Toyota's first WRC drivers' title had come in 1990 with Carlos Sainz driving the predecessor ST165 Celica. With the release of the T180-generation Celica, Toyota committed to a Group A homologation programme requiring 5,000 road-going examples to be built before the ST185 could race. The homologation variant — designated the GT-Four RC in most markets and known as the Carlos Sainz Edition in Europe — was produced to honour Sainz's 1990 championship win. Five thousand units were manufactured, sold across Europe, Australia, and Japan, but none reached the United States.
The Carlos Sainz Edition road car differed from the standard GT-Four in several respects: a water-to-air intercooler replaced the standard air-to-air unit, the bonnet was a lightweight composite item with a prominent air scoop flanked by heat-extracting louvres, the front bumper was lighter and aerodynamically revised, a Torsen differential was fitted at the rear, and gearshift travel was shortened with stronger synchromesh. The unique serial number plate bearing Carlos Sainz's name made each car individually identifiable. Performance of the Carlos Sainz Edition was quoted at 208 hp, with 0 to 100 km/h in approximately 6.3 seconds and a top speed of around 230 km/h. Japanese domestic market variants of the standard GT-Four produced 225 hp.
The works competition car was prepared by Toyota Team Europe at their base in Cologne. Its engine was the 3S-GTE water-cooled 1,998cc four-cylinder sixteen-valve DOHC unit, fitted with a Toyota CT26 twin-entry turbocharger and a water-cooled intercooler. Bore and stroke measured 86 × 86 mm; compression ratio was 8.5:1. Maximum power was rated at 295 bhp at 5,700 rpm, with maximum torque of 459 Nm at 4,000 rpm. The body measured 4,410 mm in length, 1,745 mm in width, and 1,300 mm in height, on a wheelbase of 2,525 mm. Transmission was a six-speed manual. Suspension consisted of MacPherson struts with Bilstein dampers, and braking was by ventilated discs. Tyres were supplied by Michelin on OZ Racing wheels.
The ST185 made its competitive debut at the 1992 Monte Carlo Rally, the opening round of the season, with Carlos Sainz and Luis Moya as the lead crew, supported by Armin Schwarz and Arne Hertz. The car experienced reliability and handling difficulties in the early part of the season, but mid-year modifications to the suspension and powertrain transformed its competitiveness, with its full potential becoming apparent at the Rally de Catalunya. Sainz went on to win his second WRC drivers' title that year, with Toyota scoring four victories. The manufacturers' championship was not won, with Toyota finishing as runners-up.
For 1993, Toyota arrived with a new Castrol livery in green and red, switched from Pirelli to Michelin tyres, and fielded Juha Kankkunen and Didier Auriol as the primary drivers alongside Sainz. The season produced seven victories including four-abreast dominance at the Safari Rally, where Toyota placed first, second, third, and fourth. Kankkunen took the drivers' title with five wins and finished 23 points clear of the field. Toyota also claimed the manufacturers' championship, the first in the team's WRC history. Victories that season included the Monte Carlo Rally (Auriol and Bernard Occelli), the Swedish Rally (Stig Jonsson and Lars Bäckman, in a non-works entry), the Safari Rally (Kankkunen and Juha Piironen), the Rally Argentina (Kankkunen and Piironen), the Rally Finland (Kankkunen and Denis Giraudet), the Rally Australia (Kankkunen and Nicky Grist), and the RAC Rally (Kankkunen and Grist).
In 1994, Didier Auriol became the first French driver to win the WRC drivers' title, and Toyota retained the manufacturers' championship for a second consecutive year. The ST185 was then retired from factory competition, replaced by the ST205. Toyota's run of success with the car proved that a Japanese manufacturer could challenge and defeat the established European rally powers, a legacy that preceded the team's return to the WRC in the twenty-first century with the Yaris WRC.
The Toyota Celica GT-Four ST185 is included in Assetto Corsa as official content produced by Kunos Simulazioni, the KS prefix in its identifier denoting its status as a built-in or officially licensed vehicle in the simulation.
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