MR2 Comparison?

[lazarus]

Hey all
Just wondering (because i havent been able to find one with the stuff im looking for) about a comparison between the many different models of the MKII MR2 (ie SW20 NOT the AW11)

I wanna know things like overall bhp as well as torque suspension (soft hard promotes understeer/oversteer etc) things like steering lock (how many turns/degrees) light differrences weight differences etc

anyone know where i can find that sorta info.... or know of multiple places/people that could help me piece together it??


thanks

Benson

[Al]

Heres 90% of your information

http://english.auto.vl.ru/catalog/toyota/mr2/

It tells you what type of suspension, but not spring rates etc you will be hard pressed to find that.

Generally the pre 92 turbo cars are more of a handful than the 92+

But depending on who is driving...they can be the faster car with a skilled driver in the twisty bits

[[Lazarus]]

Ya i heard that

been looking at a 1990 for the suspension

thought i could jsut drop one of the later engines and looms in at a later point:D

[Al]

I have to stress that you have to be a pretty skilled driver to use all the early gen sw20's handling

[Adamal]

I have to stress that you have to be a pretty skilled driver to use all the early gen sw20's handling

I agree.
SW20's aren't well balanced and the early ones are the worst of the lot! You'll get sideways when trying NOT to!

[Al]

I wouldnt go as far as saying they arent well balanced. I think your sideways problem may well be poor tyres or dare i say it poor driving.

Al

[Adamal]

Hehe tyres are starting to get that way.
And it was a bit of an exaggeration. Theres only one place where I've managed to get sideways when actually trying NOT to!
Heading down Great South Rd to work a couple of weeks back, I turn into the side street which is where I park. The road was wet and there were dead leaves EVERYWHERE at the entrance to the road. Water + dead leaves = mushy tractionless surface. Even my mates FWD Primera had the following problem.
Day one, I'm going round the corner like a normal person should. Whoops! There goes the tail! Lil bit of countersteer and lay off the gas gently and back on the straight and narrow.
Day two, deicded that the speed I was going on day one was a bit too fast, so I'll slow down a bit. About 15kph should do the trick. Oh crap! Not again! A repeat performance of the day before.
Day three. Enough is enough. This time, 10kph. Can't POSSIBLY get sideway at that speed right? WRONG!!!!!
Day four: Go the other damn way.

[dragonx]

I have to stress that you have to be a pretty skilled driver to use all the early gen sw20's handling

I agree.
SW20's aren't well balanced and the early ones are the worst of the lot! You'll get sideways when trying NOT to!

most cars are setup to understear during extreme driving, the mr2 is not, the early cars also have them undersized 14' wheels.

and like Al says, get some real tires, so many mr2's on the road with junk tires. or do what most do get some bling bling 17's with cheap tires

[Al]

Tyres make a huge difference, i use dunlop formula w10s on the rear and dunlop fm901s on the front, previously i had g grids on the rear and they were so unpredictable...even worse in the rain

also ive found if you have alloys and the offset is wrong it can play havok with handling as well

[lazarus]

hmm handling i could be very carefull with untill im used to it (prolly a long time)

Al could you explain a bit more about the ofset on the alloys thing?? i dont quiet understand what you mean by this (my knowledge of cars is limited to the ford escort technical specs of mr2 (engine displacement stroke bore etc) and what ive learned at wanganui motors:D handling isnt one of the above mentioned things:D)


thanks

Benson

[KiwiMR2]

i use dunlop formula w10s on the rear and dunlop fm901s on the front

I have these on the front as well.....finding the REALLY good.

Cheers
KiwiMR2

[JT]

hmm handling i could be very carefull with untill im used to it (prolly a long time)

Al could you explain a bit more about the ofset on the alloys thing?? i dont quiet understand what you mean by this (my knowledge of cars is limited to the ford escort technical specs of mr2 (engine displacement stroke bore etc) and what ive learned at wanganui motors:D handling isnt one of the above mentioned things:D)


thanks

Benson

May this be of some help? http://www.chris-longhurst.com/carbibles/tyre_bible.html

[Adamal]

Tyres make a huge difference, i use dunlop formula w10s on the rear and dunlop fm901s on the front

What kind of price would you be lookin at for those?

And JT, ta for that

[Dell'Orto]

Tyres make a huge difference, i use dunlop formula w10s on the rear and dunlop fm901s on the front, previously i had g grids on the rear and they were so unpredictable...even worse in the rain

also ive found if you have alloys and the offset is wrong it can play havok with handling as well

Can't stress good tyres enough eh, they really do make a huge difference with these cars.
If you do buy an early one with the stock 14's and dont have muhc coin, a set of Gen 3 15's wont set you back a whole lot, and there are a fair few tyre choices too.

[Al]

IF Dunlop NZ still has some formula w10s they are only avail in 225/50R15s and 205/60R14s, they are the model before the FM901 which is now being run out as well.

I still managed to get some w10s a couple of months back at staff rate, but retail is about $150/tyre from Beaurepaires, well worth it....altho my first set only lasted 6 months.....

[summin]

Depending on driving style its not always that hard to keep the ass end inline with the rest of the car...

Basically going round a corner/roundabout etc will see the rear tires toe in...as soon as the car shows a tiny bit of outwards movement most people freak out and step off the gas...MISTAKE!!...this causes the rear to immediately toe out, and badaboom your buggered....

Best thing to do is lift only slightly off the gas pedal but stil keep as much power as possible down, or you can stop being a wuss and just floor it

Also becuase there is no weight in the fron tof the car but a lot in the back, the weight tends to push the front around a lot, causing a fair bit of understeer (especially when you're going over small bumps), but one easy way of sorting this out is chucking a 10-20kg bag of sand or someting similar in the front on top of the spare tyre...this adds just enough weight to hold the wheels down a bit more and give you a bit more control (Im not thinking this up its from a guy I know who used to race mr2's)

Hope this helps a bit...

[Akane]

With MR2's, you want to go in the corner at the speed that you can turn without understeering, once you hit the apex, you want to apply full thottle to exit out, and the understeering that occurs is just bit lower than you running to the outside of the turning radius, this is the fastest method of driving a MR.

corner going uphill + 2nd gear @ full thottle + ass end steps out a bit = losta fun.

[lazarus]

*groan*

you guys arnt making my moneyless state any easier lol

*starts wearing something over his eyes so he doesnt have to read about how fun mr2's are*

[KrayzieAW]

ok well dnt get me started on the aw.... meh when shes bak on the road i take ya for a blat rnd the block...

[Akane]

*groan*

you guys arnt making my moneyless state any easier lol

*starts wearing something over his eyes so he doesnt have to read about how fun mr2's are*

LOL there are plenty of cheap MR2's for sale. Some go as low as $4.5k, although I've been trying to sell mine for a while @ $8.5k now, still no buyers.