My Sable 2005 MR2 - shnazzle

[shnazzle]

Hi,

Thanks for visiting my RR thread.

My love affair with the Toyota MR2 Roadster started in 2012 when we impulse-purchased a 52 plate black pre-facelift MR2.
It was in a hell of a state, but after a good service, some new tyres and some love and care I absolutely loved it to death. I resurrected it from near-scrap and it felt great.
It fueled a love for the MR2 and soon after, "Snuggles" was traded in for a facelift Sable MR2 with the intention of keeping it for good.

Without further ado!...

Introduction
2005 Sable MR2, just under 50k miles, purchased in November 2013 for 4290. Dubbed, "The Emu"...because I've noticed sable is kind of an emu colour   s:D s:D 






Came with:

• Full service history (6 services). 4 at Toyota and 2 at independent. No mention of large repairs.
• Brand new Yoko AD08 tyres all around
• Hardtop fitting kit
• Sony MEX-BT2900 single-din head unit replacement
• Black leather interior
• A/C
• Heated seats

Modifications done
Performance/Preservation+Longevity

• TTE exhaust
• Zero equal length exhaust manifold
• 200 cell custom downpipe/cat
• MaxBore throttle body
• HEL stainless braided brake flexi lines

Handling

• NathanMR2 ultimate gear shift cable bushings
• Solid gearshift cage mounts
• Short shifter
• Carolyn and David's AutoDiverse underbody brace
• Carolyn and David's AutoDiverse front strut brace
• BC coilovers BR-RA(4kg front and 6kg rear springs and rear rubber top mounts)
• CG Lock for driver seat belt
• SuperPro rear camber bolts
• Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 alloys (7j front et35 and 7.5j rear et45)
• 7mm spacers each side in the rear
• EBC YellowStuff brake pads all around
• Uniroyal Rainsport 3/5 tyres (195/50/15 and 215/45/16)
     
• Dev's door shut bracing bushes

Styling

• Official Toyota JDM MR2 badge (Blue) rear and front. Part-debadged rear
• Roadster badge moved to under left side repeater
• Midship runabout sticker on wind deflector
• LED side lights
• Dev keyhole covers in sable
• JDL ducktail spoiler
• Alarm horn move and spare wheel flip
• Zunsport front and rear grilles
• Chrome instrument binnacle rings
• Sun visor removal and blanking
• Widermuller alloy Lotus-style radio uprights
• Widermuller chrome door pulls
• Widermuller hvac knobs and slider with custom knurled sides for grip
• Full interior retrim in red/grey by Simon at Hide'n'Seat

Electronics

• Sony WXGT90BT head-unit
• InPhase USW-10 subwoofer, mounted under steering wheel
• Sony radio control stalk

To-Do list:

• TyrePal Solar
• Angel eye DRLs

Pre-Reader's RideHistory
09/11/2013: Purchased from Amsthill Road Car Sales in Bedford for 4290. Car looked grand at the time. All the main things looked spot on. Coolant was below "Low" though so had them top it up.

10/11/2013: Noticed crack in windscreen, which had been cleverly disguised by the tax disc holder and the pouring rain when we picked it up. Coolant down to "Low" again....hmmmm

19/11/2013: Took the car to GTSChris in Cramlington. Very friendly local Japanese car (mostly MR2 mk1/2) expert. He certainly knew what he was looking at and did a full check-up on the car.
Compression figures good: 208, 210,207,211. Spark plugs in need of change asap. Piece of metal lodged in N/S rear Yoko  s:( s:(  So trip to tyrespot needed to see if it can be repaired. Rear brakes pitted a bit from standing still and then being used again. Probably MOT advisory, not fail. Crossmember looks very healthy. No sign of any block-related issues, oil nice and clean and 3/4 full. A/C radiator showing excessive wear and tear, but water radiator looking healthy for its age. No error codes. Body straight. Tracking a bit off. Could do with alignment. Front O/S fog light cracked. Argh. Coolant level dropping could be due to air in the lines due to a suspected clutch change, as the bung was new and had been replaced. I'm happy with a clutch change...


30/11/2013: got a smashing deal on a brand new TTE-style underbody brace. Chatted about it with insurance and put the brace on this morning.
Lifted the front of the car about 1ft up.
Unscrewed all the bolts used by the brace, pretty obvious which ones they are.
Pushed the front side into place firmly. It held in place, screws didn't line up.
Used a jack on the middle of the brace to hold it in place while I bolted in the rear side. Perfect fit!
Took the jack off the middle and placed it on a front corner and jacked it up. Brace popped into place.
Popped bolt in, repeated process for other side.
Sorted!!
Absolute transformation of driving

07/12/2013: So yesterday we had a great day at the Xmas brew 2014, and on the way home stopped out for some dinner. Got back in the car and the heater just didn't seem to want to get hot.
The coolant temp all of a sudden went up...anyway you can guess what happened:


Coolant expansion bottle completely empty.

Good ol radiator fail on the N/S bottom. Glad I managed to limp home while it still had some coolant.

New radiator ordered from eBay. Guess I've got another few hours on the drive planned.  s:( s:(

31/05/2015: wow so I haven't updated this in ages!
Basically everything I wanted doing, I have done. TTE exhaust, TTE banana spoiler, and instead of just lowering springs it got a nice new set of BC coilovers.
Services always on time. Just a mere 58k miles now.

27/02/2019: in light of recent insurance discussions I thought it best to revisit my mod list and make sure that every little bit is declared. Might be duplicating as I know I've called stuff in separately but rather that than not be covered.

21/02/2020: changed the text above to reflect removal of my emanage and Hurricane intake and return to stock. Also replaced the TTE underbody brace with the AutoDiverse ("Carolyn and David") underbody brace.

08/03/2021: Another year gone by. Not much changed. Finally changed tyres away from the beloved AD08 range, in light of their recent changes. Gone to Uniroyal Rainsports. Added EBC YellowStuff pads all around. Replaced my front brace with an AutoDiverse one. Alternator's been replaced (again). Removed the crappy ebay clock replacement and refitted original. That's about it really.
This year will be underbody refurbishment year. Front a-arms are going to be replaced, with all new bolts. Then rear arms are getting a seeing to.
Some of the pulleys on the engine are a bit wobbly so might replace them (if possible with engine in).
Other than that....service and maintenance and enjoy

[shnazzle]

Part 1 of Spyderchat Cap's MAF mod bought today off a beloved ex-member.
Got my eye on some 2zz yellow injectors from a low mileage car. Just need a spare intake to pull the vanes out of, and then give the car two fill ups with Vpower Nitro+ (which it gets anyway) prior to doing the mod.

It'll be the first performance-focussed mod I'll have done on the 2  s:) s:)

[CrazySX]

Part 1 of Spyderchat Cap's MAF mod bought today off a beloved ex-member.
Got my eye on some 2zz yellow injectors from a low mileage car. Just need a spare intake to pull the veins out of, and then give the car two fill ups with Vpower Nitro+ (which it gets anyway) prior to doing the mod.

It'll be the first performance-focussed mod I'll have done on the 2  s:) s:)

What difference do the Yellow injectors make?  How will you adjust the timing? Air/fuel?

I am asking as i was thinking of getting some for when i do the turbo conversion, as they are higher CC.  Also what is this about Veins?

[shnazzle]

The maf mod messes with the MAF sensor by raising it. So the car thinks it's getting less air than it is, so you use the yellow injectors to get more fuel in so that the car doesn't run lean. The vanes in the intake are designed to make air flow a certain way and the ECU is calibrated to that. The vanes need removing to get the balance right for the new injectors and running the maf higher.
Then you need to run 98 fuel or higher to prevent knock.

[CrazySX]

The maf mod messes with the MAF sensor by raising it. So the car thinks it's getting less air than it is, so you use the yellow injectors to get more fuel in so that the car doesn't run lean. The veins in the intake are designed to make air flow a certain way and the ECU is calibrated to that. The veins need removing to get the balance right for the new injectors and running the maf higher.
Then you need to run 98 fuel or higher to prevent knock.

and does this result in more power?

I could do this now, as i will need to uprate the injectors anyway.  I was thinking about doing bits when i have time.  Even to the extent that i may bolt on the turbo without an actuator until i have all the bits in place :p

Should the car not think it is getting more Air in order for the ECU to send more fuel?  Is there a write up on this mod anywhere?  i am interested  s:) s:)

[shnazzle]

It doesn't result in more power per se, but a hell of a lot of people have noticed significant improvements in pickup with this mod. It's Cap's Maf-mod from Spyderchat
The trick is, the ECU doesn't send it more fuel. That's why the bigger injectors. The ECU  thinks it still has the green 1zz injectors, so it fires off X quantity of fuel. But that quantity would be far too little for the amount of air coming in, as the maf mod fools it into thinking less air is coming in than really is. So the ECU times fuel for the air it THINKS is coming in, but the bigger injector lets go of a lot more fuel in the same amount of time, so you end up with more fuel and more air = bigger bang = more go  s:) s:)

I wouldn't strap a turbo on without the rest mate  s:) s:)  It's just not a good idea.

[CrazySX]

It doesn't result in more power per se, but a hell of a lot of people have noticed significant improvements in pickup with this mod. It's Cap's Maf-mod from Spyderchat
The trick is, the ECU doesn't send it more fuel. That's why the bigger injectors. The ECU  thinks it still has the green 1zz injectors, so it fires off X quantity of fuel. But that quantity would be far too little for the amount of air coming in, as the maf mod fools it into thinking less air is coming in than really is. So the ECU times fuel for the air it THINKS is coming in, but the bigger injector lets go of a lot more fuel in the same amount of time, so you end up with more fuel and more air = bigger bang = more go  s:) s:)

I wouldn't strap a turbo on without the rest mate  s:) s:)  It's just not a good idea.

Sounds very interesting, i shall get over to Spyderchat in a jiffy.

Nooo.. i won't have a 'plumbed in' turbo, just exhaust side, with open waste gate.  Maybe!!  I might stick the injectors in with a base map on the emanage and see it that works also, but need a cable first!

[shnazzle]

Finally did the elusive alarm move today.



Temporary bolt slid in through the underside to hold it in place until I can get the original screw cut and threaded.

So much space! And... SO LOUD!

Went for left side as I've got aircon.
Made a crude custom bracket and ran the wire along the top of the radiator, which oddly has perfectly sized clips for the wires to the alarm...

[shnazzle]

The alarm move finally done. Pending shortening of the spare wheel retaining screw.
It can't be reiterated enough how much louder the alarm is outside the frunk cubby hold.

[shnazzle]

The struggle is real:  m https://youtu.be/O-8ytWBpT9U m

May need to reconsider my future plans for front/rear spats and side skirts  s:( s:(

[shnazzle]

Today the 2 saw the addition of these fantastic alloy hvac knobs.





And also test-fitted robsonic's eManage Blue piggyback ECU.
Quite a difference already but needs some tweaking.

[shnazzle]

This isn't mine, but it's for an mr2 with the emanage blue noted above, same exhaust modifications, and a k&n gen2 intake.
All of the above applies to my 2,minus the intake.. So... I reckon I can use the graph  s:) s:)

[tomaky]

that the passenger side on the greddy pic Patrick?

[shnazzle]

It is

[lamcote]

Is the dotted line pre mapping work and the solid line post mapping?  Ie no physical changes made to the spec between the two, just getting the map right?

Also do you know what octane fuel this was tuned for?

Thanks

[tomaky]

My eyes were playing games, must have been the beer.

[shnazzle]

Is the dotted line pre mapping work and the solid line post mapping?  Ie no physical changes made to the spec between the two, just getting the map right?

Also do you know what octane fuel this was tuned for?

Thanks

They're just two runs. So, they weren't pleased with the lower one so tweaked  s:) s:)  

It's mapped for 98

[CrazySX]

What mods do you have to make that power? Says you have a a K&N, what exhaust? Do you have an aftermarket manifold?  Or just decanted?

[Jrichards20]

What mods do you have to make that power? Says you have a a K&N, what exhaust? Do you have an aftermarket manifold?  Or just decanted?

Cobra do a really nice Merlot! Not sure its as good as their Shiraz though.

[CrazySX]

What mods do you have to make that power? Says you have a a K&N, what exhaust? Do you have an aftermarket manifold?  Or just decanted?

Cobra do a really nice Merlot! Not sure its as good as their Shiraz though.

They do actually make a good beer! but where does it say the car on the run had a cobra?  Am i blind?   s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

[Jrichards20]

What mods do you have to make that power? Says you have a a K&N, what exhaust? Do you have an aftermarket manifold?  Or just decanted?

Cobra do a really nice Merlot! Not sure its as good as their Shiraz though.

They do actually make a good beer! but where does it say the car on the run had a cobra?  Am i blind?   s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

My dreadful sense of humour. You misspelt "decatted" and put "decanted". So I referenced an aftermarket exhaust with decanting wine   s:roll: :roll: s:roll:  

i'll get me coat   s:flame: :flame: s:flame:  tis a Friday afternoon and I've had a few beers. Nothing else I can really blame it on..

[shnazzle]

What mods do you have to make that power? Says you have a a K&N, what exhaust? Do you have an aftermarket manifold?  Or just decanted?

As I wrote... It's not my dyno  s:) s:)  
So I can't lay 100% claim to power.
But, I have all the same mods except for the intake.

[CrazySX]

What mods do you have to make that power? Says you have a a K&N, what exhaust? Do you have an aftermarket manifold?  Or just decanted?

As I wrote... It's not my dyno  s:) s:)  
So I can't lay 100% claim to power.
But, I have all the same mods except for the intake.

I know that's why I said what mods do u have to make to make the power lol!

What mods do u have? TTE exhaust? MANIFOLD?

[shnazzle]

What mods do you have to make that power? Says you have a a K&N, what exhaust? Do you have an aftermarket manifold?  Or just decanted?

As I wrote... It's not my dyno  s:) s:)  
So I can't lay 100% claim to power.
But, I have all the same mods except for the intake.

I know that's why I said what mods do u have to make to make the power lol!

What mods do u have? TTE exhaust? MANIFOLD?

Read the thread! Haha.
Yes TTE exhaust and de-pre-cat
And removed the restrictive corner intake pipe

[CrazySX]

As I wrote... It's not my dyno  s:) s:)  
So I can't lay 100% claim to power.
But, I have all the same mods except for the intake.

I know that's why I said what mods do u have to make to make the power lol!

What mods do u have? TTE exhaust? MANIFOLD?

Read the thread! Haha.
Yes TTE exhaust and de-pre-cat
And removed the restrictive corner intake pipe

So Markii pipe, decatting precats and TTE exhaust could achieve 158bhp with a emanage blue??? I have all these mods you see. Just need a cable for the emanage to connect to the car!

 I swear I am blind. I have only seen that you have a TTE exhaust. Havent seen anything about any other mods in this thread.