JPR

Had problems keeping up with a heavyily modded MR2 yesterday on a stretch of dual carriageway, whats the performance of these things?

I didn't enjoy being burnt off, feel the need for more power!

philz

hehe, another Scooby owner feels the wrath of the MR2

/waits for the twisties comments......

Fluffer

don't bother about the twisties- out drag 'em from the lights!

turboman786

Well if its heavily modified, than only the owner can tell you how much power it supposed to be making.......

philz

How did you know it was heavily modified by the way? Could you see the hybrid turbo etc. from the outside?

WRX_BLUES

Sure it wasn't a modded MR2 Turbo?

philz

Or just a standard MR2 turbo, they're hardly slow y'know

Trem

iTrader: (3)

What year was it? The twin entry turbo models are about 220 bhp if they are Jap and the twin turbo models are 260 bhp as standard.

I just sold my twin entry turbo'd Celica GT4 and that was quick.

philz

OK, I'll tell you how to tell what it was.

If it had the little triangle indicators on the front bumper then it's a Jap import. If it had raised engine vents then it's a turbo model. The Rev 1 and 2's had 220BHP and the Rev3 (1994 onwards, round lights) had 241BHP but with minimal transmission losses remember cos the engine is right above the driven wheels.

WRX_BLUES

Philz,

You're right the standard ones aren't slow. It would probably leave a standard Impreza on a straight.

philz

I know, I've got one

When I bought it last year I looked at Scoobys and Supras but *everyone* knows what they are whereas the MR2 turbo is a bit of a sleeper, nobody quite expects it to shift like it does (hence the guy who started this post got a bit of a shock!)

JPR

I havn't a clue whether it was a Jap import or UK, could tell it was def modded from exhaust and the general appearance, you can just tell that he'd put a bit of money into it.

I'm not that shocked about it as I when I got to a roundabout, I was glued to his **** around it and he was trying. I've only had the scooby 8 weeks so its good for me to benchmark it against other performance cars. I know I need more power!

philz

Mine looks like it's highly modded but it's all cosmetic, the engine is standard.

From the outside you'll see the 18's, Mongoose exhausts, 335mm 4 pots etc but for the moment the engine only has an air filter. I just had it rolling roaded a week ago and it's a nice n healthy 253.5BHP. I've got a grainger valve sat in the garage ready to fit which should give me around 295BHP and 280lbs torque, any more than that will start to cost too much, it'll be fine with just those mods.

You just wanna hope that it was an MR2 turbo you raced and not just a normal N/A

JPR

I hope it was modded too as my machine has PPP and must put out in the region of 235-250 BHP. Could of well been my sloppy gear change from 2nd to 3rd!

MattN

JPR - what shape was the number plate?

Never heard of a twin turbo MR2????? They are twin entry, not twin turbo.

philz

Yeah, they're not twin turbo, just twin entry turbo.

Although a twin turbo one would be fun

JPR

Matt,

Number plate shape was as most cars - standard type.

R1916v

if it is a turbo then yes the engine vents will be raised, wont lie flat on the engine cover.

All turbos were inports, so teh rear number plate is of teh square design if im not mistaken.

If its a normal length one then you got burned off by a UK MR2, with no turbo.

JPR

Burned off by a UK non turbo? That sounds a bit unlikely, but if it is the case then car would of had to be modded to being capable of doing 0-60 in around 5 to 5.5 secs. Thats some hefty modding of a non turbo car.

JapSport

I don't remember reading that he got burnt from a standstill, wouldn't have been able to do that in my NA MR2. However, in the mid range and right through the revs there's no appreciable drop in power and they are pretty decent. Also forget all the Scooby propoganda about snap oversteer and dodgy road holding round the legendary twisties. They stick like sh*t to a blanket. You only come unstuck if you brake hard into a bend when the mass is thrown past you and the tail end follows. All in all a well driven NA is not appreciably slower than a turbo in 'real world' situations so I'm not surprised that a recent scooby owner was wasted by an MR2 driver.

LordLuthor

Hi all, I am an MR2 owner, in Hampshire (Southampton).

It is a 1991 rev1 Turbo. It has been modified, but looks fairly standard except for the wheels and it is low. It makes about 250bhp, but that's not the whole story. When you take the cat out of the MR2 Turbo, the midrange soars. They are dead fast.

My g/f has a classic PPP MY00 and my turbo beats it off the line, is the same from 30-90 and then the MR2 goes off into the distance. Someone wrote mid engine rear drive no losses on the transmission? they are dead right. All the advantages of rear grip, all the advantages of no propshaft or complicated transmission.

further to the handling issue, the Rev1 has a design fault. The rear subframe and trailing arms have been designed so that when you un-compress the rear suspension, like lifting in a corner, or braking, or hitting a small bump, you actually get the outside wheel toeing out. This causes oversteer.

It is true, it does happen, and when it does, it frightens the life out of you. Furthermore, it DOES snap oversteer when you correct, the weight throws the car out the other way.

The remedy for this is to use the Rev3 rear subframe and trailing arm which bolt straight on.

There would not be much in it between 250bhp mr2 and 250bhp scooby on the twisties, but if you get sufficiently "twisty" the scooby would start to pull away. the straighter the road, and the shallower the bend, the better the MR2 does. It has awesome fast corner road holding.

It is also very sensitive to tyres.

Hope this helps you all!!

Andy.

JPR

Thanks for the info on the MR2, now I know that they are no slouch.

Tractor

Is there a BBS for these? They sound like fun.

JapSport

try:

www.mr2dc.com bit techy but good info
www.imoc.co.uk less techy, more laid back
http://cagbuild.co.uk/html/forum more laid back

edited cos i missed a bit

[Edited by JapSport - 3/27/2003 4:32:19 PM]