Celica Forums General Discussion General Test drove a GTS today.

Well today was the day I went to look at the 2000 GTS with 66K miles. I was really excited to try out the LIFT everyone is talking about. I was a little disappointed because I got it to 6kRPM and felt a little push but it didn't really impressed me. Everyone on here said it's "The Best Thing", "Its like a drug", etc. Well it didn't relaly put me back in my seat or anything. I also had my parents in the car with me.

Well the engine was smooth, and the TRD exhaust didn't really surprise me much either. It wasn't as loud as everyone here said it would be. It had an Injen SRI, the filter was vibranting like crazy when I pop the hood.

Well he is selling it for 11K. I think thats a decent price, but i'm not going to pay 11K for it. He said he is firm on the 11K but the only way i'm going to buy it is if its for 10500. Otherwise I'm not going to buy it.

Maybe the temp wasn't up. Won't hit lift if under a certain temp.

It was 70+ degrees in MN today. Maybe the lift bolts are old? it has 65 K miles on it.

arent the rpms suppose to be higher than 6k to hit lift

He didn't mean the air temp outside, he meant the oil temp. of the engine. If it's not warm enough, lift will not work.

The engine temp has to be in the middle before the lift will hit.

Try to talk him down!

My mom, in my opinion is by far one of the best negociators. She started out with 9500 coming up with all these little problems and such. went to 9800. then continue to 10000. Then she pretended like she was disappointed and then said we will call back because there are other cars. This guy was tough because the price, I think, is really good for a 2000 GTS with all the options.

My mom had a dealer knock off $1200!! off my 97 Celica Convertable last year (Price was 9995 went to 8800). She also had a lady knock off an extra 1000 for my sisters honda accord(14500 went down to 13500). I thought it would work on this guy but he is absolutely FIRM about 11k. He told my mom like 7 times!! "11K FIRM ON THAT PRICE" LOL it was hilarious. If I do get it for 11K should I tell him to replace the lift bolts and reseal the passenger side headlight? It had A LOT of condensation in the whole headlight.

Also another thing. This was my first time driving a GTS. Is it just me or is the throws on the shifter short as hell? I mean its as short as my friends B&M on his 98 civic. I thought he had a short shifter but he said it was stock. I can't imagine how short the throws would be if I put the TWM in there. He said he had TRD springs in for about 3 years now and the stock sturts are good. I tried to tell him that the car is lowered and the strust are bad or about to go bad. MAN THIS GUY WAS TOUGH!!

sounds like a good price to me for a gts with that many miles. make him put new lift bolts on it first

How much are lift bolts BTW?

make sure your car is probably warmed up

also i preety sure you warent stepping on the gas all the way
if you did then it should be more just than a little tug

other than that bolts might be busted
the bolts are cheap about 50c but
replacing it will cost a preety penny

if you decide to do it yourself just be careful

with your parents in the car with you probably made the car slower than it would have been otherwise

Well my parents put together weigh about 250. So yea I guess that could be it.

You gotta make sure that the car was warmed up before you go and hit lift. Trust me, it is not just a little nudge that you are stating.

lift bolts are about 65 cents a peice and there are two of them.

Lift is tempting even though it isn't that powerful
it sure makes up for the rest of the RPM

yea let the car warm up real good then go try it...

I forgot what lift feels like I haven't driven my celi in so long

yeah i think the shifter is short... most the people that drive my car for the first time end up stalling it because they can't get the gears right

The 2000/01 models had a real tight short shift. It became wider 2002&up. Sounds to me like perhaps LIFT wasn't working at all on that car. Also you can just dab into the LIFT range and then let off the gas, its not going to feel like much. Peak power doesn't come on until 7800rpm, so you gotta stay in lift and rev it out to really feel that PUSH, OOMPH of the power.

The guy probably doesn't take care of the car so its probably in not in good shape and has broken lift bolts, did you ask why he's selling it. Even with weight if Lift hits you should definitely feel it. Just tell him that since you are going to have to get new lift bolts, he should drop the price or fix it for you first, $11000 isn't bad but its always best to try to go lower.

Well the guy changed oil with mobil 5w-30 every 3K miles, and mantience done with documents. The interior and exterior are in good shape. Leather is still very nice the back looks brand new. I felt a little push after 6000RPM and I let it go until 8000RPM until I shifted. But probably with the extra weight. I car has clean Carfax title and everything. He needs to sell because he goes to college at the U of M. My sister said she saw him before there.

Funny how ladies always remember a Celica guy!

the hype created by everyone on this site about lift is alittle too much.
wut makes ppl think bout lift is a kick in the balls and its not really, cz you dont really feel it. the ppl thinkin about lift who dont have the car think that lift will be a kick that ud feel, but remember theres not much tq difference between 5900rpm and 6000rpm, thats why you dont feel it.

u can definetly tell if the lift bolts broken with the mods that car has. intake, exhaust? come on, just look at the tach pass 6000rpm and you should hear an extra tone coming up

Lift is REAL obvious, you can't miss it.

There is something seriously wrong with your GTS (or your sense of acceleration) if you can't feel the difference in horsepower between, say, 4000-6000 RPM and 6000-8000 RPM . When I enter the highway on-ramp and hit lift in 1st and 2nd gears it's like going to warp in Star Trek...things start happening real fast and I have to shift like mad to get 3rd safely. Then back off from 130kph during the merge at the top because the speed limit is 110 .

yeah maybe new lift bolts this will help you out http://www.teamcelica.com/tech/installs/liftbolts/
repalce the bolt's man

yeah, lift is more than what your saying happened
Try for 10,500 with that many miles it it a DECENT price

Ok, first off I said I DID felt a little pull. But according to everyone on this site, "lift" after you go full throttle pass 6000RPM to 8000RPM its puts you back in your seat like a small turbo.

The pull from the lift that I felt was like a pull if you were to downshift from 3rd to 2nd and landing in 4000-5000RPM. I could tell the diffirence, but just not like how everyone explained it to be.

it does put you back in your seat like a turbo kicks in... that's what made my dad say "what the hell was that?!?!" the first time he hit lift in my car... i think his exact words were "that feels like a turbo!!" haha...

it doesn't put you back into your seat REAL hard or anything... but you can definately feel it...



it's funny... dad just told me today that he really wants to drive my car... but he can't cause he'd be too tempted run the crap out of it... haha... he said you can't take a car out like that and not drive like crazy... he looooves lift... after he hit it for the first time he'd slow down... and then hit it again... over and over... he'd even do it right in the middle of town (small town.. not lots of traffic) i swore he was gonna get me in trouble.. haha

Something's probably wrong with the car. Then again, sometimes I feel it, sometimes I don't. But when I do...oooohhh sshiitt.

all i can say is that you are expecting too much when you went to test drive the GTS...

dont blame ur feeling on the ppl here that said Lift is incredible.

cos i feel Lift is amazing.

comparing other cars like the 2003+ SiR, BMW 320, RSX (non type-S)... and cars that are in the competition... Lift is really amazing.

vvtl-i engine is the only acceptible-price engine that i know makes power up all the way up to 9000rpm and still pulling without turboing or SCing.

dont say Lift is just a little pull... cos it's not when you compared to the SiR i-VTEC... or BMW's torquey engines.

I'm not trying to say LIFT sucks. Your putting words in my mouth. I'm just trying to say its not like a turbo like everyone says it is. YES I FELT A BOOST AND THE RPM'S RISE FASTER. If that was lift, then I should try it willout the added weight in the car and see how it goes.

So did you hear a tone change or not? If not, somthing is wrong, and for a price like like that, maybe the seller knows it.

But yea lift is nothing like a turbo, but its cooler then v-tech

like ive said earlier, you hear lift with these mods definetely.
and i think you were expecting too much from lift, its a kick, but its not a nitrous shot.
also does the car have aftermarket rims? if so, thats making lift feel weaker. bigger and heavier the wheels, the less you feel lift. try lift with the 15" rims and you will feel way more pull

Orginal GTS 5 spoke wheels. I'm going to have him do an inspection on the enginebefore I purchase it. Before I test drove the car I asked him does he hit "Lift" often? He replied, LIFT? whats that? The VVTL-I the L stands for Lift and it kicks in after 6000RPM. He said "Oh, no I don't race the car, but sometimes I hit it and you can feel it." Then I asked has he ever replaced the Lift bolts, he said no never.

You're probably driving a celica with a broken or worn out lift bolt. I thought mine was otherwise until I checked them and they were broken. No wonder lift doesn't feel as hard

One thing i noticed is that you gat to floor it, you can't just slowly accelerate up to 6k, you can barely feel it if you do.

"One thing i noticed is that you gat to floor it, you can't just slowly accelerate up to 6k, you can barely feel it if you do."

Absolutely! Most of the time my gas pedal could be replaced by a simple on/off switch . All those possible positions in the middle are for steady-speed driving. There are laws against speeding, but none against accelaration! (Hey, that makes a pretty nice sig...hmmm)

I did floor it, My dad wanted me to test out the power of the car. So I was rolling at about 30-40 and downshift to second and then the gas was to the floor until around 8000RPM, shifted to 3rd barely lifting my feet of the gas, landed in about 5500RPM. It was quick, but I guess with the added wieght it slowed down a little.

Ok, I did here a tone change and the RPM'S did rise faster, BUT I think because of the added 300+LBs in the car it slowed me down a little. I'm going to look at it again hopefully this friday with only my dad.

the engine is probably in bad shape, because for a such a small engine the 2zz's really is close the rush of a turbo. if you still can't feel lift in the car after friday then you should tell the guy to change out the lift bolts for you or lower the price and you will do it yourself.

I thought Lift didnt kick in till 7200 rpms and the rev limit was around 8000 but hey i could be wrong since i bought my car used and its had a few probs of its own(2000 GTs) whom ever had it before rear ended some one plus wiring probs. I guess my point is check the car out very close before you buy it.

probably broken or worn out lift bolts. I always thought otherwise until I checked it. That may be the problem, if you buy the car replace the lift bolts. I did mine recently and am happy with it.

I just bought a 2000 gts with 123k, the lift feels great but do you guys think i should go ahead and change out the lift bolts? Toyota dealership is the only place i could get them?

Don't know about any aftermarket lift bolts as I got a GT and never had to look for them, but if it aint broke dont fix it