3SGE Beams powered Celica, Her replacement has arrived Options

[delusionz]

Awesome!

[S8S8]

The interior is finished!

Well, almost... I still need to get a new gear knob and eventually seats, but here she is for now.

Changes from standard include:

• Three spoke leather wheel (with red stitching that you can't really see in the pics)
• White face dials
• Auto climate control (along with all sensors)
• Small tray under the climate control (usually a blank panel in Aussie Celicas)

The parts all came from my SS-II clip. There were also factory silver plastics, but I decided the black looked better.

The pics...







Now to get the drive shaft seal sorted out...

[Rusty]

looking great, not long now

[S8S8]

DONE!!!

Tonight I drove the Celica out of the garage for the first time in a month!

I would have taken it out for a sneaky drive, but I want to give it a full check tomorrow morning during daylight so I can double check everything.

But very happy to have moved the car with Beams power for the first time.

Driving report to come tomorrow...

[delusionz]

You can make your climate control orange to match your dash by unscrewing the bulbs and taking off the green condoms

you can also get LED's for those but they are tricky to get, they are special bulbs built into tiny sockets rather than the norm of separating bulb and socket

Glad to hear the Beams is going great, that must be awesome compared to that 5s-fe boat anchor

[S8S8]

Not a lot of progress over the last few days, but I have taken her out for a quick drive with the new engine.

Given that my exhaust is not connected the car is obscenely loud (not in a good way) so I couldn't really do much. From the short drive I did the engine doesn't feel any different to the old 5SFE, but not taking the revs over 5,000rpm probably explains that.

Next week I'll be getting the exhaust sorted out and can take it for a proper drive. At this stage I'm just glad that everything works!

[delusionz]

Yeah man, That 2.0L High compression motor should be taking on the same load as the low comp 2.2L, it should be more fuel efficient down there too. Make sure you top up with high octane petrol to really feel the difference.

You should also notice sharper throttle response at the tip of the pedal too?

Once that VVT-i opens up though, at the point where your 5S-FE started to pick up pace and then fall flat, your 3S-GE Beams will pull harder and harder towards the extended redline.

This post has been edited by delusionz: May 16, 2011 - 10:26 PM

[Euphoria]

Did you sort that seal out? theres a special tool for prizing wheel bearing and axle seals, makes life alot easier!

[BonzaiCelica]

the difference between putting 100 ron (which is what the beams takes in order to push out its full 197 hp) vs putting 95 ron is quite a lot for a N/A vehicle. This has not been tested in any way or dynoed for that matter, but it feels like you lose about 5-6hp with the crummy 95 ron fuel. The best we carry In California is 95 ron so sometimes when I'm carrying extra cash with me I like to mix 4-5 gallons at most of 100 octane race fuel to obtain a 100 ron mixture of gas.

[S8S8]

I've just had the new exhaust fitted. It's a 2.25" system with a high-flow cat and straight through muffler.

So now I've had a bit more time to experience the Beams, and I have to say... I'm disappointed.

I'd have thought a power increase of almost 50% would be very noticeable, but it's not. Even driving in the 6-7k rpm range it doesn't feel that special. I think last time I filled up was on standard fuel, but even with the 5-6hp difference that Bonzai pointed out with higher octane fuel, I hardly think I'll be massively impressed.

Now I'm kind of regretting not going the 3SGTE path instead, but hopefully I can get the Beams running better and look forward to some more enjoyable driving.

Did you sort that seal out? theres a special tool for prizing wheel bearing and axle seals, makes life alot easier!

Yep, I ended up buying the proper tool and it came straight out.

[BonzaiCelica]

Im on the same boat my motor is not fully at 100% but its still fun nonetheless. Get some dyno runs in and ull know if u have all the 197 hp at the crank. It shud conver to 169 whp

[Rusty]

I suggest getting it dynoed. the 197BHP was the claim/selling point in reality could be less.

Someone has dynoed a stock redtop BEAMS engine, and made 154WHP (115KW). However with people swapping and adding mods, it can vary from 145WHP - 170WHP (108KW - 126KW)

[delusionz]

If you're used to driving fast (turbocharged) cars alot, 5S-FE to 3S-GE wont feel all that special, but if 5S-FE is all you've known, 3S-GE should be amazing. Well atleast when I went from 3S-FE to Gen3 3S-GE, the other side of the tacho's 4 marker was amazing and unlike anything I had prior.

This post has been edited by delusionz: May 24, 2011 - 2:53 AM

[delusionz]

There was simply power in places that were never there before, and additional power in the lower to mid range.

But definitely needs high octane fuel, otherwise the ecu will pull the timing and it'll be sluggish as before.

[Euphoria]

Have you done a compression test? I would of assumed the beams would be awsome fun, I had a 4th gen for a couple months and even though it had less power than my car as it was old it still was loads of fun to drive as it actually liked to rev and stay in the redzone, unlike the 5sfe which seems to be aimed more at low down torque and not much up high, even the first gen 3sge is a nicer motor imo.

go take some similar power to weight cars (7th gen, renault clio, prelude vti-r etc) to see how they compare and maybe you won't feel so bad, I know when I get in my car after driving my dads clio it feels pathetic, feels similar to mine down low until you hit 4k+ haha.

[njccmd2002]

I dont know why you guys are having problems with the beams, i had no problems what soever.

The beams power is not on the 1 to 4 rpm range, it feels like a regular motor, the power starts as soon as u hit 4 rpm, you feel the engine just want more and more...

check for codes, leaks, and sensors.

beams has power, and its fun to drive.

[Cuts_the_Pilot]

I suggest getting it dynod to know if its truely down on power or are you being a bit too expectant.

[njccmd2002]

going from a 3sge non beams to a beams is not much difference.

from a 5sfe to beams is a lot

[mak5603]

Nice looking car!

I'm sorry you are disappointed with the power. I figured the beams would feel a lot like a gsr dc2 integra, and having driven a few, I know they are by no means fast. That is why I ended up opting for 3sgte.

[BonzaiCelica]

ya me going from a 7afe to a beams motor is quite a difference I say! and yes its fun to drive if your cars running at 100%. compression test should be at 198.7 psi across each cylinder.


Here are you steps:

1. Compression Test with psi being at 198.7 max for each cylinder. Make sure you disconnect the EFI Fuse or else your injectors won't throw fuel into the spark plugs. haha thats a mistake I made.
2. Make sure your timing is on par? come to think about it is there a way to know if my timing is on par??? I do not have a timing gun, but how do those work anyhow??
3. ya max output from a stock beams motor is 169whp. with your 2.25 inch exhaust your power-band will move up a bit and you'll lose a bit of midrange torque.

here are dyno results with mods to different cars/engines on the beams redtop forums

http://www.mr2.com/forums/beams-owners-gro...s-registry.html

This post has been edited by BonzaiCelica: May 24, 2011 - 8:36 PM