The Moderate ST185

st182er

New member
Hi guys, I have been lurking around this forum for a long time. and I just got a st185 so I think its time to be a regular poster

I owned a st162 as a first car and that was when I was bitten by the Celica bug.
Loved it to bits but unfortunately it was on its way out, too much rust and leaks
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Then I got a st184, It didn't feel as crisp as the st162 so I modified to drive and look exactly how I wanted it.
I got it to be perfect and I was confident that the project was done. I fully rebuilt the 5sfe, with new everything, cv shafts, clutch, high flow cat and exhaust.
Stripped the rear seats and spare wheel.
coilovers (12kg) and OZ Racing's
Full Series 2 conversion with facelift bumper and tail lights

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st182er

New member
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An then the car got hit by a hail storm and got written off.I was very sad, however knowing that I made the car exactly how I wanted it gave me comfort for my next project.

So it was time to hunt for a st185. A dream that became reality

and there she was in my garage
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Gave it an epic service
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Previous owner is a noob!

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advantage of being skinny

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no leaks *thumbs up*

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that exhaust though. low life

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st182er

New member
new filters

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wheels ready to be put on

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Beauty shot

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homo wheels that came with the car....

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OCD cleaning

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Parts ready to be fitted, parker light was cracked, so I found a good one. Indicators back to original (I hate clears)

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first Wash

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Flipped these back to normal. Previous owner thought it would be cool to scoop them.....no just no
They are designed as vents. keep them as vents

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CLAY BAR, polish and wax treatment
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mirror result

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Went to toyota to get stock radiator cap. bin the ricer cap


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hmmmm have to do somthing about these ugly welds and ugly BOV

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st182er

New member
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Amber's back on

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Alpine head unit in

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light coat of tint on the front indicators

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found some series 2 tail lights

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before

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After

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BOV is stock as
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there was a leak in this are that was bugging me

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st182er

New member
Painting faded parts black

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Carpet cleannnnnn

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Turbo timer

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some shots

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DE-RICING TIMEE!!!

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Back to stock!

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Shiny progress

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quick wash before they go on

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BOOM new car

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Coilovers are going in next. Currently on King Springs that feel like mush and shagged shocks

going for 12kg spring rate and stripping the rear all out.
 

underscore

Well-known member
Nice work cleaning it up! I followed the exact same progression of Celica ownership, it's a great way to end with a 185. What the deuce is going on with the vac line feeding the BOV though?
 

st182er

New member
CMS-GT4":284slvgi said:
What coilovers are those?

CEIKA performance coilovers. they have been extremely good on the st184 and now on the st185.
Im running on 12kg springs with helper springs all round, camber and damper adjustment for front and rear too.

I wish I had gone with a stiffer spring rate but 12kg are nearly perfect.
 

CMS-GT4

Active member
I have been trying to research those, but I only got one late response from the owner, and have not found anyone running them. What kind of setup is yours? By the looks I assume single adjuster. How many miles have you put on them. How do they handle bad roads? Do you loose traction, or they transition over the bumps while staying stable? Any track time? How many miles on them?
My biggest concern is getting them rebuilt or warranty since they are overseas for me.
Thanks.
 

st182er

New member
I've put aproximately 15,000km on them.
I know a couple of people running these coilovers (mostly 7th gens) but they seems to be happy with them.

I purchased these when the company was still small so the customer service I got from Cedric (CEO) was amazing. However he has been swamped with customers since then so contact is a little difficult for him which is understandable. He gets a lot of business from japan (evident on his facebook page)

my set up is:
12kg F/R
Pillowball Camber top F/R (yes rears have camber tops too)
Full damping Adjustment ~30 clicks F/R
Helper springs F/R (which surprisingly helps me not to three wheel into my driveway.)
Height adjustment can be done with the mounts or the spring along the shock body.

I had done some fast mountain "touge" runs with my honda mates back in the day and the coilovers handled exactly how I wanted them to (on the st184) a little bit of understeer in the front but a tiny bit of oversteer in the rear.

They are not bouncy at all, you never feel a bouncy motion, but at the same time it is firm. A lot of people complain about my spring rates but at the end of the day I love it, I drove it daily.

On the gt4 I haven't fully tuned the dampers perfectly yet but the ride quality is still amazing (when I mean amazing I mean its stiff and feels nimble)

I know I sound like a fan boy but I have driven a lot of my friends cars mostly running BC, tein etc but they are either too soft or too bouncy.

you can order new parts from Cedric, just tell him what you need. whether it be a shock body or new springs, mounts etc... I recently had to order new bottom mounts for the rear because obviously the st184 rears are different to the st185. Cedric was too busy so i just ordered it directly from his manufacturer (which he doesn't deal with anymore)

I'm one of the few that have the first generation CEIKA coilovers, he uses a different company now to make his coilovers so I can't comment on the new kits.

Cedric actually has a ST165 himself and was a member on ozcelica (which I was also on too) so I may have got some special treatment...

When I purchased mine the price was extremely good. I was on a student budget back then and pretty much scraped what ever I could get and I can say that I got more than I payed for.

no track time yet but if they handled well on mountain roads I'm sure a little re-tuning will make it beast on the track.

any other questions?

pick for fun:
rear tops




 

CMS-GT4

Active member
Thanks for the info. For the little I find online about them, they seem like a good deal. I like the rear camber plates, and all the options they have. I was asking him about the tuning of them, and he was not keen on digressive for a street setup, which I found odd considering bilstein and fortune auto are famous for the digressive valves. I am afraid a linear setup may not be as versatile on the road vs track as I like. I sent him more questions but never heard back from him again. I kind of wrote off these coilovers, but I am still considering them in the back of my mind, just because they have higher coilover potential at an entry level price. His lack of response sort of bothers me as if I had problems I am afraid it might not go so well.
What made you choose those spring rates? I know the tte car runs 8/7kg, and Cedrik suggests running the front and rear the same, but I was measuring wheel frequency and if I was to do 8kg in the front, the rear would had matched closer at 5kg. I am curious how the wheel frequency plays in this with spring rates or if some tuning in the dampener is designed to compensate.

Edit: did he give you shock dynos when you bought? That was one of the things I asked for but never got a response.
 

st182er

New member
His service was good at the start. All questioned answered the instant you sent him an email etc. but I can't blame him, he is getting much more business now.

As for digressive set up: I think Digressive over Progressive any day. Simply because it is proven to work better on track and rally cars. However if this is going to be mostly a street car, progressive will be fine. I would still go Digressive because I can live with it.

I came to the conclusion on 12kg spring rates after driving many different cars with various spring rates.
I found that the typical 5-8kg springs were too soft for me, 16kg springs were nearly what I was looking for.
After asking the forums whether I should go 15 or 14kg they all complained about it being too stiff and that I would need some dental work after one drive. So as vulnerable as I was, I went with 12kg, Now that I think about it, I would probably go 14kg.

I recommend for you to drive other cars running coilovers of all different spring rates and setup (normal macpherson set up to double wish bone). I'm lucky I got to drive friends gt4,EK's,DC2r's,Evo7/8 and S2k

At the end of the day, it is how YOU want the car to feel. I mean it can say 8/7kg on paper and that's great, but if you are not happy with it and the way it feels...
Also I don't know where you live but the roads here are pretty good so I can get away with a higher spring rate. So there are many factors that come into play that you have to consider.

I was young and dumb when I got these coilovers (I may still be) and I was looking for something that could perform,was cheap (student budget) so I could out run dc2r's on the mountain. that's what I got :)

TTE cars had to go other rough terrain and they had some extreme suspension set up probably with crazy good external reservoir system.

If you are like me and do not care the slightest about comfort, I'd go with higher spring rates with digressive valving. You rarely see a serious track/daily running 7-8kg at the track unless they are light weight chassis (which out cars are far from being) well in Australia you don't.

I didn't get a shock dyno. You probably want to contact his direct manufacturer for that . You will find that all the big brands get their parts from Taiwan and rebrand them. I'm pretty sure Fortune Auto does this... I am a keen cyclist and I know that all the expensive bikes like Specialized and Cervelo are made in the same Taiwanese factory as Merida ( a cheaper brand). Different price tags are slapped on after they exit the factory..

A lot of things to think about, I love your car and the mods you've done to it. I am pretty sure I follow you on insta and I trust that what ever you do it will be good. :)

Pics because too much words

red coolant (the way it should be)


because...well just because



LOLOL


miss my old car


Honda Killer

 

CMS-GT4

Active member
Thanks a lot for all the info. I still have a lot of research to do, but I think once I decide it will be something I can live with. Roads are not that great here, and also neither are the tracks. Autox is about the only smooth fast conditions beside the tail of the dragon I have experienced. I want something that will be able to deal well with bumps, go low, and still maintain proper control in both a street and track conditions.
So thanks again. Now back to more research.
 

st182er

New member
They are 17inch oz racing super turismos that originally came from 22b's

I don't know how much I dropped it from stock.

In other news I have ordered a Group A bumper. and also installed a rear roof visor.

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