Russ' Celica Page

There've been
48,233
devoted Celica fans here since Thursday, Nov 16, 2000.

This page is devoted to my all-time favorite automobile, the Toyota Celica.
Eventually there will be more links to cool Celica sites, modification information, a message board, pictures, movies, and cool stuff to download. Feel free to submit your own picture or story and I'll put it up here or link to your site.

News Saturday, August 12, 8:30AM CST.
I'll be going on my first [legal] drag race ever. I'm really excited - today after lunch I'm going to go to a local motorcycle supply store and get myself a Snell 90 rated racing helmet so I'll be all nice and legal at the track. I'm going with my buddy from work, who owns a VERY nice Datsun. I'm not expecting to win anything or even be able to keep up with anyone there, I'm more interested in getting some numbers for my car - how fast I can go from 0-60, how fast I can do a 1/4 mile, etc.
I'm also going to take lots of pictures, and probably Sunday or Monday I'll have them posted up here along with the numbers I get at the track. As of now, my car is totally unmodified from its stock condition, and after I get the numbers from the track I'll be adding in a few modifications. Suggested modifications include a K&N air filter, as well as cutting *cringe* open the air intake to allow greater air flow, a new boost meter and gauge, and a new exhaust. The exhaust will probably happen last, as it's very expensive and I'm not all that sure I want to advertise how pumped up my car is, at least to certain vehicles ;)
Wednesday, November 1st, 2000
My clutch is going out. I think drag racing had a negative impact upon my car. I took it to the shop, and it turns out one of the engine mounts broke off and the engine had a 2 inch play, therefore my clutch was grinding and quickly wore itself down to nothing. $1200 got it fixed. They had to remove the entire engine to do it. :P It was worth it, though, to drive my car again. I'm going to try to be more gentle with it, but it's such a rush to feel the acceleration...;)
My Celica

I own a 1993 Toyota Celica All-Trac Turbo, and I've had it since Saturday, July 1st. My previous Celica (1993 ST) was unfortunately totaled, but on the bright side I got to upgrade to the top-of-the-line Celica I always wanted.

It's got a LOT of miles on it (130,000) but it's been well maintained, and you can see by the pictures that it looks almost new. I plan to keep it that way.

From December 1996, when I bought my first car, a red 1987 Celica ST, to to December 1997, when I traded it in for a black 1993 Celica ST, until I totaled it in June of 2000. I took the insurance money from that and managed to score a black 1993 Celica All-Trac, which is pretty much my dream car.

I like the new one better.
Here's some pictures of my new All-Trac. Enjoy!
Picture1 Picture2 Picture3 Picture4 Picture5 Picture6 Picture7 Picture8 Picture9 Picture10 Picture11

 
Likes

To put it short and sweet, I love my All-Trac. This is basically my dream car. I was puttering around in the garage one night and daydreaming (this was back when I had my Celica ST) of what I would upgrade about my car if I had the cash. When I thought about it recently, I pretty much envisioned my All-Trac I have now. :) About the All-Trac: It's basically the ultra-deluxe model of the Celica, so: My likes:
Color (Black)
Air Intake over engine looks awesome
Wider wheels
Custom wheels
Performance tires
Liftback - there's tons more space than my old Celica.  Plus I can fold the seats back for even more room!
Power..(mirrors, windows, locks, lumbar support, steering, brakes, moonroof)
Security System with radio-unlocker thingy
Tape/CD player complete with extra amplifier under passenger seat, 8-speaker sound system that makes the mirrors vibrate
Turbo
Nifty light around ignition
ABS
All-Wheel-Drive
Airbag
Fog lamps
Tilt steering
A/C with Climate Control
Leather interior
CD holder (instead of the standard tape holder)
Cruise Control
Very very very attractive car ;)
Handles like nothing else I've ever driven
The turbo is a total rush
2.0 liter as opposed to my ST, which had a 1.6
Speedometer goes up to 160 ;)
If you turn the volume up halfway, you can hear the music clearly from 50 feet away ;)
Did I mention it's attractive?
Love the pop-up headlights

 
Dislikes


Dislikes:
I get around 22MPG as opposed to 33.
Being forced to use 92 octane gas rather than having a choice
Brakes need some work
Leaks a bit of oil
Needs some exhaust thingy tightened up a bit
Attracts lots of attention from cops ;)
Inadequate to transport 6' tall people or people weighing much more than 200lbs
With the all-wheel-drive I can't peel out anymore :(

 
Drag Racing Story

Here's the story and pictures of my day of drag racing!
It was VERY exciting.  I went there with my buddy Steve and we met up with some friends of another friend and we drove to Rock Falls, WI.  We actually went faster on the drive over there than the actual racing part - which is probably bad but who cares.  We were going down this really steep curvy hill with a cliff on the side at around 115MPH.  Pretty sweet.  I woulda taken a picture but I didn't wanna take my hands off the wheel ;) When we first left, we met at a McDonalds and got some breakfast, then got onto 94 going east, but the coolest part was when 6 shiny sleek sports cars were accelerating down the onramp at 80MPH and the sound was just awesome.  We were all chorusing in at similar tones, I wish I could have watched it from outside and heard the sound.
Anyway, to leave out uninteresting details and make a long story short, we got there, waited in line a while, and started racing.  My first run was my second-best(17.087 at 82.11), but my last one was awesome. 16.816 at 82.47. I also took off ahead of the 5 liter Mustang I was going against.  He eventually caught up, but it was awesome to leave him in the dust ;)
The second and third runs were pretty crappy and my third I had a false start, but it was all just time trials anyway so nobody cared.  I was the only Toyota there, it was mostly 60s and 70s muscle cars and 80s and 90s mustangs and firebirds and camaros.  Kinda boring.
The ride home was rainy...kinda scary, too. It started raining lightly as Steve and I were ready to go for our last run, which we were going to race each other on, so we decided to pack up and leave then, around 12:30, rather than wait around and get rained on anyway. We started driving out and it just got worse and worse. It was pretty scary driving home in torrential downpours at 60-80MPH, but I felt safe with my big tires and all wheel drive. ;) Plus I wanted to get home because my back was hurting and I was really tired after such an intense morning. We stopped in Minnesota for some appetizers at TGI Fridays, and went home. Steve hooked me up with the pictures pronto, and then I put all this stuff up on my page :) End of story.

Credit goes to Steve for taking some awesome pictures!
Some other cars  Cars lined up and tower  Cars lined up  Me on first run  Me at starting line  Taking off  Me at starting line vs souped up honda  Honda taking me easily  Steve's 240Z  Steve's 240 again  Tiny tires!  Me and Car 
 
Links I found a nifty site about drag racing basics, if you're interested in giving drag racing a try, check it out!
Drag Racing Basics
Letters

I got a letter from someone that found my site:

hey I was wondering if you could give me some comments on your alltrack, likes, dislikes ect. I think am also going to get one this summer if i can find a good one around here.
thanks alot

Scott M.
North Vancouver, BC, Canada
85 celica gts L/B 5 sp
http://members.home.net/smacken/Mycar.htm

 
Other Celica Stuff
Cliff's Celica - click to enlarge

Cliff Luther
Warped Customs car and truck club
Las Vegas, Nevada
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This page was created on 10/23/2008 1:36:53 PM
This page was last updated on 8/13/2004 1:54:17 PM
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