A Truck, Two Toasters, and Three Terrific Toyotas: Members’ Rides

Welcome to Members’ Rides! There are so many cars on my list of dream machines, one of which is currently the GR Corolla. I have always been a sucker for a hot hatch, and the GRolla is such an awesome interpretation of that age old formula. They took a normal, pedestrian car, slapped too much power, an awesome manual transmission, plus a flashy body kit on it! Taking the Corolla from the very definition of an automotive appliance, to a freaking awesome hot hatch that I lust after on a daily basis. Today is it my pleasure to show one off to you all!

Welcome to Members’ Rides! This is where we share the cars and stories of Autopian Members. The potential to be featured here is a perk for Autopian Members of every level, from the ultra-affordable “Cloth” tier all the way up to “Rich Corinthian Leather.” Click that link and join today!

Last week, we met Justin and his fantastic SRT Jeep. The hot Stellantis cars are just fun, the world needs more Hemis. No Hemis today, but we do have Zane’s awesome collection of some of Toyota’s greatest hits from the last twenty or so years. Zane is a master tech at a small Toyota dealer in Southern Ohio. As you’ll see, he’s very clearly a big fan of the brand.

What’s in the garage?

• 02 MR2 Spyder
• 04 Pontiac Vibe (broken)
• 05 Element (x2)
• 21 Ford Ranger
• 23 GR Corolla

How did you get into cars?

I’m a 30-year-old car nut that’s always been fascinated with how stuff works and making it work again. Honestly, I think how I got into cars was from taking toys apart to see how they work, then finally figuring out how to put them back together and still work. Now my toys are just much bigger and more expensive.

Let’s start with the broken MR2, what’s the story?

I got it for dirt cheap. It wasn’t running due to the transmission system being angry and locking it in gear, preventing it from starting. Its destiny is to get a 2ZZ swap and be built into an autocross car.

How’s that build coming along?

No progress on it at all yet, besides getting it out of gear and to start. I bought it as just a project car to work on as the spare money came in… There definitely hasn’t been any spare money.

How good of shape is it in?

It’s in decent shape. From the history I could find on it, it’s spent most of its life in South Carolina. The clear coat is a bit rough, and the seats are toast, but the top has been replaced! Structurally it’s rock solid and no rust to speak of. It honestly looks worse than it is because it’s been sitting for a while. The guy I bought it off of got it through an auction and brought it to Ohio.

Were you looking for one of these or just stumbled across it?

I’d have to say a little of both on this one. I’ve always loved the Spyders, and was close to buying a few in the past. This one is obviously some repairs required, but was such a steal I couldn’t say no to it.

How did you find it?

A friend referred the previous owner to me for assistance with it as he wanted to get it running so he could trade it off for stuff for another one of his projects. I went and checked it out for him. After looking it over, I found the gear shift actuator had failed and had the car locked in gear. So obviously it wouldn’t crank or start. I offered to dig more into it but he decided it wasn’t worth the time. A few weeks later he texted me and offered it to me, I replied with an offer of $600. After a few days of thinking on it for him, he took the offer and off I was to rent a trailer to bring it home.

Beyond the 2ZZ swap, what’s on the list of plans for this?

Oh boy, the list is a LONG one. For the moment, just a three pedal manual swap, wheels, tires, brakes, and some random other little repairs to get it up to snuff for autocross and back road thrashing duties. Eventually it’s going to get the aforementioned 2ZZ swap, a limited slip transmission, supercharger, full suspension upgrades, roll cage and all the other safety goodies. I’ll also try to simplify it and add some lightness to put the cherry on top of what will hopefully be an autocross monster. While my GRC does great, the Miatas from various brands still beat me, so I’ll fight the Honda and Mazda Miatas with a Toyota Miata.

How hard is the engine swap on these?

The engine swap really isn’t too difficult. The 2ZZ is used frequently in cars like the Celica GTS, Matrix, Corolla XRS, and Vibe GT. All of which use the 1ZZ that is in my MR2 in their lower trims. Aside from one custom motor mount bracket, dipstick tube, and exhaust, it pretty much bolts right in. I just have to change the ECU and add a few extra wires for the cam lift that the 2ZZ has that was left out of the 1ZZ engine.

What’s the story behind the modified (and now broken) Vibe?

It’s my first car. My dad bought it new back in 2004, gave it to me when I got my license back in 2010. It got manual swapped in 2012, got its turbo in 2016, and unfortunately got holes in the block at the end of 2018 and has been down ever since. It started out silver, then was black for a while, and it’s had the color changing since 2017.

How did the mods start?

When the automatic transmission died in it on me fresh out of high school, I was determined to put the transmission that I wanted in it. After countless hours researching, comparing part numbers, scouring for wiring diagrams, and then going off the deep end and actually making it happen, I had the first manual swapped Vibe out there. The turbo came much later in its life after I went through tech school and got on at the dealership. I just wanted to make it something totally weird and something that nobody would expect to be as quick as it was. I can definitely say that it’s surprised a whole bunch of people when they heard a Vibe making turbo noises.

What all have you done to it?

The mods list is pretty long with small stuff, but the bigger things include a coilover suspension, custom projector retrofitted headlights, a completely redone stereo system, some racing seats, and now that I’m older, far too many stickers.

What do you love about this car?

Oh man, I love the Vibes, they’re wonderful little cars that are spacious, versatile, and very reliable if you don’t double the stock power like I did. But being my first car, I just have so many memories with that thing. I could never bring myself to get rid of it, and Vibes will always hold a special place in my heart.

One of my favorite things was just the fun factor of that car. A Vibe shouldn’t make blow off valve noises and be willing to roast tires through multiple gears, plus it definitely turned heads as the pictures will show.

What are the plans for it?

I have all sorts of thoughts on this. For the low end plan, maybe full gut and diet, keep it around 250whp and FWD, and try to make it a light track car. If I go full crazy with it… It’d have to be massive power, AWD, full cage and safety gear, maybe go rally style since I already have the GRC and MR2 for pavement rippers? I really don’t know yet. At this point, I unfortunately haven’t done anything to it, no parts or anything acquired, due to money constraints and also just not really being sure how mad I want to make it yet.

Now how did you end up with two 2005 Elements?

I bought the silver one for my girlfriend to help her get back on her feet. I spent a bunch of time on it getting it fixed up to be a good and reliable car for her by mainly replacing suspension parts, the tires, and catching it up on maintenance. After not even a full week of her using it for her job, the transmission came out of park, and it ate a tree. Thankfully she wasn’t in it and was unharmed by that incident.

This is where the black one comes in, as I bought it to replace the silver one, needing much less work to get it drivable, but most of what it needs I’ve been robbing off of the silver one, mostly small stuff like trim pieces or just in general new stuff as both cars are 2005 AWD EX’s.

What are the plans for them?

The overall game plan for the silver one is to use it for parts for the black one, then sell it. The black one is currently being used as a package hauler for my girlfriend, and she loves the thing! Probably about as much as I love the Vibe. They’re wonderful little utilitoasters, with all the room in them. They will drive through just about anything, and are obviously reliable being Hondas, while also being super easy to wrench on. My girlfriend has been helping me work on the black one to get parts swapped and get it good and ready to go, just taking care of typical old beat on Honda issues. She’s not that big of a car person yet, so the fact that she’s figuring things out and getting them done makes me so proud of her!

What led to the Ranger?

I had an aging F-150 and I wanted a newer truck with better creature comforts, and better fuel mileage. Plus, a coworker wanted the F-150 and I found my 2021 Lariat Tremor Ranger for a pretty good price.

Do you ever miss the bigger truck?

Although I’ve only had the Ranger a bit over a month so far, I haven’t missed the F-150 at all. The Ranger is just so much nicer inside, rides so much smoother, gets better mileage, and is easier to maneuver in tight areas! The main downgrade is I lost 300lbs of towing capacity, which isn’t an issue for me at all. I can’t say I miss the F-150 for anything other than the fact it made V8 noises.

What’s your favorite thing about it?

I love the “little” thing! The fox suspension rides great, that Ecoboost 2.3 makes great power to move it around. The 10-speed transmission does a good job of delivering power when my right foot asks for it, and having heated leather seats and the Ford pass app remote start is just what the doctor ordered for a comfy daily.

Anything you don’t love on it?

The only things I don’t like about it are due to it being high mileage for its age. I had to catch up on the 100k services and preventative maintenance. Beyond that, sync 3 is a bit clunky at times with Android Auto, but I really do love the thing.

Ok now for the fun stuff, how’s the GR Corolla?

It’s such an awesome car! Super capable in stock form, and definitely wants to be tossed out a back road at speeds that are frowned upon by normal traffic. It’s like a puppy and if you’re not already thrashing it, it’s there like “come on! Let’s play! I wanna play!”

How does it compare to the Turbo Vibe?

It’s much quicker, much better handling, and more civilized, but also much calmer feeling while pushing it hard. There’s no theatrics when you stomp the skinny pedal, it just goes and goes while you keep grabbing gears until you look down and go “oh crap, I need to slow down!”

What trim/options did you get?

Mine is a 2023 circuit edition, so I have the performance pack, the tech pack, the cold weather pack, along with the vented hood, the glorious carbon roof, and rear spoiler.

What’s your favorite thing on it?

It’s so hard to pick a favorite thing about it! The 3 cylinder tickles my “weird thing” itch, it’s definitely quick enough to be super fun, it handles amazing, looks so wonderfully angry, but is also still comfortable enough to road trip to places like Tail of the dragon to have fun once you get there!

Anything you don’t like?

My dislikes are few on this car, like I wish the stock wheels weren’t black and show the insane brake dust horribly, the stock alignment was horrible and made it a bit too understeer biased for my preference, and the rear seat and cargo space is definitely small but not unusable entirely.

What have you done to it so far?

I ordered wheels and tires for it the day it showed up at the shop, and only had it about a month before I took advantage of a black Friday sale and ordered my intake and exhaust for it.

Mods include:

• Eventuri intake and engine cover
• Magnaflow cat back exhaust
• Cygnus performance X1 coilovers
• SLP rear camber arms
• Cusco rear sway bar
• Ecutek tune
• Forge Motorsports Short throw shifter
• Turbosmart dual port BOV
• DC sports shifter cable and base bushings
• GR rear strut tower brace
• A removable 4-point harness for autocross
• Three different sets of wheels with various tires for “winter” (this car has yet to see a salted road, I paid too much for a Corolla for ODOT to rot it out from under me)
• My pretty wheels with Michelin PS4’s, and my “race” wheels with Bridgestone RE71RS on them. I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few odds and ends, but that’s mostly it.

Any idea how much power it makes now?

It should be making 300-310hp to the ground now, not a massive jump from what these usually make on a dyno at around 255-265hp stock, but the midrange gain and top end power bump made the power range much broader and more fun to use for autocross and such.

Is this your daily or only used for autocross, or what’s the use case for this?

It’s pretty much my autocross and go out and have fun car. I’ll daily it some here and there when the weather is nice out, but traffic and such, my Ranger is just easier to use for a daily driver.

Anything that would make this a bad car to daily?

Not really. With stock suspension it still rides nicely for what the car is. It’s very docile and easy to drive when you keep the gap between the skinny pedal and the floor wide. The clutch is nice and easy to use, but still has nice weight and lets you know when it’s about to bite. The shifter is tight, but not on a hair trigger. I’d say the main downsides as a “fun but practical” only car is the practicality side of it, the rear seat is just too small to comfortably fit a normal size human equipped with legs, the cargo space is small, and for a grocery run, be careful with the bread and eggs so they don’t get smashed on the way home by the milk sliding around when you get the itch to toss it around a turn.

Any further mods planned for it?

I’m not sure honestly for the moment, I mainly want to play with the alignment and suspension a bit and maybe make it a bit quicker in autocross, but if anything for now, I just need to drive it more and really enjoy it.

Have you had any issues with it?

Well, I managed to break the left front strut during one autocross event, granted that was my fault for putting lowering springs on stock struts and attacking the braking zone with the dip in it too hard, but I made that my excuse for coilovers, so it worked out alright I’d say.

Any concerns about the reliability or anything with this?

Reliability is not a concern at all. Now I do expect to tear things up since I thrash the car so hard. Like I wouldn’t be surprised to have to replace the clutch at some point due to it not liking launches or my flat foot shifting during autocross. But I feel like any issues I’ll have with it would be my fault, like the strut getting broken. And upgrades will be available to beef those things up, but in stock form for a fun car, I’d say they would be great and last a good while as long as you maintain it properly.

Did you cross shop this with anything or was the GR in a league of its own?

Before Toyota unveiled the GRC, I had looked around at Subaru WRX STIs, but just never came across one that checked the boxes right. The day after Toyota unveiled the GRC though, I said “I want it and WILL have one!” I walked up front to my salesman and said “the GR Corolla, circuit edition, put me first on the list, and if there isn’t a list, make one and put me first on it.” He hadn’t even heard of it yet, but once he looked it up, he understood why I was hellbent on having that exact car.

That’s awesome. Thanks for sharing with us Zane!

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