My Friend Has A 1996 Corolla And He Wants To.... - Pre-1997 Toyota Corolla and Geo Prizm

Guest 1FastVolvo

as the title says i have a friend here in VA that wants to make his corolla faster. Hes on a budget, so if you guys could just list (if there are any) some mods that we can do to it. i suggested a supercharger, but i dont know if im gonna be able to find one to fit a FWD with limited engine bay space. could you guys help me out? thanks,

-Dave

[EDIT] Can i get some engine specs for him? i want to do research on this. What kind of engine, How big (liters), what kind of stock horses, and what the stock internal components can handle without upgrading

oh, and has anyone here tried to turbo their car? works great on volvos default_wink

oh its a DX if it helps

Depends on what the budget is. From the post's title - 1996 Corolla - I'll assume it is a 7AFE 1.8L engine (105 HP/ 117 ft.lbs). Not much you can do with that. Internals are not that strong - probably can go about 6-7 PSI before you have to build it.

Budget from $2500 and up

Turbocharging or Supercharging route (turbo would be easier). That will include the parts to get started and tuning of the system. More if you have someone else install it. For the supercharging route - you'd almost have to go custom or swap the heads from a 4AGZE to make a 7AGZE. But can be expensive due to the populatity of the donor engine. Jackson Racing and Blitz were the only ones making it for that generation of Corolla. The TRD supercharger will not work.

Budget $1000 - $2000

NOS and better intake and exhaust. Probably the best bang for the buck - but not legal everywhere. Some places will not allow transportation of NO2 without proper license to do so.

Budget less than $1000

Intake and exhaust - gut the car to make it lighter. Every bit helps - but don't huge power gains from the 7AFE - may 5-10 WHP extra.

Alternative - engine swap. Pop in a better engine. Problems, in the VA and other states that have emissions checks and vehicle inspections, the donor engine has to be the same model year or newer to be legal. That leave 1ZZFE, 2ZZGE, and JDM spec'd engines. A 1ZZFE or 2ZZGE swap will set you back about $7000 unless you find a good, used engine. JDM engines don't meet emission in all areas - may be a no go.

Good Luck.

Guest 1FastVolvo

well, its gonna be tight on cash, but i can probably hook up his exhaust/intakes and stuff like that. Turbo project wise....where would i find a manifold that would go on that type of corolla...small turbo since you dont think it'll run high boost pressures. Say 10hp/PSI that'll give him a good 60-70 horses. gonna be hard finding a turbo exhaust, probably going to have to do a cam swap if we run turbo...You guys have it harder than us volvo guys do.

well, im definetly gonna custom make him an intake and maybe bend him a 2.5 inch exhaust..that should help a little bit. the car is already pretty quick, so its all good. Are there any heads that i could swap out? its a 16V car im almost positive how new it being, so i wonder if there are any high performance head/cam setups out there. Possibly mill the head down and lower the compression a bit. were both 16, so this is gonna be a pretty tight budget, but hes been playing too much need for speed and wants to go fast...i told him to get a 1983 volvo 242 turbo if he wanted to go fast, but he doesnt have money to be paying insurance on it also. (he has to keep his corolla due to family)

well then.....looks like more reasearch ahead...major thanks to that guy ^^^ and to anyone else that posts up.

laters

David

Yeah, you got to start somewhere - a Corolla is not most the ideal car to start as a project vehicle, but since it is pretty popular (parts) can be had if you look around.

Turbo manifold will be tough to find in good shape - cheap. Luckily, the exhaust manifold is in the front of the engine, makes it much easier to run an intercooler. 10 PSI is possible - but a couple of guys ran that for a while and it killed the stock motor. 6-7 PSI is doable, but you know how people are with boost. 10-14 PSI is common for a G-series Toyota head. Fortunately, they can be swapped for a F-series head without too much drama - would give you bigger performance gains than new cams, for about the same cost. Still would set you back a couple of hundred bucks.

Shaving down the head is not recommended - unless you rebuild the internals. The engine is already a non-interference type and the clearances are tight. Unless you go with a dished piston or one with valve reliefs - don't do it.

If he is going to do it a piece at a time - start with the intake and exhaust - won't do a whole lot now, but will come into play when you go forced induction. E-manage is good to have - but at $250-$450 new - need to check eBay for some used ones. If he is going to swap engines - do that first. Since any money you dump into the car will basically go to waste.

Good Luck.

Guest 1FastVolvo

well, then i guess ill just have to find him a cheap volvo 240. i can run 20 psi in mine all day and not hear a single ping. thats just because every N/A motor they built they also built with a turbo so its all good. right now im pushing right around 310 bhp from a head swap, T cam, Penta (stroker) crank, and 15 psi (spikes to 20 sometimes)

thanks for the help and ill keep the engine swap idea in mind next time i go to a yard or something

if i get a bigger holset on it, ill probably be able to run 26 or so psi with stock internals...maybe a much bigger manifold and a better exhaust, but guys around here with 240s with these kind of mods can walk Z06's from lights.