Toyota MR2 Turbo Rev 3 - Third time lucky?

[danllama]

Time for an overdue update!

Wish I had kept up the write ups from my euro drive! I do have a draft on the go and keep telling myself to finish it. The MR2 had a running issue over winter, where it would fail to start after heavy rain, and conk out in heavy rain/puddles. I suspected a cracked coil (common issue), so decided to pursue the fiddly task of removing the coil (its tucked beneath the engine bay fusebox and a whole load of wiring). On inspection, the coil actually looked pretty healthy. One JIS screw decided to lunch itself, so I now have a spare brand new coil, and the old one went back in! (If it aint broke...)

I had also bought all new ignition components, so went about replacing them all, and found a small crack in my distributor cap. Since replacing the running issue is now gone, confirmed after a few drives in heavy rain with zero hiccups. Back to 100% reliability.

I've now removed the spoiler and really think the look suits the bodykit well, but public opinion has been split haha. The main thing is I like it so i just need to paint the grommet plugs or find a smooth boot lid. I'm also planning on refurbing the alloys in white.

I have a track evening booked at Brands in a week and a half, so new dot 5.1 fluid will be going in along with fresh Fuchs 5w40 fully synth and a genuine filter, oh and new front tyres which I haven't decided on yet. There's been plenty of other TLC that I'm forgetting (top mounts, drop links...), but i'm really looking forward to getting the car on track, and Brands is one of my favourites. Bonus is its close to home, in case anything goes wrong.

This will be my first time on track, bar hundreds of virtual hours over the years, so any tips are appreciated. I'm not counting taking the girlfriends i10 on Silverstone national at PHSS last month!

Here are some photos. Which remind me that i need to sort the rear bumper after my GB sticker ripped the paint off Also seen in the photos is SonicSW20, when we were at Ace Cafe last week.







After first clean of the year in April! Shame about the grey patch but it cleaned up much better than I expected.



A cheeky togger got this photo of me snapping the car at a Classics and Chips meet in Minnis Bay, Kent.



Thanks for reading! Will update after the track day.

Should also add I'll be on the mr2oc/IMOC stand at Japfest this Sunday, if any of you fancy looking for my car out of 79 other mr2's!

Edited by danllama on Wednesday 2nd May 16:42

[danllama]

Bonus photo, because I really think it looks great from this angle, and also a boring video I put together from one downhill drive in the South of France last year. Bit too much wind noise but i'm sure some other videos will be a bit better when I get around to making them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftumRPZPg6A&t=...

|https://thumbsnap.com/TUiBZBxw[/url]

[Bright Halo]

Removing the boot spoiler has made such a difference to the overall look of the car.
Maybe it is because I am so used to seeing them with one on.

I really like the smooth look though.

Keep the updates coming, great to see an MR2 on here.

[danllama]

Thanks mate, will try to keep this updated more regularly. It is funny what a difference such a seemingly small change can make! I'm much happier with the car now than ever before.

[heebeegeetee]

Hi guys, hope you don't mind me butting in, but can I ask a quick few Mk2 MR2 questions please?

Are MR2 Turbo driveshafts still available, do they differ from the other non-turbo MR2 shafts of the period, how widely available are they, where would be the best place to get them from?

Many thanks in advance.

[psychoR1]

I think the driveshafts are different - between NA and Turbo not sure of the difference.

For availability I think you're looking at breakers or one of the Mr2 specialists Mr2Ben or a driveshaft specialist.

Depends on your plan - you can get uprated ones in the US safe to 800hp.
https://www.vividracing.com/driveshaft-shop-800hp-...

I'm sure if you post up on IMOC or MR2DC you will get more info....

[heebeegeetee]

MR2 Ben, I'd forgotten about him, I'll check with him, thanks very much.

[Dakkon]

danllama said:

Cheers! Ah I forgot about the air scoop. That will probably be going as well. Not a fan and it increases your blind spot on shoulder checks.

I'm just not into massive rims with stretched tyres...But i do concede they suit the car well and don't ride half as bad as expected.

Edited by danllama on Monday 21st September 17:16

Aerodynamically they donit work either, the design of the back of the car with the buttresses and rear wing is to create an area of low pressure so that cool air comes in from under the car and the hot air is pushed out of the engine vents on top.

By adding the snorkel you are pushing air against the designed airflow, get rid, it does nothing but add drag.

[danllama]

Dakkon said:

danllama said:

Cheers! Ah I forgot about the air scoop. That will probably be going as well. Not a fan and it increases your blind spot on shoulder checks.

I'm just not into massive rims with stretched tyres...But i do concede they suit the car well and don't ride half as bad as expected.

Edited by danllama on Monday 21st September 17:16

Aerodynamically they donit work either, the design of the back of the car with the buttresses and rear wing is to create an area of low pressure so that cool air comes in from under the car and the hot air is pushed out of the engine vents on top.

By adding the snorkel you are pushing air against the designed airflow, get rid, it does nothing but add drag.

I did get rid about 2.5 years ago

All fluids now refreshed, also replaced the fronts with Avon ZZ5's after much research. These tyres really are good! Can't wait to try them at Brands Hatch. We've also just attended japfest, so I used maguires compound beforehand to get the paint looking as good as possible (in 2 hours). It cleaned up much better than expected, can recommend the maguires stuff. Shame about my mashed up front bumper.



I've also replaced my rising sun centre panel with this black mesh one. Can't decide which I prefer at the moment but no harm in switching between them.

[danllama]

May as well update this before its been another month!

Finally got to take the car on track at Brands Hatch Indy for an evening. I even kept it off the grass! This is something I've wanted to do for a few years now so it felt good to finally do it, and was made even more awesome by being on track with friends and an awesome bunch of JDM cars!

The car performed very well and I was getting there once my confidence grew. Given another hour or two we could have been lapping quite quickly I thought. The first time going through paddock hill bend I will always remember.

More on the car - the rear brakes were done by the end of the following day. Calipers definitely need checking as one side seemed lower than the other. Probably get away with re-greasing the sliders. New dimpled/grooved discs and pads ordered. The only problem I had with the car was very late in the session after being out for 20+mins, the clutch would on the odd occasion not fully disengage, but this only happened between 3rd and 4th, and only for a second. I hope this was just the clutch fluid overheating so will give it a refresh. The tyres felt great once they were warm and sticky, and the brakes performed very well for OEM pads on grooved discs. No fade at all thanks to the new brake fluid.

Next up coilovers, as my NSF damper is leaking. Then a proper full track day soon There is a video here for those interested, just the first few laps vs last few, sorry about the GF's helmet at times!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsSCgd1WSQA





And some of the cars from our group

Edited by danllama on Tuesday 22 May 10:59

[Ahbefive]

Ah the NSX that was spinning out of control at Silverstone. Has he learnt to tame it yet?

[kaveney]

Are you going to do another day there sometime or was it just a one off .

What tyres were you running on the day .

Regards

danllama said:

May as well update this before its been another month!

Finally got to take the car on track at Brands Hatch Indy for an evening. I even kept it off the grass! This is something I've wanted to do for a few years now so it felt good to finally do it, and was made even more awesome by being on track with friends and an awesome bunch of JDM cars!

The car performed very well and I was getting there once my confidence grew. Given another hour or two we could have been lapping quite quickly I thought. The first time going through paddock hill bend I will always remember.

More on the car - the rear brakes were done by the end of the following day. Calipers definitely need checking as one side seemed lower than the other. Probably get away with re-greasing the sliders. New dimpled/grooved discs and pads ordered. The only problem I had with the car was very late in the session after being out for 20+mins, the clutch would on the odd occasion not fully disengage, but this only happened between 3rd and 4th, and only for a second. I hope this was just the clutch fluid overheating so will give it a refresh. The tyres felt great once they were warm and sticky, and the brakes performed very well for OEM pads on grooved discs. No fade at all thanks to the new brake fluid.

Next up coilovers, as my NSF damper is leaking. Then a proper full track day soon There is a video here for those interested, just the first few laps vs last few, sorry about the GF's helmet at times!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsSCgd1WSQA





And some of the cars from our group

Edited by danllama on Tuesday 22 May 10:59

[danllama]

Ahbefive said:

Ah the NSX that was spinning out of control at Silverstone. Has he learnt to tame it yet?

Haha to be fair Silverstone was pretty wet! I was there too! He drives it pretty well IMO doesn't go gentle on it, considering what it is...

Kaveney, I would definitely do another day at Brands Indy, not sure when yet, we're all looking at Snet 300 in July at the moment. Can let you know details when they're sorted if you like? We're hoping to get a group discount.

Tyres were/are Infinity Ecomax 245/40/17 on the rear, had these since August and very impressed with them considering the price! Fronts I changed a few days before the track day to Avon ZZ5 205/45/17, and I really can't praise these tyres highly enough.

[kaveney]

I think im doing Castle coomb on the 16/07/18 and Brands hatch on the 31/07/18 .

If you can let me know on Snet 300 as this is one I want to do as well .

Regards

danllama said:

Haha to be fair Silverstone was pretty wet! I was there too! He drives it pretty well IMO doesn't go gentle on it, considering what it is...

Kaveney, I would definitely do another day at Brands Indy, not sure when yet, we're all looking at Snet 300 in July at the moment. Can let you know details when they're sorted if you like? We're hoping to get a group discount.

Tyres were/are Infinity Ecomax 245/40/17 on the rear, had these since August and very impressed with them considering the price! Fronts I changed a few days before the track day to Avon ZZ5 205/45/17, and I really can't praise these tyres highly enough.

[danllama]

No more track days since Brands unfortunately. Mostly due to other expenses (mostly holidays tbh) and also very tired suspension on the '2. That's due to be remedied with some new HSD dualtech coilovers.



I've also changed my wheels to some Enkei RP01's in white, which is a look i've always had in mind and I think suit the car much better. Along with this, I've got a new Personal wheel to freshen up the interior, thanks to my partner. I've also picked up an OEM front bumper, just in case.







So the saga continues. Some big jobs on the horizon, most notably a turbo rebuild as mine is smoking on idle. But for now just enjoying it (and driving it to work, piling the miles on). It will be 3 years of ownership in 2 weeks.

Edited by danllama on Thursday 23 August 18:14

[danllama]

I realise there's a lack of interest in the thread but the show must go on!

Well, officially owned this japscrap for 3 years now. Treated her to coilovers for the occasion. Fit them myself which actually wasn't that bad at all. Top mount nuts, strut to hub bolts, cut the bracket for the brake lines, undo drop links and a few whacks with the lump hammer here and there. Job done. The trickiest part is usually the drop links I think, you need to hold them in place with an allen key to loosen off the nut, and they're normally seized to the point that the allen socket rounds off. I found that soaking them in wd40 for a while, then whacking the 14mm spanner with the lump hammer, would do the trick before having to use the allen key. Took about 2 hours per corner, and then of course spending time setting ride height and double checking everything. Two of my old dampers were leaking and one was bent, which would explain why the car wasn't steering straight after an alignment.



Had one drive on them so far, and the rears are definitely too low as they were rubbing on bumps. They'd probably be ok if I stiffened the damping but I don't really want to do that. So tomorrow on my day off i'm going to raise the rears about 20-30mm and also cover them all completely in chain wax to stop them ceasing or corroding. Generally, very happy with the comfort and feel of them, they've really changed the character of the car. Once a few more miles are on them i'll go for a proper alignment.

Next job is to get the standard bumper back on, source a front splitter and get the ct20b rebuilt.





p.s. Tuesday 18th, classics and chips at Minnis Bay, anybody going?

Cheers all

[kaveney]

You planing on doing some more track days next year ?

I have called tine this year and instead am getting an engine swap for the mr2 then will be looking to do lots next year .

[seiben]

Still reading

It'll look well with a standard front bumper. I'm increasingly of the opinion that standard is better... I must be getting old

[TroubledSoul]

Also still reading. I've decided to stick with my classic Impreza track car for now, even though I really wanted another MR2. I might end up dailying one again at some point though.

Out of interest, what made you go for the Dual Tech coilovers instead of the Monopros? There's not much difference in price (at least on the scooby).

[danllama]

kaveney said:

You planing on doing some more track days next year ?

I have called tine this year and instead am getting an engine swap for the mr2 then will be looking to do lots next year .

Absolutely, will hopefully have a freshly built turbo by then so the car will be more ready for it! Are you going with the Celica swap or something more exotic?

seiben said:

Still reading

It'll look well with a standard front bumper. I'm increasingly of the opinion that standard is better... I must be getting old

I've just turned 31 so you may be on to something!

TroubledSoul said:

Also still reading. I've decided to stick with my classic Impreza track car for now, even though I really wanted another MR2. I might end up dailying one again at some point though.

Out of interest, what made you go for the Dual Tech coilovers instead of the Monopros? There's not much difference in price (at least on the scooby).

What made you decide that? The classic impreza is one of those cars I've always had a proper want for. The acceleration on my friends old black one running 400+ was unreal. But it always seemed to need something. As for the dual techs, there's a £160 difference to the monos for the SW20. Really not much money in the scheme of things, but as i'm saving to buy a house, and also for a turbo rebuild and rust treatment for the car, the duals were all I could justify money wise, and still a huge step up from what was on the car. For my mileage and usage they should be perfect.

Today I've raised the rear and covered all corners with chain wax to protect them for future adjustments or removal. Was planning to go for a hoon, but then realised it's not a good time for it, and i'm not feeling great either, think there's a cold going around.