My little sports car

[stargazer30]

Hey guys,

This is my first post on here, thought I'd show off my car. After driving several performance FWD hot hatches, I decided I wanted something a bit different. The 260bhp focus ST I had before was superb but it ate tyres, did 18mpg and with my limited driving skills understeered a fair bit.

So I bought an MR2 roadster, first RWD drive car I've ever driven. Nearly binned it the first week due to the dealer mixing the tyres, cheapo's on the front and decent ones on the rear, threw all the handling out and made it really tail happy. Once I got that sorted it was great, but I really missed the torque and power of the ST. The standard roadster is only 138bhp so its nippy but not fast as such.

So I had an aftermarket turbo put on it. The cars now putting out 225bhp and about 205lb/ft of torque, its really excellent now, quick, handles well, and still manages 25mpg to boot. I just need some track driving tuition now....

anyway heres some pics...









Heres an earlier dyno run before the boost controller and sport cat went on it. The latest plot is the same just slightly higher figures.

[Libertine]

I love the way that you've kept it standard, but it hides a turbo under the rear deck


ps: Welcome to Pistonheads!

[bazking69]

I'm currently trying to talk wifey out of one of these (sans turbo of course!)

Not because I don't like them btw (well I'm not mad on them if i'm honest) but because she know her Mini Cooper makes sense as an allrounder!

[stargazer30]

bazking69 said:

I'm currently trying to talk wifey out of one of these (sans turbo of course!)

Not because I don't like them btw (well I'm not mad on them if i'm honest) but because she know her Mini Cooper makes sense as an allrounder!

Funny enough the lady who had it before me bought a mini cooper when she traded the MR2 in. About 1 month after I got it I bumped into her and she told me she wanted it back lol!

[james_gt3rs]

stargazer30 said:

Nearly binned it the first week due to the dealer mixing the tyres, cheapo's on the front and decent ones on the rear, threw all the handling out and made it really tail happy.

Nice car anyway

[JFReturns]

Nice car, I've been considering one of these as a step up from my MX5 but thought its not a big enough step in terms of performance. That would change with a turbo though! How much was the conversion roughly if you don't mind me asking?

[silverMX]

stargazer30 said:

The cars now putting out 225bhp and about 205lb/ft of torque

That's rather a lot! Good going and, as already said, sleeper kudos!

I was thinking of one of them when I was looking for a roadster (choice was S2K, MR2R or MX5) but passed on it as I thought the boot space was a little lacking. How is it in real life..?

[stargazer30]

JFReturns said:

Nice car, I've been considering one of these as a step up from my MX5 but thought its not a big enough step in terms of performance. That would change with a turbo though! How much was the conversion roughly if you don't mind me asking?

If your not doing it DIY and you want it done in one go fit and forget (like me) you'd be looking at £5K for 200bhp above that it needs a sports clutch, sports CAT, Boost Controller so for 240bhp add £1K.

Its a heck of a lot of dosh I know but you can pickup the car pretty cheap now so when I did the maths it was still cheaper than an S2000 or an older boxter.

[stargazer30]

silverMX said:

I was thinking of one of them when I was looking for a roadster (choice was S2K, MR2R or MX5) but passed on it as I thought the boot space was a little lacking. How is it in real life..?

Erm, its terrible, space wise its not that much worse than an MX5 but since its in the front and behind the seats its more hassle to get at. If its your only car don't bother lol. We have a Nissan Qashqai too!

[Jonny671]

JFReturns said:

Nice car, I've been considering one of these as a step up from my MX5 but thought its not a big enough step in terms of performance. That would change with a turbo though! How much was the conversion roughly if you don't mind me asking?

Just FI the MX5.

I quite like these, not sure on the look of them but I doubt its going to be sitting around long enough to look at

[RB Will]

Would crap tyres on the front and good on the back not produce lots of understeer?

[Jonny671]

RB Will said:

Would crap tyres on the front and good on the back not produce lots of understeer?

Yeah, my '5 has very good rears and not so good fronts, so the front just pushes out of the corner/round-a-bout rather than the back coming around.

[Brian McGee]

Jonny671 said:

RB Will said:

Would crap tyres on the front and good on the back not produce lots of understeer?

Yeah, my '5 has very good rears and not so good fronts, so the front just pushes out of the corner/round-a-bout rather than the back coming around.

Understeer can be just as bad- the front end washes out, you lift off to get the weight forward, and before you know it your mid-engined car has its engine swinging around!

So ultimately, yes duff front tyres will cause issues as well.

[stargazer30]

Jonny671 said:

RB Will said:

Would crap tyres on the front and good on the back not produce lots of understeer?

Yeah, my '5 has very good rears and not so good fronts, so the front just pushes out of the corner/round-a-bout rather than the back coming around.

You can't compare the MR2 to an MX5 in this respect. The golden rule with the MR2 roadster is never mix tyres, when I first got the car and had my little accident coming off a roundabout, I posted up on MR2ROC I had said the same thing, the fronts are crap so it'll just understeer and oh boy was I wrong! It was really tail happy until I ditched the fronts and put the same tyres on as the rear. Its been pretty solid since.