Fast Offroad Toyota MR2
Discussion
Yupp... You read it right 
Some of you might have seen my story of taking the Ariel Nomad across Europe.
I love my Nomad but sometimes it's very difficult to enjoy it, it's too cold, too hot or too dirty - when you need to spend a whole day cleaning it after few hours of fun.
So I've tried to come up with an alternative for these kind of days.
I wanted something cheap (so I'm not gonna be precious about it), light (so it's nimble and fun), RWD (for fun) and ideally mid-engined (to help traction offroad without AWD).
Anything with roof was out of question, I don't like NON convertible fun cars.
Toyota MR-2 MKIII ticks all the boxes. I have to say it was never on my radar before, but now I know have been missing out!
After a day or two of research I've found this Japanese gem on Ebay in Kent, seller wanted £1000 but my cheeky offer of £800 has been accepted. It came with hardtop which I will be selling together with mounting kit and wheels, which should get the car cost down to £300-400
It had a 12months MOT and drove well.
I went to collect it on one of the worst days in SE snow saga, perfect for buying a mid engined sportscar... We got home ok and the modifications started
I've ordered the steel wheels and all terrain tyres, by pure luck I chose the biggest possible size to fit the front without major bulkhead mods. Still, some hammer bashing was needed.
Next step was cutting out the fenders and front bumper and removing wheelarch liners. I had to cut them to leave some in order to protect head and tailights from mud (the back of it), it kinda works but they are still very mucky after fun session.
There was no point in cutting the bumper higher since the radiator is lower anyway, plus the crash support is underneath.
Next - winch and LED bar, I've used an ATV one to keep the price down, it's rated to 2tonnes so enough for 970kg of the MR2 and it saved my arse twice already
After a day in the garage it looked like this:
One more thing that we worked on was the gearbox. This MR2 didn't have LSD which was essential to what I wanted it for. I've found a whole engine with LSD gearbox, propshafts, starter motor, airbox etc etc for £280 so that was a no brainer. We swapped the gearboxes and no more 1WD
To test it, we took it to Salisbury Plain, where I normally love to play in the Nomad.
It just snowed the day before so my girlfriend took her skis and we were good to go.
It was so much fun! The traction was really really good and due to bigger tires, even without any lift, MR2 was unstoppable.
Last week we were supposed to go to Orkneys and Shetlands in our 4x4 Hiace Camper, but changed our mind last minute due to bad weather. We decided to drive to Poland in the MR2 Two of us and a dog, for a week, 1000miles each way, in a few hundred £ car!
Little Toyota never missed a beat, we just got back without an issue, despite me not being very gentle with it!
Next steps:
lift, underbody protection, hydraulic handbrake, outside rollcage (so I can mount the tent on top and drive without a helmet) and hopefully some sort of power increase ( either swap or supercharging the 1zz)
I'll try to post updates here but in the meantime if you're interested, there is much much more on Instagram and Youtube
Some of you might have seen my story of taking the Ariel Nomad across Europe.
I love my Nomad but sometimes it's very difficult to enjoy it, it's too cold, too hot or too dirty - when you need to spend a whole day cleaning it after few hours of fun.
So I've tried to come up with an alternative for these kind of days.
I wanted something cheap (so I'm not gonna be precious about it), light (so it's nimble and fun), RWD (for fun) and ideally mid-engined (to help traction offroad without AWD).
Anything with roof was out of question, I don't like NON convertible fun cars.
Toyota MR-2 MKIII ticks all the boxes. I have to say it was never on my radar before, but now I know have been missing out!
After a day or two of research I've found this Japanese gem on Ebay in Kent, seller wanted £1000 but my cheeky offer of £800 has been accepted. It came with hardtop which I will be selling together with mounting kit and wheels, which should get the car cost down to £300-400
It had a 12months MOT and drove well. I went to collect it on one of the worst days in SE snow saga, perfect for buying a mid engined sportscar... We got home ok and the modifications started
I've ordered the steel wheels and all terrain tyres, by pure luck I chose the biggest possible size to fit the front without major bulkhead mods. Still, some hammer bashing was needed.
Next step was cutting out the fenders and front bumper and removing wheelarch liners. I had to cut them to leave some in order to protect head and tailights from mud (the back of it), it kinda works but they are still very mucky after fun session.
There was no point in cutting the bumper higher since the radiator is lower anyway, plus the crash support is underneath.
Next - winch and LED bar, I've used an ATV one to keep the price down, it's rated to 2tonnes so enough for 970kg of the MR2 and it saved my arse twice already
After a day in the garage it looked like this:
One more thing that we worked on was the gearbox. This MR2 didn't have LSD which was essential to what I wanted it for. I've found a whole engine with LSD gearbox, propshafts, starter motor, airbox etc etc for £280 so that was a no brainer. We swapped the gearboxes and no more 1WD
To test it, we took it to Salisbury Plain, where I normally love to play in the Nomad.
It just snowed the day before so my girlfriend took her skis and we were good to go.
It was so much fun! The traction was really really good and due to bigger tires, even without any lift, MR2 was unstoppable.
Last week we were supposed to go to Orkneys and Shetlands in our 4x4 Hiace Camper, but changed our mind last minute due to bad weather. We decided to drive to Poland in the MR2
Two of us and a dog, for a week, 1000miles each way, in a few hundred £ car!Little Toyota never missed a beat, we just got back without an issue, despite me not being very gentle with it!
Next steps:
lift, underbody protection, hydraulic handbrake, outside rollcage (so I can mount the tent on top and drive without a helmet) and hopefully some sort of power increase ( either swap or supercharging the 1zz)
I'll try to post updates here but in the meantime if you're interested, there is much much more on Instagram and Youtube
LasseV said:
Well, damn. I never though this.... So you are happy with it? There are few OEM turbo 1zz mr2's in Germany. I think it would be quite easy to convert to turbo?
I love it! I'm not a massive fan of turbocharged cars. Especially aftermarket turbo conversions due to reliability. Either big NA or supercharged.
seiben said:
Love this, and I'm a big fan of your youtube channel as well!
Power wise, a 2ZZ from the Celica 190 is pretty straightforward swap as I understand it. Or you can sling a Camry V6 in there
Thanks! The problem is, 2ZZ is not a massive improvement. I would like the performance to be at least on Nomad's level. Otherwise it's not worth the hassle and cost.Power wise, a 2ZZ from the Celica 190 is pretty straightforward swap as I understand it. Or you can sling a Camry V6 in there
CarlosV8 said:
This is awesome, and I love the pics in the snow. I tried off roading in a mk1 MR2 and it didn't cope too well, looks like yours is doing much better
Check out the video on Youtube, the traction was really impressive.Tyres and LSD are vital. I have Geolandars G015 on four cars now and I absolutely love them. IMO they have no cons.
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