Driven to distraction

By Alastair Sloane

The new Toyota Celica is the car Toyota New Zealand doesn't want you to see yet. Not all of it, anyway.

The first official, whet-your-appetite picture appeared in Midweek Motoring last week. It was a ground-level shot of the car's front end, showing the grille and headlights.

More complete pictures of the Celica, said a teasing Toyota, wouldn't be available until the car's launch later this year.

But we didn't want to wait, not when the new front-wheel-drive coupe, the seventh-generation Celica, promises so much. So we scouted around in cyberspace and out of the blue came a fellow with digital pictures of the car.

"I photographed it the other day in Japan," he said. "How many do you want? I'll send them e-mail."

So here it is, the year 2000 Celica, Uncle Tom Cobbley and all. Well, not quite all. We can't confirm things like price, options, colours and so on. Toyota New Zealand will keep that to itself for the time being, though it has said the price will be line with the outgoing model.

For the record, the outgoing model is no longer available, but if it were the five-speed manual would cost $39,500 and the four-speed automatic $41,000.

The new Celica will be lighter, more compact and more powerful and fuel-efficient than the outgoing 2.2-litre model. And thanks to better packaging it will have more interior room.

Much of the interest in the car centres around its four-cylinder, 1.8-litre engine, a high-revving DOHC powerplant developed jointly with motorcycle and marine engine specialist Yamaha.

The 16-valve engine uses Toyota's new variable valve-timing system called VVTL-i, which works like Honda's acclaimed VTEC technology.

It produces 130kW at 7600 rpm to push the car from zero to 100 km/h in under eight seconds and on to an impressive top speed of about 240 km/h.

The Celica's improved power-to-weight ratio has sharpened acceleration times considerably.

Its handling and ride has been further improved, says Toyota, by putting the wheels and suspension assembly closer to the four corners of the car.

It says the changes will give the Celica better straight-line stability and help to balance it through corners.

The Celica uses MacPherson struts front and rear and comes with either a six-speed manual gearbox or four-speed sequential automatic.

The automatic will also have electronic Formula One-style switches on the steering wheel, which the driver can use to change gears.

A computer takes the place of the clutch pedal, engaging and disengaging the clutch and shifting gears.

The Celica is expected to use a hybrid electric-hydraulic power-steering system which, Toyota says, relieves the engine of the burden of spinning a conventional power-steering pump.

Toyota dealers are expecting the new car to excite much interest. Its main competitor in price and performance will be the lickety-split Nissan 200SX, a rear-drive coupe powered by a turbocharged four-cylinder 2-litre engine.