Hi all,

Hope you can help out with some advice as there is very little info here in UK.

I've just taken delivery of a 1996 ST195 Caldina 2.0TZ, imported from Japan. I don't know if they all were but this one has full time 4WD.

Great car but the suspension seems very soft and there is a lot of body roll. It's done 90,000kms and it seems mechanically very good with no obvious fluid leaks from the dampers.

Couple of questions:

Is the standard suspension on the soft side?

Are the shockers/dampers interchangeble with any other Toyota or are they specific to the Caldina?

I would be interested in standard units or even uprated, depending on advice from here.

Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance chaps/chapesses.

Hello Pancho

I am also from the u.k and as i am sure you are aware these cars are uber rare on the british roads.

I have the ST215 caldina GT-T 3sgte turbo engine and also permanent 4 wheel drive.

our cars share a lot of components with the avensis estate mine also shares a lot of celica gt4 components due engine and drivetrain.

I also have access to the caldina parts catalogue if you need something looking up give me a shout.

also most toyota dealers will now help owners of grey imports with parts and sevicing.

HTH
John

Hi mate, I just joined the forum so I thought I'd say hello!

I too can sympathize with the lack of information, it seems that this is an issue world-wide with toyota models some time :( I am amazed to hear of people importing these, it's one of those completely "unknown" cars along with the Mitsubishi Evolution MPV thing (Can't remember its name...).

Still. I do indeed work on special imports and do know a little bit about caldinas. I also run a toyota specialist parts and service company and have worked on a fair few of these recently (albeit UK cars, not known as Caldinas) [I do have a small caldina parts list that is rapidly expanding FYI].

To answer your questions:

The suspension is very soft as standard, but it is more the springs than the dampers that are the issue. A -30 drop is about "right" without ruining suspension geometry. Eibach do probably the best spring set for the car, match with koni / bilstein dampers for good effect.

You should search for Carina E Estate Suspension components to find what you need, you have a LOT of common parts from other toyotas, all built into a good chassis. Don't despair! Plenty of bits are available if you know where to look.

You could also fit SuperStrut Suspension if you really wanted to improve the handling, but be warned, they are NOT cheap to fix and VERY hard to find second hand (I actually just sold a set for £150, the list price is over £500!!!).

Happy hunting, Chris

[I edited as I may be close to breaching the advertising rules!]

Hello Chris

Cheers for the above information :-)

I see from your car list you seem to like the 3S-GTE

both my previous cars had that engine ST185 celica GT-4s

I would also hazard a guess that you have the entire ST185 drive-train set-up as well. More than likely you will also have the TorSen Rear Diff option (CS / JDM RD ST185, OR a dealer option on normal ST185s if you are lucky!).

I have a soft spot for the 3SGTE, but it is getting on a bit now.

Looking into the 3.0 3VZ-FE as well as turbocharging options. Not to mention the 4AGE options I have now with restoring not one, but two AW11 Mk1Bs!

I don't think anyones done a 3VZ ST185 in the UK yet... Might be a challenge. I definitely built the first ST191 3SGTE back in 2004, being as it's now 2008 [and I still have it, though maybe will sell before summer] I should probably pull my finger out and build something nice.

Been looking at a GT4/GT-T Which is how I stumbled across the forums actually! Our Combined toyota forum isn't that active (www.yotaclub.com) [Caldina / Carina / Corona / Avensis]

hello chris

someone in the UK has already done a v6 camry engine into a gt4 saw it about 2 years ago at JAE.

http://www.celicatech.com/forums/showthrea...84&page=1&pp=45

check out his other threads as he has a full write up and shopping list for the swap

regards John

Blimey! I missed that one...

How did it compare to its GTE counter-part? I would have thought it might have been slightly faster off the line perhaps with all the torque?

Hello chris

He said its initial pckup was much better due to torque a plenty from the word go.

in all other respects it was pretty similar to a gte engine but without any lag.

install looked superb almost like it was made for that engine bay