Learn Me Tercels

I have seen a bunch cheap. Are they complete piles of crap or totally underrated? Are there any problems with them? Fill me in.

Depends what your definition of cheap pile of crap is...

Stock, they're completely uninspiring, slow, and don't handle well due to crippling OEM suspension and wheel/tire package.

That said, they ARE light, they can be made to handle, and you can make way more power than the chassis SHOULD be able to handle pretty easily.

They also get good gas mileage and are very reliable.

So what can be done to bring them to life?

I've looked into them in the past and still wouldn't pass one up if it was cheap enough. I think of them as Toyota's version of the Geo Metro (had one of those, not a bad thing to me).

As I recall, the dohc engine from the paseo is a bolt in and yields a moderate performance bump.

The JDM 4E-FTE is a bolt in turbo swap with some minor wiring, distributor type issues.

There isn't much bolt on suspension stuff but they're 4x100 so all the miata/honda/vw wheel options should fit just right.

The 95+ Models are OBD II and have a slightly more powerful twin cam 1.5L. The earlier cars are single cam.

I have been getting around in my sisters 96' Tercel with a 3spd auto and she has be wailing on it for three years now without any major problems. It is very tossable, but by no means quick. Interior is huge compared to most cars its size, but you do feel it when loaded up with passengers or when the ac is running. And the suspension parts look like they belong on a go cart.

To comment on the above post, 14" miata wheels will not fit in the front. The offset makes them scrub on the caliper.

Previous thread with more valuable info: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/1997-toyota-tercel-bird-cars/13322/page1/

Miata wheels won't fit?! Would they with a small spacer?

What about Honda wheels? I am just looking into various options of cars to buy cheap and have fun with

I thought Tercels had 4A-FEs?

EDIT: Apparently not... Wikipedia says E-blocks, not A-blocks.

And I never knew anything made in '95 was OBDII. That's interesting to me.

Toy Tuning in the UK, (that was mentioned in the link cghstang posted) is not longer around.

Well, here's a basic idea of what i would do, keeping in mind of course, that i'm not really "all there."

Struts/springs of your choice. (I'm not 100% sure whats out there, but you have piqued my interest, so i'm sure i'll know by tomorrow.)

Sway bars... i think Suspension Techniques makes them for this car.

Replace all suspension bushings.

Some nice 15x7 wheels with appropriate sticky rubber.

Brakes from a Paseo? (I THINK they're better, not positive just yet.)

4efte motor swap. 1.3 litres of overbuilt boosted goodness.

93celicaGT2: Your prescription sounds like what everybody on the tercel forums is working towards/talking about. Yes there are tercel forums and yes, I've probably registered for them.

I think that whiteline made/makes some sway bars and there's a JDM rear disc swap available too.

I think they could make for a fun autox/rallyx/gas-saving beater...I have a few good pictures on my laptop at home to put in here later

The reason why everybody talks about it and never does it is because:

If you bought a Tercel, it's probably NOT because you have the money to mod the hell out of it. Just sayin'.

Now, someone like us would probably be a bit more likely to actually follow through with it.

I ran into the same problem when we used to try to get group buys for the FWD Celicas. Nobody would want to spend the money, because deep down, they just settled for the FWD Celica when they couldn't afford an MR2 or a Celica AllTrac. (You expect us to pay more than $150 for a set of cams??!?! What's wrong with you?!)

Infuriating. Part of the reason why i don't even bother with those forums anymore, and just ended up patiently waiting and seeing what came out for the car, and also why i'm paying out the nose for the next round of modifications. Custom ain't cheap if you can't fab anything yourself. Oh well.

I've been on the lookout for the right Paseo now for years.

So a fourth gen Tercel with a first gen Paseo engine plus suspension upgrades sounds fun to me.

96DXCivic wrote: So a fourth gen Tercel with a first gen Paseo engine plus suspension upgrades sounds fun to me.

I think that would sound fun to most of us. One of the big pluses of these things is that they're pretty light, so it doesn't take a TON of power to make them at least feel zippy.

I wonder how school would feel about me building one in the parking lot.

What about the first couple gens of Tercel anything there?

The older boxy ones are pretty much the same underneath, 87 on at least. There was a hatch too.

96DXCivic wrote: What about the first couple gens of Tercel anything there?

They're all FWD. Actually Toyota's first FWD vehicle, if i remember right.

If you do all this to a Tercel EZ hatch, you will be my hero.

They're stupid light, small, a hatch, and i've seen literally 3 running examples in my lifetime sell for the rich rich rich price of.....

$50.

Yes. I'm serious.

If you had the drive, these could easily be made into a scary E36 M3box that would rival any turbo Festiva. Ever.

Just think of Tercels in general as a FWD 120% size Starlet. It makes so much more sense that way.

So could the first gen Paseo motor be easily dropped in one of those?

96DXCivic wrote: So could the first gen Paseo motor be easily dropped in one of those?

Yep. Most any "E-series" motor could be dropped in pretty easily.

Let the hunt begin.

Does anyone know if Civic wheels will fit?

They should fit. Tercel/Paseo has a 54.1 centre bore and the Hondas are 56.1.

In addition to all the other good points above, yes, Paseo brakes are better, but one of my sources says only the 1st gen Paseo had larger brakes than the Tercel; also be aware that Paseo calipers won't clear 13 inch wheels if that's what your Tercel has. 93-97 Corolla calipers are also a bolt-on upgrade for Paseo rotors; there's a tercelonline thread about this (but look out for incorrect math -- the % improvement is actually better than shown.)

Ultra Racing has a bunch of bolt-in braces, some of which I've got waiting to be installed right now.

Hot suspension ideas eagerly awaited, BTW -- I'm not ecstatic about the route I took when I put mine back on the road. (Although it's light years better than what came off, some of it in more pieces than Toyota originally had in mind!)

96DXCivic wrote: Does anyone know if Civic wheels will fit?

That's an affirmative. Please put some GSR blades or ITR fanblades on a Tercel.