Newbie With Questions !

[JamieB]

Hi there,

About 2 months ago I decided I wanted a car to take track racing over the summer this year. I sold my BMW 320 which was ok, but not exactly racing material and bought a car I had been dreaming of getting for about 4 years...

A Mitsubishi GTO twin turbo. If any of you have played Gran Turismo you will know that these appear to be tunable to ridiculous HP and go really well... or so I thought.

After having this beast for about a month I realised that it is far to expensive to run even on the roads, let alone the track and so alas I am looking for another car to take to track days.

A friend of mine has an MR2 turbo and it seems to go fairly well... I am considering buying an MR2 turbo GTS around '93-'94, is this a suitable and fun car to take to track days ? And will I have to do anything major to it in order to get the best out of it ?

Sorry to be a bit vague but any help would be appreciated...

Cheers,

[TheNissanMan]

No problems with being vague....

MR2 Turbo doesn't need much doing to it to be fun on the track, the rev 3 Turbo comes with a standard 245bhp, 0-60 in a tad over 5 secs and plenty of mods to gethat bhp up a fair whack as well...

Can be pretty pricey on the juice and to run but extremely fun.

Mk2 MR2 NA's 0-60 are 7'ish, very toruey and also great fun and probably a tad easier on the track as you don't have the turbo kicking in mid corner so more forgiving.

If you are after a track car that will be amazing fun and not set you back a huge sum a Mk1 Supercharger import may be a very good option, prices range from £1500 for a dog to £3500 or a tad over in mint condition, I know of an import company selling one atm for £3800 but would take a while to get as it is still in the land of the rising sun and is in immaculate condition....

Mk1's are more of a drivers car then the Mk2, much lighter and although straight line speend doesn't compare to the mk2 turbo around corners is absolutely amazing.

If it is a track car you want which you can run everyday I would personally consider a Mk1 Supercharger over a Mk2, although the Mk2's are amazing fun as well :)

[JamieB]

Thanks for the prompt reply rhaines,

I have about £7000 to spend on it, and I dont really like the shape of the Mk1, so I think that a Mk2 would be the most likely choice...

I saw this in the Autotrader...

1994 Toyota MR2 GTS Turbo[NL]Petrol, White, 30,000 miles , 2 Doors. Adjustable Steering Column, Air-Conditioning, Alloy Wheels, Central Door Locking, Electric Adjustable Mirror, Front Spoiler, Heated Rear Screen, Immobilizer, In Car Entertainment, Leather Steering Wheel, Power-Assisted Steering, Rear Spoiler, Rev Counter, Manual Transmission, ABS, Electric Windows, Tax.17" alloy wheels , body kit £5,995

Looks like it is in good condition and has really low mileage. What kind of miles do you have to do in these before doing cambelt etc ?

And I would then have about £1-1.5k to spend on tuning before taking it out. Are there any good brake upgrades available within this price range ?

[TheNissanMan]

Brakes are superb on the car anyway wouldn't woprry too much although braided hoses are an option as you can do it yourself...

for 1-1.5k I would do the following in this order....

1) If not already done, change to 16" or 17" alloys as they make a huge difference

1) Mongoose Exhaust ( £380 fitted)

2) Induction Kit (Approx £150-£200, fit yourself)

3) Unichip (£390-£450 fitted and mapped)

Of course that is my opinon although exhaust and intake are very good stock options to change....

For £7k why not get a new import from one of the reputable importers,

DAIE Motors have some great modified turbo's waiting in Japan to import for that price and are very reliable....

You'll see a load on their website...

[JamieB]

Took a look at that website...

tbh I quite like getting my hands dirty and doing most of the work myself. Then at least I know it is done properly, and I get my exact spec out of the car. Sounds like a rev3 / rev4 Turbo are the ones to go for.

Anyone got the specs for these ?

(Bhp, 0-60, top speed, LSD or not ?, boost pressure etc. ?)

I think that I will probably have a look at a couple this weekend (After JapFEST) and get a price for my GTO. I had set aside about £1000 a month to spend on tuning and racing this year and so far the GTO has been chewing up a lot more than that... if anyone is considering buying one, get to know your bank manager, you will need him...

In a month and a half...

£6600 on the car

£1500 on insurance

£600 Sat Tracker

£400 Alarm and immobiliser

£700 ICE kit

£226 Ignition module

£30 exhaust gasket

£80 Weld exhaust manifold

£420 RPS max clutch

£90 Iridium spark plugs

£37 Dot 5.1 brake fluid

£265 cambelt change With tensioners and pulleys

....

There is more but I cant remember some of it...

And in order to drive it fast round coombe I would have to change the brake rotors, discs, hoses, wheels and tyres as the standard ones really suffer when braking from 130mph+ (they tend to shatter when you get them really hot)

[TheNissanMan]

Standard BHP for a rev 3+ SW20 is 245Bhp, 0-60 is 5.3 I think... Top definately faast enough (my na has been upto 142mph and is a rev1 (rev has more power) and no turbo....

If you find one with LSD definately a good option although not necessary if you know how to drive it, makes life a lot easier though....

Not great with boost pressures as I don't ahve a turbo but believe them to vary a great deal depending on what modifications you've done etc etc....

There is so much you can do with a 3S-GTE enigne that it's upto you and your budget :)

Where in the country are you ?

[JamieB]

I am in Guildford in Surrey, about 25 miles South West of London...

There seems to be a lot of dealers and tune places around.

[TheNissanMan]

Millway Sports is one of the best MR2 places around and excellent reviews, at the bottom of the A34...

I'm only up the road and regularly down in Dogmersfield (J5 M3) so just around the corner....

If you find an MR2 your not sure off give us a call :)

[JamieB]

Thanks for the offer rhaines, I will probably take you up on that !

I am going to have a look at one on Sunday just up the road from me, if I like it then I will give you a shout...

Cheers once again for the offer ! :)

[TheNissanMan]

Another good option if your free Saturday would be to get down to Castle Combe as there will be loads of MR2's there with different clubs and it will give a chance to look around at some very modified ones and have a chance to chat to a number of different owners about their cars....

[JamieB]

I am going to be going up there with the GTOUK club...

25+ GTO TT's up the M4 in convoy !!!

Should be a sight and a half !

Oh and btw... spread the word -

-------------------------------------------------

This has just been posted on japuk meets guys so take heed.

Police will be out in unmarked cars on the M4 between J16 (Swindon), J17 (Chippenham/Malmsbury), J18 (Bath/Stroud). Also there will be a police presence on the A350 Chippenham Rd if any of u chaps are doing a back rd blast in to Combe.

The castle Combe village is always patrolled on track days, prob more due to the numbers that will be at Japfest.

Be careful out there chabs!!

-------------------------------------------------

Where abouts is your stand ???

[TheNissanMan]

Police bit was laready posted :)

Pop over to the Toyota Owners Club Stand at some point and say hello :)

I'll be on track at 9.16 and 12.16 so wont be around then but we'll all be there :)

[JamieB]

Cool, I'll pop over about 11:00 and say hi !

We will be doing brekkie at Chively services at 9:45

[importzrulezmr2]

can you guys help me. i was wondering if the motor mounts for a AW11 will work with the 3SGTE?

[TheNissanMan]

can you guys help me. i was wondering if the motor mounts for a AW11 will work with the 3SGTE?

Not as standard as the AW11 used either the 4a-ge (NA) or 4a-gze (Supercharged).

People have done 3s-gte conversions in the past but involves making new engine mounts and a lot of jiggery-pokery. It's a lot cheaper to do the supercharger upgrade which can push the car above 205Bhp comfortably with the right bits or another fun conversion which I only know of one that has been done is the twincharger conversion where you have the turbo and supercharger running of the same engine....

Best people to speak to for this sort of conversion IMHO would be Fensport if you're in the UK. They're mechanical work is second to none and I've also had first hand experience of driving one of their uprated AW11 Superchargers which was pushing out approx 212Bhp :)

Hope that helps a bit.....

What are you trying to achieve and what is you're budget as they may decide which would be the best route to go down, remember the AW11 SC is definately no slouch :)

[RichB]

The car you refer to above looks like the one from Home Run? I can assure you that the guy who runs it is a decent bloke, knows his stuff well! I was/am interested in that car also. I bought my MR2 N/A from him about 2 months ago.

I am definitly getting a Turbo somewhen, so hopefully look foreward to that!

[importzrulezmr2]

thanks for that info.... right now it does look like I will have to go with the s/c swap for now. also do you know of any shops in the US that specializes in mr2s?

thanks