I was wondering if anyone here on the board ever had one. If you did can you share your experience and compare it to the is350. Anyone who has this car should know it's hard to let go...

 

I used to own an '88 altrac and then got the '90 (st185) back in 1994. it had 50k miles and it was in great cond. i loved that car because it looked so much better than the other celicas. i had to sell it back in '96 to buy a
4-door car for my new family. i still miss it today.

as far as comparing to the IS, well my IS350 is much luxurious and more powerfull but that is obvious just looking at the specs. the alltrac is still a good looking celica, just boosted.

recently, i had an "itch" to look for used alltracs for sale and did find a couple. there was one locally for sale for a good price. then i thought to myself, how the hell do i convince the wife to let me buy another car - specially an old used one. it's easier for me to buy things I can hide - like my IS's bodykit, exhaust, HID, etc. LOL.

do you still have your car?

 

yes i do ...

5k with few problems and lots of nice mods

ct20b
fmic

It's got it's problems but it's got a new MHG
and 180 180 179 180 on all four cylinder... let me know i'm in LA, CA

 

i'll question more powerful if you turn up the boost.. hee hee.. it's good for 16psi ish... i'm pretty sure you know how it works...

 

oh wow, this car use to rock my world, not that i had one, but a friend did.

 

My son and I just swapped a '91 JDM ST185 motor into his '89 ST165 All Trac and added a CS air to water intercooler, and Aussie 3" exhaust, blow off valve, etc. I love the exhaust tone!

 

ya must be old..haha.

 

you need to get your turbo upgraded... hee hee.. ct20b is very nice... it's a linear feel and the power doesn't die off even at 72000 rpm... spools with less lag than a wrx~

i will be gettin my is350 this week hopefully

 

The ST185 is a pretty cool car that has it's place among minor collectors and Toyota enthusiasts. There is no comparison to a car like the IS350 since they were clearly developed for seperate reasons.

They can be a very fast car when modified and are very hard to come by in good condition, without modifications. I believe alltrac.net is the user community for those cars...very close knit group.

The only thing I can say about the turbocharged japanese cars of the late 80's early 90's vs the new IS350 is that while the older cars had the raw power and potential, they don't come close the IS350 in terms of speed, quality, luxury, and reliability.

To put it in perspective, the IS350 is slightly faster and exponentially more reliable than my Rx-7 TT stock vs stock. Even modified, the IS350 is still a bit faster and more reliable than cars like the SW20 and basic NA-T SC300's.

The older cars are what you can call "enthusiast" models. For the enthusiasts, the amount of money spent maintaining and modifying is inconsequential. If you're looking at things from a economic standpoint, it doesnt make much sense to modify and maintain those old cars when today's cars offer higher performance, economy and reliability.

 

Mike I agree with you the '89 we have came loaded with anti lock brakes, heated mirrors, sun roof, fully adjustable driver's seat,...and I mean power upper and lower side bolsters, air conditioning, four channel stereo, power windows & locks, LSD, I could go on but,...
Everything still works which is a great testement to Toyota but also shows how well optioned out these cars were back-in-the-day.
And yea it's a money pit!

 

Yeah, i've been saving up for an IS350, but couldn't bear to part with the Rx-7 and the SC300 to get it since they were both relatively rare models that I had spent a bit of time looking for. With the amount of money I've spent on the both of them (including money spent on toys, models, car brochures, old back issues, etc), I could've put a very nice downpayment on an IS350 and had low monthly payments.

Oh well, I guess you could say I am certifiably "car crazy"! True enthusiasm defies logic and reason

 

hee hee.. you got a 240 also... me too... sr20det baby~~~

 

Haha yeah...it was one out of a long series of beaters purchased on the cheap cheap. It's actually gone now, as I gave it to my friend as her X-mas present since she needed a car. Would have put money into it, but it wasn't worth it for me since I have very low enthusiasm for Nissans.

But yes, to stay on topic Alltrac + IS350 are two totally different breeds.

This thread may have been more appropriate in the Car Chat forum...but anyhow, welcome to the site!

 

ST185. What a rare car. Back back in those days, the car was fast for it's time. You have to basically outweigh the sentimental over intrinsic value.