The Celica GT-Four came in three generations; ST165, based on the fourth generation Celica, and manufactured between October 1986 and August 1989; the Super Round shape ST185 produced from September 1989 to September 1993; and ST205 from February 1994 to June 1999.
The Celica GT-Four production cars were built at Toyota's Tahara plant in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, and the rally cars were prepared by Toyota Team Europe in Köln, Germany.
The Celica GT-Four ST165 made its World Rally Championship (WRC) debut in the 1988 Tour de Corse, but the first WRC victory came in 1989 Rally Australia. The ST185's WRC debut was in 1992 Rally Monte Carlo, and the first WRC win was in the 1992 Safari Rally, and won four events in that year. The ST185 is Toyota's most successful rally car. It won the WRC Driver's Championship in 1992, and the WRC Manufacturer's and Driver's Championships in 1993 and 1994. The ST205 came in late 1994, and became official rally car in 1995 with one WRC victory. It also won the 1996 European Rally Championship.
Toyota Team Europe (TTE) was also the first to introduce the anti-lag system (ALS) in their ST205 Celica GT-Four cars, a technological breakthrough that was later adopted by other teams.
History & Devolepment ;;Toyota Celica GT-FourReview
ST165 (1986-1989)
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| 1988 Toyota Celica All-Trac Turbo ST165 |
The ST165 GT-Four can be distinguished from the front wheel drive Celica by its front bumper which has larger openings, and the "GT-Four" decals on the doors. Inside, the original GT-Four has differential lock switch near the hand brake for MY 1986 and 1987.
The Celica GT-Four was updated in October 1987. As with other front-drive Celicas, the ST165 received a new grille, tail lights, and alloys. The export version also has ground effects, noticeably the side spoilers and dual front round fog lights. The center differential was changed from a manually-lockable unit (either open or locked) to a viscous-coupling limited-slip type. The GT-Four is marketed in the USA as All-Trac Turbo and in Canada as 4WD Turbo.
The ST165 was not sold in North America before 1988 except for seventy-seven special-edition cars sold to commemorate Toyota's IMSA GTO championship win. These Celicas are all white with white wheels and blue interior and have "IMSA GTO CHAMPION" printed in small letters on the side moulding, as well as a white stripe on the grill. One car was sold at each of the 77 Toyota dealerships in California. They were sold in 1987 as 1988 models, and do have the viscous-coupling center differential.
The ST165 was the only car to be sold with the first version of Toyota's 3S-GTE. It developed 182-190 hp (depending on the market & model year) and 184 lb·ft (249 N·m) of torque.
ST185 (1989-1993)
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| 1993 Toyota Celica All-Trac Turbo ST185 |
The 3S-GTE in the GT-Four features an air-to-air intercooler and CT26 twin entry turbo to eliminate exhaust gas interference. The JDM GT-Four has 225 PS (165 kW; 222 hp) of power and 304 N·m (224 lb·ft) of torque, a result of more aggressive ignition advance and ceramic turbine. The Full-time 4WD system in the GT-Four has viscous coupling limited slip center differential and some models are equipped with a Torsen rear differential.
All export market GT-Four are wide-body Liftbacks with flared fenders. The JDM GT-Four was also offered as normal body.
In August 1990, the wide body GT-Four A was added into the Japanese lineup. Super Live Sound System with ten speakers became standard on the GT-Four A.
ST205 (1994-1999)
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| 1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four WRC ST205 |
The 2500 units homologation cars built to allow Toyota to enter the GT-Four as a Group A car in the World Rally Championship also sported extras such as all of the plumbing required to activate an anti-lag system, a water spray bar and pump for the front intercooler, a basic water injection system, a small hood-mounted spoiler aft of the windscreen washers (also standard fit on all UK cars) and an extender rear spoiler mounted on risers. The actual rally cars were fitted with standard MacPherson struts (that cost about GB£25,000 each because Super Strut Suspension was technically problematic).Out of the 2500 GT-Four WRC built, 2100 stayed in Japan, 300 were exported to Europe, 77 for Australia, 5 for New Zealand and a few to the general markets. The Japanese market ST205 came with a standard automatic climate control air conditioner, but ABS was optional. Export WRC models only received a manual air conditioner system but all came with standard ABS.
Official WRC models in the initial 2500 were only produced in 1994 as required by the WRC homologation rules. All ST205 sold in Australia were WRC models and called the GT-Four Group A Rallye.
In August 1995, the ST205 received minor changes which consisted of new 6-spoke alloys, projector headlights, contoured side spoilers, and a redesigned rear spoiler. The high WRC rear spoiler was not available for the facelift model, but returned on the second minor change in December 1997.
Rally Results
TTE's Celica GT-Four ST185 Group A in Safari Rally trim
- ST165 won 13 WRC series. Carlos Sainz won the 1990 WRC Driver's Title.
- ST185 won 16 full WRC series, and 3 overall winner in the W2L series. WRC Driver's Titles with Carlos Sainz in 1992, Juha Kankkunen in 1993, and Didier Auriol in 1994. WRC Manufacturer's Titles in 1993 and 1994.
- ST205 won 1 full WRC series, and 2 overall winner in the W2L series.
- ST165 won the 1989 and 1990 British Rally Championship, and 1990 Asia Pacific Rally Championship.
- ST185 won the 1995 European Rally Championship.
- ST185 won the 1997 Rally of Malaysia.
- ST205 won the 1996 European Rally Championship.
