Intro

[RS Evo]

Hello everybody.
Was looking for technical info on some problem I'm having with my ST205. Seems nice place so will try to stick around.

I'm a Belgian guy currently living in Japan where I bought an ST205 as a weekend toy mainly for mountain driving and the occasional track day and gymkhana which are very popular over here.

I honestly didn't know much about these cars and was looking more for something RWD but when I saw this one, I couldn't resist. It's so much more special compared to the usual Altezza's, MR's, S15's, ... Maybe not the best suited for track days due to the weight and the grip (too much of both of those) but I'm not looking for lap records, just for fun.

As a Chassis Engineer I focussed more on my own area rather than engine so it's stock from power train point of view except for the blow-off and an old exhaust (with a hole in the central muffler that is adding to the 'specialness'...). Changes I did:

* I treated it to new suspension arms (all of them) in the front because the bushes were completely shot. It set me back quite some money but I was still fresh at dealing with an old(er) car so I said 'what the heck', now we're a couple of 'what the hacks' later...
* I replaced the Tires with Direzza DL101's... Not the best choice though since the fronts were fried after less than 500km during some track day at one of my now least favorite tracks over here. Actually it was also a lesson that you should warm up tires gently.
* I got a free old Bride bucket from a colleague and loaned Sabelt 4 point harness from another (not mounted yet).
* Growing fed up with the probably still original dampers I started looking for something else on the shock absorber front. On Yahoo Auction I found them but persuading the owner to sell them for a reasonable cost (because used), took several weeks. Luckily not many people are looking for Ohlins adjustable dampers coming from a GT4. Oh, they came with lowering RS-R Coils and front pillow-ball top mount. Mmmmm. The stance is now great but it's definitely hard now... Didn't play with the settings so much yet.
* When changing the dampers, I found a crack in two of the 16" Advan aftermarket Wheels that came with the car. Again Yahoo Auction came to the rescue with a nice set of used 17" OZ's. Ofcourse I then needed new Tires and I stayed with DL but bought a set of Z1 Star Specs. Damn, those are something else. No track use yet but I can't wait because they were great in the mountains!

I did find out however that with older cars, there is always something that needs attention. Now I have one of the usual issues and I'm on the look for a new Rear Differential Mount (someone knows the part number to save me a trip to the dealer with my limited Japanese?).

I'm attaching two pictures, one with the cracked Wheels, one with the 'new' ones... The car was yellow originally but has been resprayed by a previous owner in a 'more yellow' yellow... Original Celica yellow is more pale actually, I can still find it income area's.

Let me know what you think of it ;-)

F.

[silverspeed]

Welcome mate..  Lovely looking 205..

[johnyboy1976]

Hi - nice 205
Part number is 52291-20010
Your yellow is a hell of a lot brighter than the regular yellow as you say - this is the wifes

[martyn_pryor]

Welcome,

Nice looking Faff. will it be going back to Belguim when you return ?

[RS Evo]

Thanks for the P/N, I'll go and order it tomorrow... How much money should I bring? 

Yeah, it's very bright but it actually brightens up every cloudy day... I love it. Your wife's car looks cool too. Mi gf just thinks my car is loud. 

It's not really the plan to bring it back but if I can't get a reasonable offer here, I would be tempted... In case I do and wanna sell after a while, is there demand for this kind of car? Maybe only in the UK? What is the going rate for an ST205 over there?

[martyn_pryor]

The going rate for a 205, with everything sorted is in the region of £4,000. I have not looked at prices for a 205 for a while and other members on here would be able to give a better valuation.