I never missed. It was love at first sight and the divorce happened just like that lol. The 2nd gen Rav4 V6 would've been my choice out of the bunch. Buddy has Blizzacks on his 86 and still managed $5k worth of front end bumper damage LOL. Be careful bud! Cant wait til spring!

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Ha ha tbh the FRS wasn't my first choice. I did want the Rav4 v6 in particular that one day there would be an accident and I can salvage the 2gr to build into my 6gc. But then again I wouldn't want to have an accident either. Dang $5k! Whew yeah, that's what I'm afraid of; but anything can happen. Even in FWD cars or AWD. Indeed, come spring and tax season!

Un-studded snow tires still won't save you on ice like studded tires, regardless of the drive layout. For the longest time our ancestors only had RWD to traverse through the snow and most back then were open differential and tire technology doesn't hold a candle to what we have now, and they all managed for you to be here today.

I will say... It is truly night and day when you have one of the best winter tires on.
We just had a snow day of about 9 inches of snow and on average 3 inches on the road.
The FR-S EASILY gripped the road on them, stopping was so much better than say my mother's 2002 Camry w/ all seasons.

But now that winter's nearly over they might just be burning up (averaging 30-40F degrees lately).
However, I've been looking for a new job and my friend is trying to hook me up all the way in Huntsville, AL.
So I might be moving down there. No longer MN's 1MZ if that happens LOL.

Huntsville is one of the larger cities in the state, probably best known for the rocket center there. You don't have emissions or inspections to worry about here, so there's that. It also rarely snows and when it does the state shuts down.

get a COBB tuner and unlock the potential. it is very detuned from factory

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That's good to know, MN is the same w/ no emissions or inspections. Ha ha I remember when I lived in AR they had the same thing. I just find it amazing giving that up here 10 inches of snow with -10F degrees and we still gotta go to work.

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Yes I heard this about these guys, especially the "torque dip" that appears mid-range. I thought about doing something small like that just to help it out; but still putting most of the money to the celica.

It's mostly due to the fact it usually turns into ice as soon as it hits the roads, that and we don't have the infrastructure in place to deal with it and I'd be surprised if 1% of the population here has winter tires. So the cost of shutting down the state for one day once in a blue moon is a lot less than the cost of maintaining infrastructure that may not see use but once every few years. I think the last time we had any notable snow was back in '93? when there was a freak blizzard.

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That's what I'd figured, but I mean if I moved there that would be just fine with me too. Lol go DRIFFTTOOOO in the FRS w/ some summer tires haha. We'll see though, I haven't gotten anything back from my bud about a job. Been getting more luck up here instead.

FINALLY, it's warm enough (and I have enough will) to finally work on her. Got around to replacing the outer shaft of the passenger side. Was a lot easier than I thought.
Don't judge me; but you can see my old "band aid" for the axle before I found a car for winter. If I knew it was this easy I would've done it waayyyyyyyyy earlier; but I was also lazy.


Took the car for a spin, it feels much better! But I definitely gotta get used to all the noise and feel of the car again. It feels so different compared to the FR-S.
Seats don't hold as tight as the FR-S, feel like I'm sitting a lot higher, even though both cars sit pretty low.
BUTTTTT, man do I MISS the V6 torque he he. extra 50 lbs do make a difference, especially with the FR-S torque dip.

But I still need to replace the clutch master cylinder; forgot that the pedal kept sinking before I stored it for winter.

Next step is to get a new set of wheels, that way I can throw my 5zigens on the FR-S.
Been looking and it's difficult to find a wheel w/ the specs I want unless I wanna spend BIG.

Torque is life.

Well... That was awfully quick of me to suddenly just get a new set of wheels; I've been pondering about this for a while. But then tonight... Suddenly POOF! There goes $1500. Guess you'll have to wait until they arrive (or when this damn blizzard in the MIDDLE OF APRIL goes away).

Hopefully yours arrive faster than mine. I wish a blizzard was the only delay for me!

you're gonna need a photoshoot soon.

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Ha ha it was a pretty bad blizzard though; but that was before I ordered lol. Still gonna have to wait like 3 months before the snow actually disappears from MN.

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He he I'll wait until yours is ready too, we can do it together! Lol

definitely! I'm about to drop $1500+ for my swap parts too.

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Dang.... But it's gonna be a beast when it's done. Cannot wait to see it!

I'm still debating what I want to do next with the car. Maybe continue going for looks until I give up and strip the car for track.

Mmmmm... trd front spats, treacle fenders, ss-4 conversion, bodywork and repaint... SO MUCH MONEYYYYYYYY

hopefully before summer ends but it's a slow moving swap right now.

I mean that's all that's left to do for yours. You got performance and suspension upgrades already so not much left to do besides make it look good. lol

Ahh well when you do let us know, ha ha fall is still a very nice time to do nice pictures.

Yeah that's what I was thinking too, maybe if anything some coilo-overs (or BAG IT) and refreshing some old stuff.
Cosmetic and body work take up a lot. Who knows, maybe I'll be like TonytheTiger and build a 800hp 1mz LOL.

you should get the MN gang together and head down to the midwest meet. who's got their cars running anyways?

Lol I don't even know if my car will be ready by then! I'll try but I haven't meet all the 6gc folks here, let alone know more than like 4 guys lolol.
Lauv and his K24 probably won't be running until fall. Tao and his buddies red 3s' always be fishing or hunting during the weekend.
I can probably get Joe and his white 5s, but idk if he fixed it yet. Then there's the random people I don't know about. But I'll try lol, if the date is still May 19th hahahaha

Met Tao today. Doesn't sound like he's going to be out and about anytime soon. He's getting ready for fishing season lol.

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LOL figured as much. but it's fishing season all year round for guys like him. haha

Yep, lol that's why it's so hard to meet up w/ him. Even during the weekdays it's super-last minute to the meets.
Hmmm I'll post up on the local Toyota forums, see if I can find other 6gc guys to bring down (if I even come to the meet lol).

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you bETTER...!!

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Alright sent out to my local Toyota FB groups, we'll see if anyone's interested and able.

As for update if you haven't seen it on FB then there's not a lot... Just a master clutch cylinder replacement before I went out to a big meet opener...


And changing wheels...


TWICE!!! I finally got my new wheels in, Gram Lights 57CR in 17x9 +38mm.


Had them for a bit, wasn't sure which tires to get. But I ended up getting the new Dunlop Direzza Z3.
Here's all the wheels and tires fitted into my celica as I take it to a shop to mount them.


I got the front fitted, does poke out a very little bit; rubs over bigger bumps. Interestingly enough my driver side pokes up probably 1-2mm more than my passenger.
Might be the axles, or just the fenders lol. Anyhow though my rear DO NOT FIT ... With the 20mm spacers that is. So I'm planning to cut my studs to fit them.

Pictures will be up sometime soon, as I still have a few more things coming and maybe... Just maybe... Coilovers as well.

Get some open ended lug nuts that fits your studs and have them below where you're cutting, so then after cutting you take the lug nut off and it cleans up and straightens out the threads for you.