2002 Toyota Celica GT-S

Sport coupes have long served as a 3-dimensional playground for automotive stylists. By nature, the shelf life of these flashy, two-door tourers is relatively short and spiky, making sudden visual impact a design essential. Toyota's latest Celica clearly fills the bill when it comes to that fundamental consideration. Borrowing dynamic cues from the firm's CART Champ Car, the look-at-me lines of this futuristic 2+2 fastback tend to evoke a broad range of reactions depending on where one falls in the overall age demographic. Aesthetic consideration aside, the Celica, particularly in upline GT-S configuration, also has the mechanical moxie needed to deliver an engaging motoring experience every time you slip behind the wheel.

A multi-element body kit adds more aggressive front bumper and rear bumper treatments, sculpted rocker panel extensions, and an even bolder, adjustable-pitch rear wing.

Seeking to more aggressively tap into the burgeoning potential of the "tuner" market, Toyota raised the Celica's sheetmetal ante one step further for 2002 with the introduction of the Action Package. Designed by CALTY, Toyota's U.S. styling operation in Newport Beach, California, this multi-element body kit adds more aggressive front bumper and rear bumper treatments, sculpted rocker panel extensions, and an even bolder, adjustable-pitch rear wing. Factory installed to ensure proper Toyota-level fit and finish, the Action Package adds $1,590 to the price of a GT or GT-S model.


As in the past, even the entry-level Celica GT brings a fair array of basic goodies in its $17,085 base price. Included in the mix is air conditioning, power mirrors, AM/FM/CD/cassette stereo and a tilt steering column. Stepping up to GT-S guise raises that figure to $21,555, but does add highly desirable items like power windows/locks, rear window washer/wiper, cruise control, rear heater ducts, upgraded sound system, 205/55VR16 tires in place of 195/60VR15 rubber, 6-speed manual transmission instead of the GT's 5-speed, and the hotter GT-S spec engine. In addition to the Action Package, our car also had a power moonroof, side air bags, ABS circuitry for its 4-wheel disc brakes, floor mats and cast alloy wheels. Collectively, those extras bumped its bottom line to $25,885, including $485 in destination.

The 1.8-liter DOHC 16-valve I-4 in the GT-S makes its 180 peak horsepower at a stratospheric 7,600 rpm and maximum 130 lb.-ft. of torque at an equally uncommon 6,800 revs.

A certified screamer—for better or worse—the 1.8-liter DOHC 16-valve I-4 in the GT-S makes its 180 peak horsepower at a stratospheric 7,600 rpm and maximum 130 lb.-ft. of torque at an equally uncommon 6,800 revs. By comparison, its less-intense GT kin develops 140 ponies at 6,400 rpm and 126 lb.-ft. of twist at 4,200 revs. While both derivatives are fitted with Toyota's variable valve timing with intelligence (VVT-i) that alters the timing of the intake valves to help broaden the powerband, only the GT-S incorporates a variable lift component as well (VVTL-i), to give it even more of output bump.


Although VVTL-i adds a palpable edge to the character of the GT-S, the real fun only starts when the tach needle sweeps past the 6K mark en route to the engine's 7,800 rpm redline. Below that threshold, this free-revving four delivers sprightly serviceable but far from scintillating performance, regardless of whether it's matched with the standard 6-speed manual gearbox as in our tester or the optional "button-shifted" 4-speed automatic. Drop it off the cam—a situation that occurs in conjunction with pretty much every gear change of either transmission—and the engine's excitement index takes a mini-dip until it spins back up into its preferred rev realm. Hammered mercilessly, it will propel the GT-S from 0-60 mph in about 7.5 seconds with a manual transmission. Pedaled normally, and even with a half dozen cogs to choose, it always seems wanting for another two—or three—ratios to remain in the sweet spot.