TOYOTA

CELICA 190 VVTL-i (Sport Pack)

OVERVIEW

The first thing you notice as you climb into the Celica is that its surprisingly easy to get in and out of considering it is a low slung coupe.  The seats are comfortable and hold you in place as you would expect from sports seats without sticking out at the edges.  The way the cabin is designed is quite impressive as everything including the gear stick only seems like a flick of the wrist away, this reminded me of my the older Audi Quattro's and the Porsche 944.  The controls were all clearly labelled and easy to use if you know your way around a Japanese car, although the indicator lever is now on the left hand side of the steering wheel and the wipers are on the right hand side unlike older Japanese cars (so don't attempt to change and indicate simultaneously).  The pedals were light and smooth but now the accelerator pedal has a slight resistance to it so that it doesn't feel light as a feather as they were on previous Celica's.  The cabin is spacious and not tacky in any way.  The rear leg room is a little restricted (no surprise there) but I was able to sit reasonably comfortably in the back with the seats back as in the previous Celica's.  Flip the tailgate to find that the boot space is impressive both in terms of length, width and depth ensuring that luggage space should never be a problem, if it is, then you probably need an estate car!

The dashboard is clear and clutter free with some nice subtle LCD displays for the fuel gauge and temperature.  The rev counter also catches your attention, highlighting the fact that the rev counter display is between 4,000rpm - 9,000rpm at normal seating position.  To look further down from 0 - 3,000rpm you have to lean forward a bit.

Once on the move, the Celica felt slightly bumpy at slow town speeds on 'some' roads by picking up every imperfection and road surface change, I would put that down to the 205/45/17 tyres/alloys in the sports pack option.   Once the pace picked up a little it felt relaxed and was still very easy to drive.  The steering, whilst being VERY  light (for a sports car) encouraged smooth steering inputs as it was very sharp and direct with a chassis to match any driver demands whilst still somehow returning a little feedback from the steering.  The chassis felt very rigid remaining composed with minimal body roll ensuring that it could handle quick direction changes without getting upset.  However, the rear end of the car did feel as though it was getting light when wasn't really pushing it but it settled down instantly without fidgeting as long as you kept your driving smooth.  This may simply be down the the fact that the test car had a lot of slippery tyre dressing on it.  The Celica 190 retains its agility even at high speeds ensuring that there is plenty of fun to be had if conditions allow and that the chassis is spot on and doesn't need any modifications for fast road use.

The 6spd gearbox was firm, but smooth and easy to use but those who aren't used to a short throw lever will need time to adjust.  The gear ratios were well matched to the engine and all 6 gears made the Celica 190 that bit more entertaining to drive over the previous models which cried out for an extra gear.  

The engine performance was interesting.  Right from the bottom of the rev range, it picked up instantly and smoothly offering decent real world everyday performance which took me by surprise unlike the nonsense printed in some magazine reviews .  I even had enough performance sat in 4th gear at 3,200rpm to quickly adjust speed if necessary as I merged onto a busy dual carriageway.  Once the traffic cleared, it would have been rude of me to neglect the 8,000rpm rev limit.  I engaged 3rd gear, pushed the throttle as far as it would go and worked my way upto 5th gear before testing the brakes and suspension for Nottingham Lights roundabout.  Whilst working my way through the gears and the top end of the rev range, I was disappointed that the Celica 190 didn't quite accelerate as I had hoped with an 8,000rpm rev limit (at the top end).  The acceleration was very swift and strong but not as fanatical I had been lead to believe by magazine reviews.

Overall, the Celica is a spacious, comfortable sports coupe which is easy to drive with a high specification being topped off by featuring a well designed chassis which ensures that its a joy to drive on long journeys and very capable if you decide to take a detour through some clear country lanes. The only disappointing factors are the ridiculously light steering which really doesn't inspire you to drive the car to its limits and the brakes which didn't have enough bite.  

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION

PICTURES

(this is an identical car to the one tested)