Celica Forums General Discussion General Newby. Which Celica?

Hi, I'm planning to pick up a new (to me) sports car. I've had a TR3, an MGB, a 914, and an Avanti, but I've driven an F150 for the last several years. Time to go small and fun. I've looked at, and driven, a 3rd gen MR2 and I like it, but I'm also attracted to the 7th gen Celica. Which brings me to a question I'm hoping somebody here can answer for me.

I'm not a racer. I'm looking for a daily driver that's fun to drive. Looking at the specs for the Celica GT and the GTS it looks to me that they might be more or less matched until that point at which the lift kicks in in the GTS. I'm not planning on driving around, whatever I purchase, with the tach regularly at the redline. I'm persuaded that the GTS is the faster of the two Celicas if you drive it right, but I found the MR2, without the lift, to be entertaining enough for me. If I'm reading the specs right, the GTS lift brings 20 more HP, mostly near the redline, and it has 4% more torque than the GT.

My question to anyone who has driven or ridden in both is, below the lift point, how much of a difference is there between the GT and the GTS?

If you are looking for HP, shop around for a GTS model with good mechanical history on it's engine. I've believe that the 2001 and 2005 GTS models were more desirable.
Research: "celica ecu" and "celica dbw"

Manual trans if going for NA. Auto if going for forced induction.
https://celicahobby.com/forums/ubbt...ne-super-chargers-vs-turbo-chargers.html
and
https://celicahobby.com/forums/ubbt...-performance-what-should-i-do-first.html

Most people who are looking for performance will always recommend a manual trans. People who are not in to racing and also live in larger cities and commute often on stop/go freeway zones, recommend an automatic transmission.
https://celicahobby.com/forums/ubbt...sions-manual-vs-automatic-pros-cons.html

If you don't plan on redlining the car go with the GT. Gas mileage is great and it runs on regular gas. People who redlined the 00 to 02 models had engine problems. In O3 Toyota governed the engines back.