Toyota Celica GT4 Rally Car specs

Background
In the mid-late 80’s Lancia was all dominating in the World Rally Championship (WRC) with its Lancia Delta. Several manufacturers had cars in development to compete against Lancia however it was Toyota who would mount the biggest charge with the Celica. Built with a 2l turbo charged engine and constant four wheel drive, the first of the GT4’s entered a WRC event in 1988. Piloted by Juha Kankkunen the GT4 took its first victory at Rally Australia in 1989. Toyota went on to win the world title in 1990 and 1992 with the car. The Celica GT4 continued production until 1999 however it was not rallied by the factory after 1995 when Toyota were caught cheating and had a one year exclusion imposed as a penalty. During production the GT4 had three models starting with the ST165, progressing to the ST185 and then the ST205. The Celica was solidly built and highly competitive which helped it win Australian titles along with the WRC. Most examples of the GT4 on the roads today are grey imports from Japan as the earlier models were not sold locally and the later model was sold in very limited numbers.

 
Our Cars
Initially brought in from Japan as a personal import for motorsport use, the car was already painted in the works colour scheme from the era. The car was completely stripped and rebuilt as a rally car. During preparation comprehensive shell work was conducted and an extensive tower to tower weld in cage was fitted. The driveline features a close ratio gearbox and brass button clutch with specially adjusted differentials to get the power to the road. Fully programmable Motec takes care of the engine management via a custom wiring loom which was simplified down to the essential functions. The factory turbo and water to air intercooler are retained to meet with current regulations, however all factory hoses were replaced with more resilient silicone units.
Stopping power comes via custom Harrop multi piston set ups front and rear combined with a hydraulic handbrake and brake bias valve. These are the same brakes that Toyota Team Australia used on their cars and were specially developed for the Celica. Suspension on our team car is courtesy of Drummond Motorpsort (DMS), using 50mm fully adjustable gravel units with camber adjustable strut tops. The wheels are 15” Compomotive and have offset designed to clear the big brakes.