As of late, the Celica has been feeling very sad because of the lack of love it’s been getting from the aftermarket world. Even the Toyota Racing Development guys know that they’ve been neglecting the Celica and apologize. That’s why the company came out with this new big brake upgrade as a peace offering to all the Celica owners out there. Rest assured that all this waiting was for a very good reason. TRD puts all its products through intense R&D before releasing them to the public. TRD parts are also designed with your car payment in mind, meaning every part used will not affect the factory warranty on the vehicle. Being as anxious as a bunch of elementary school boys sneaking into an R-rated movie, we jumped at the opportunity to snap pictures when TRD called. In the future we’d like to see a nicely designed turbo kit, but for now, the big brakes are a damned good start.
After the installation, don’t go out and immediately try to get in some 100-to-0-mph tests. The pads and rotors need to go through a mandatory break-in procedure. First, you’ll have to find a safe and legal area that has enough room to go through the series of braking that you’re about to do. You’ll have to drive and brake gently until the surface plating is worn off of the rotors. The second part of the break-in requires several decelerations from 60 mph to 10 mph, using moderate braking pressure. It is absolutely crucial that you never come to a complete stop, as this will cause the rotor to vibrate in the future. After about ten decelerations, the break-in procedure is complete. Don’t get too excited yet, as the brakes won’t be at their optimum performance level until the brakes have been heated up and cooled down a couple more times.