93's-97's and knowing the difference....

93's-97's and knowing the difference....

Hey Guys and Gals,

I was curious how to tell the difference between years in the 93-97 models.

I have a stock 97ce. My grill is the stock green, the area around my windows is also stock green (not black) and my tail lights are white on the top, and red on the bottom.

Any others out there wanna share the differences in their years?

you can easily tell a 93 apart from everything else b/c it doesnt have a passenger airbag (or at least mine doesnt) and i believe all the rest do. i think you can get a fairly accurate year guess by the wheels as well.

what u described could be either a 96 or a 97. IN 96-97, the began having a clear turn signal in back (93-95 has yellow) and a colored grill. also, i they added the CE in 96. 93-95 u could tell if it was a base, DX, or LE just be looking at the side moulding. the base had no molding, DX was black, and LE was body colored, kinda like how now the CE has black, and LE and S are body colored.


also, the LE trunk panel changed in 96-97, just different color schemes, i've seen some that say DX that are different, but i'm not too sure about thsoe.


i've read that the 96-97 tails won't fit perfectly on a 93-95 (leaves a gap), unless u change the trunk panel, but i've also heard otherwise from a guy i know who put his altezzas from his 97 onto his friend's 95, he said it fit fine, so i'm not sure.

96 and 97 have OBDII

the stock grille is also different from 93-95 and 96-97

The 97 (and possibly 96) DX models have the red and white center trunk panel, aestheically following the taillights. 96 and 97 also got ridiculously long antennaes... So long they bend under their own weight.

93 LE's are the only ones that have the red middle section with the yellow bar accross the top

and you're right...93's are the only AE102's that don't have passenger air bags

i thought our 93 had a passenger airbag....guess not, haven't driven it forever. Though i might be driving it again this summer, depending on if my sis is taking the bus to work this summer again or not.

The '93-'97 spotter's guide (don't search for it, this is something I compiled myself
'93-'95 had red/amber tails and gray grille, '96-'97 had red/clear tails and body colour grille. LE had matching garnish, as did '96-'97 DX. LE also had body colour door handles, bodyside mouldings, and side mirrors. '93 had driver's airbag only (not even that on some Canadian models). All base models (including CE, which was a '97-ONLY model, just a lowly Standard Sedan with the power package, nothing more... oh, and standard PAS... whoop dee doo!) had body coloured window frames. All DX and LE models had blackout window frames. Translation: if it's got black window frames, it's got a 1.8, and is therefore an AE102... if it's got body colour window frames, it's got a 1.6 and is therefore an AE101... Electric windows were only available on DX wagon and LE in '93, with central locking a standalone option on the DX sedan. All 1.8 models have front and rear stabiliser bars and PAS as standard equipment, while 1.6 models have only a rear stabiliser bar and PAS optional (standard on '97 CE). 1.8 models usually have tachs when equipped with a 5-speed, while 1.6s never got them. 1.8s got 4-speed autos, 1.6s got 3-speed. So O/D button=1.8=DX or LE, and no O/D button=1.6=standard or CE. '93-'95 standard and DX have the same 11-hole wheel covers, LE has 7 hole. Standard has vinyl trim rolled to edge of all seats with only the seating surface itself being cloth, has no fold-down rear seats, and no rear headrests.

'94:received a passenger airbag

'95: received a new tailpipe design (smaller diameter, upward bent without the rolled tip of '93-'94s. DX got a new fabric pattern (same as '96-'97 DX), which had a bit of a tweed look to it. All '95s got slightly changed gauges (km/h markings on the speedo became white instead of yellow) whether it had a tach or not. Redline on the 7A-FE dropped from 6300 r/min to 5900 r/min, and peak hp dropped from 115/110 (49-state/CA) to 105 for all 50 states.

'96: changes detailed above. LE model dropped in US, DX received body colour mirrors as standard, with body colour door handles and bodyside mouldings an option. Electrically adjustable mirrors are also an option on DX models. Standard sedan no longer comes with wheel covers, and gets only styled steel wheels, DX gets new directional wheel covers.

'97: Wagon discontinued, CE sedan debuts, but is just a standard sedan with electric windows, central locking, and standard power assisted steering... yet still no rear defogger. CE used '93-'95 standard/DX wheel covers. All models get newly restyled door panels.

NOPE, mine doesn't either.

i have a 97 DX (1.8L) 5 speed, and no tach standard....

This is why a cluster with tach is so rare now:

There are probably 10 1.6L Rollas for every single 1.8L equipped with a manual...

I've got a 97 base. No power nuthin. Except, I do have a Passenger side Airbag.

RedAE102, Nice to see you around.

there were carb engines (1.3L, 12 valve) 92-97 here in asia... we have a diff engine too...

the US has the AE102 while we asians have the AE101