Celica Forums General Discussion Exterior I need to upgrade my car

I was just wondering what is probably the best upgrade that you could do to your car, engine wise without sacrificing an arm and a leg to get it done. Any thoughts? Thanks

CAI, headers, exhaust.

Kinda new here but what does the cai stand for and what exactly do they do? Thanks

CAI = Cold Air Intake, replacing the manufactures air box and filter. Provides cool air via the wheelwell of the front drivers side. Cool air provides better breathing for the engine. Increased HP , gas milage and not to mention a great growl. Quick engine mod for a great price. Injen also provides a short ram intake that crosses in the front of the engine , pretty popular for the show cars and for engine appearance. Doesn't breath quite a cool but still sounds great and has some increased HP also. The E store has a great price for the Injen And Aem. Buy from them support the team.

suspension.

Celica has an awesome suspension system, so I hear. Capitalizing on your car's advantages is always a good idea. Springs, shocks, sway bars, and urethane bushings are the best way to enhance suspension.

If you want more power though, the old stand-by's are I/H/E upgrades (intake, header, exhaust). Ecelica has these in the online store for great prices.

AEM has just come out with the V2 intake which promises CAI power without the installation hassle and the chance for hydrolocking. It's supposed to work wonders for my car, so hopefully AEM makes one for the Celi soon.

I've only seen ceramic headers for the Celi. Stainless and chrome are supposedly better, but what can you do? 4-2 or 4-1 layouts are both pretty good for your 4 banger. Adding header blankets supposedly increases the air flow, but I've never seen a significant power gain confirmed for blankets.

Cat-back exhaust systems are the best way to go for instant power and adding one is usually the first modification I do for my cars. Try to find one that is powerful, yet isn't very noisy and you'll be happy with it in the long run.

CAI definitly for starterZ, but beware hydrolock

What is this hydrolock that everyone is referring to? Is it a serious issue that could happen or what? Sorry with all of the questions but I'm not used to all of the saying on here yet. Thanks guys once again.

hydrolocking is when your CAI (cold air intake) gets submerged into a lot of water,but it needs like a foot of water for this to happen,this is VERY rare,but if you get an AEM intake you can get an AEM bypass valve to elimnate the chances of hydrolocking

hmm i think i hit on everything,if you have more questions just ask

Its when you get water in the engine via a CAI, the engine locks up from this. A short ram intake is a better option for those who fear hydrolock. Please do not ask which is better (everyone asks that), do a search of the forum and you get your answer.

General note: search google and this sites forums for answers to your questions, you will learn a ton this way, I know I did.

definitely work on the strengths

suspension...
start with springs/struts or a coilover system

So basically don't drive through water right? I mean like a lot of it. Correct. I'm very seriously considering doing this to my car is all the info on that ecelica site that was mentioned above? Thanks once again guys you have been so helpful and everyone on here is definately and

Yeah, it's rare to hydrolock, but it can happen. I never liked CAI's because they were hard to install and it was a pain to clean your filter...which, by the way, gets dirty fairly quickly compared to any other intake. Be that as it may, the power you get from a CAI is unbeatable.

Wait I just read this:


ecelica.com = everythingcelica.com = the site you're currently on

The store is located on the top navigation bar. Good luck with your purchases!

Sorry if this is kind of a noob question, but does the filter for the CAI actually sit right next to the wheel? So all the water, dirt, and mud from the wheel flies onto the filter? I never really understood this, could someone clear it up for me with an explination and possible some pics? Thanks and sorry for the noob question

it sits right here...no dirt and crap is going to hit it...

when its raining out i tape the slots on the wheel well for extra protection. its been raining here all week and i havent had a problem, but i did have to go around a couple deep puddles.

click this link for a pic of an installed AEM CAI

hei i never thought about having to clean the air filter...hmmm...do you have to remove the front bar each time or something??