My '93 Corolla From New Zealand

Haha nice copy and paste there


I bought a small external microphone for my camera a few weeks ago, purely so I can record the sound of the trumpets by placing the microphone under the hood, and today I decided to make a quick video to test it out. It definitely sounds better than previous in-car footage I've taken with the camera's built-in mic, but it's quite a cheap/budget product so I may look at investing in a better quality microphone so it can capture the true sound the trumpets make during full acceleration, but for now this will do

Haha thanks Chris, a shame about the camera shake but could have been a lot worse

Haha thanks guys

I came across some info online a couple of weeks ago about a few different people in Malaysia using a 6-speed ECU with their 5-speed Blacktops and noticing a slight increase in power/response, so when I stumbled across a 6-speed Blacktop ECU a few days ago for a good price I decided to test it out for myself.

The 6-speed ECU is meant to have better fuel mapping, better engine response, a raised rev limiter and a safety function which makes the engine idle up for a second when changing up or down a gear at a certain rpm, which helps to protect the 6-speed's synchro's and reduces driveline lash.

I swapped the ECU over today but before doing so took my car for a drive with the 5-speed ECU still fitted to see what my current rev limiter was before the engine would valve bounce. In 1st gear it was about 8,300rpm and in 2nd and 3rd gear it was 8,250rpm. After I installed the 6-speed ECU and went for a decent drive I tried it again and noticed that in all the gears I tested (1st, 2nd and 3rd) the rev limiter was now 8,500rpm. Prior to the swap I had heard that the 6-speed ECU would hit the limiter at 7,800rpm in 1st gear, but this wasn't the case in my experience (bearing in mind that I am however running the 5-speed C56 transmission).

The engine response does seem slightly quicker but nothing mind blowing, however the slightly increased rev limiter comes in handy when changing gear at high rpm as every little bit helps to keep it within the power band after shifting. The 6-speed ECU is also meant to be a bit more economical on fuel but I haven't been able to test that as of yet.

All in all it does have it's advantages over the 5-speed ECU and for the price I paid it was certainly worth it

These are some photos I took before the swap, with the 5-speed ECU on the left and the 6-speed ECU on the right:

Yep, the 6-speed ECU plugged straight in. Same connectors and number of pins. The ECU controls fuel and ignition timing, so it doesn't know what type of gearbox it has installed, lol. Thinking about swapping to a 6-speed, but even here they're quite expensive and hard to find, especially one that hasn't had the tits thrashed off it these days.


I added another rare optional extra to my collection today when I happened to come across an OEM factory option rubber moulded trunk organizer. I've seen this shown in the sales brochures but this is the first one I've ever seen in real-life. It is shaped perfectly for the sedan's trunk and has 3 separate partitions to ensure items don't slide around during transit, plus since it's made of rubber it's a breeze to clean

Haha I suppose you could, although every time you went around a corner it would probably bunch up and look like shit every time you open the trunk.

It's been a while since I've taken a photo of my car so here's a random shot I took today: