Hi all,

I bought an 02 MR2 last year as a fun car and to do a few track days including the Nurburgring. I race bikes but this was my first serious dip into a track car. I love it and several days training with Don Palmer of Driving Developments and others have really helped me get the most out of it but.......ultimately just as with road bikes on the track their shortcomings get exposed when you start pushing on. So the question is: given a budget of 5k or so would I be better setting the MR2 up for the track - TRD etc or should I just chop it in against a VX220 Turbo or Elise and accept the limitations on the road? I don't do many road miles but it does get used regularly so whatever I do must be dual purpose but angled more to track than road. I know selling the MR2 might be heresy on this site but you seem like a pretty balanced lot   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  All thoughts welcome. PS I have through expensive experience learn't that the speed equation always starts with the driver, followed by the suspension, followed a distant third by power so most of the budget would go on chassis if that helps   s:?: :?: s:?:

Theres lots you can do for not much money to improve things... First up, get the TRD member braces, a anti flex plate, and a Front strut brace to stiffen things up, This makes an unbelievable difference to the pre facelift cars.

Next, go for uprated suspension. TRD sportivo, Tien, Leda... theres loads of options.

That lot should see you into some fairly quick lap times.

Bear in mind that the MR2, albeit in much modified form, has been cleaning up for years in the GTC race series, so it s a more than capable track machine. Also woth considering is the fact that if you prang it, you can pretty much fix it yourself. Lotus bodyshells arent cheap...

VX220 are damn cheap now, and you'll have a hard time matching it with the MR2

However, the MR2 at the track level of the VX220 is still more streetable than a stock Vx220 :p

i think Grant has pretty much covered it. Best place to start looking is of course with our own Dieamonds shop at

 w www.mrs-passion.com w

then try heading over to these

 w www.japanparts.com w
 w www.takakiara.co.jp w
 w www.whifbitz.co.uk w

as for the breastplates, see  m http://www.spyderchat.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=24138 m
corky is out of stock at the mo but pm him and he'll most likely be doing a new GB soon.

for 5K you should have everything done, suspension, ARB, Tyres, breastplates and still have loads left over for a track day or 2  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

VXT - much better track machine and you wont lose all of your £5k when it comes to resale.

James

Quote from: "jamesn"VXT - much better track machine

Funny how I keep overtaking them at Estoril.   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Now, really, the VXT in it's stock form is faster on the track than a stock MR2.

He's asking if he should think of upgrading the '2 for track, or take a Vx220 directly

On a '2 for track I would put :

- RG Damper Sepc V -> 2000
- Cusco front stabilizer -> 200
- Cusco member braces front -> 120
- Cusco sub frame plate -> 110
- TRD Front strut bar -> 250
- David's style bars -> 350
- Harness -> 200
- TRD brake pads Fr and Rr -> 270

Total : 3500 Euros

Beside that, engine mods :
- PPE intake -> 300
- PPE header + hi flo cat -> 800
- Exhaust -> 700
- Power FC -> 1000 + 500 for tuning

Total : 3300 Euros

Grand Total : 6800 Euros, 4615 £; inc VAT and shipping

Mail me to order  s:-D :-D s:-D

Quote from: "dieamond"(...)
On a '2 for track I would put :
(...)
- David's style bars -> 350
- Harness -> 200
(...)

Aren't the Style bars purely cosmetic? Also, where would you mount the harness?

just for the info

corkies breastplate from the link at spyderchat is effectively the same as Cusco sub frame plate mentioned by Dieamond

I personally would always go with buying a new car that's more suitable for the purpose rather than modifying one to be what you need.  Unless you plan never to sell the car on that is.

It really depends on what you're after. The '2 is a great all-round car and if you're happy (as per GSB's suggestions) goes a long way. Having just driven a '2 & Elise back-to-back on track last week, I can very well say that the '2 can be lot of fun, though of course not as quick for the same driver.

You've gracefully stated a good driver makes a huge difference - from my own experiences a 'good' driver can make a staggering 20% difference per lap on my times (note: wasn't a trackday). This is plenty enough to ensure that you could be 'ahead of the game' from any 'average' driver of an Elise or VX.

Ultimately it's going to be the suspension that's going to be your weakest point being single wish-bone - minimising roll is your goal, even at the expense of comfort. I wouldn't blow a fortune on it though as there's only so much that can be done, unless you know how to tune a suspension to your own personal tastes.

With the previously mentioned chassis add-ons which are cheap and easy, it's none too shabby.

The brakes are undoubtly great, but watch out that the pads you use can take the temperature. I would disagree with dieamond's choice of TRD - they're great street pads with excellent cold bite and a good coefficient, but likely to crumble when subjected to track use. Look to the usual suspects - Pagid and Mintex - for your intended use.

Quote from: "so.simple"

Quote from: "dieamond"(...)
On a '2 for track I would put :
(...)
- David's style bars -> 350
- Harness -> 200
(...)

Aren't the Style bars purely cosmetic? Also, where would you mount the harness?

Style bars add a lot of strengh to the middle of the car, and you can attach the harness on them  s:-D :-D s:-D

Quote from: "mph"xxx

I disagree

1) suspensions is where you gain the most on the spyder, and the price difference between TRD Waydo and coilovers track oriented like the RG is the same as between the stock and the TRD waydo

2) stock brake pads are great, and the TRD give you for cheap just the little push you miss.

Biggest single improvement to the cars handling = tyres.

sure

and pilot

The pilot doesn't change the cars handling (or performance for that matter), meerly utilises it...   How well they utilise it is another matter entirely  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

I have been very tempted by an elise S2, its a simple one stop solution to getting a better car and they look stunning.  Only problem is you must make sure your passenger doesn't poop themselves while sitting next to you when your driving, as the seats are incredibly close together!

To improve the handling of my 03 there isn't much I can do as I have front & rear TRD strut braces and TTE springs.  Other take coil overs I think the only other add on is anti roll bars.

anti roll bars will make a huge difference and I justhappen to know someone selling the TTE ones  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Pm me!   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

I personally don't think you can beat an Exige then Elise or VX Turbo for track use compared to a 2. They are more honed for that purpose but naturally this means they are not a scomfortable as the 2 on the road.

I heard that the VXturbo abs system doesn't work too well when the brakes get hot - cuts in too early and increases braking distances - this would have to be sorted for a track car  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Quote from: "RUSTY"I heard that the VXturbo abs system doesn't work too well when the brakes get hot - cuts in too early and increases braking distances - this would have to be sorted for a track car  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

That reminds me of something - must go looking to see if our cars have an ABS fuse that'll disable the ABS or not (If they do, I'd be tempted to do that at Angelsea, just to see how it behaves sans ABS)

abs was fine when i did Donington last

It was fine when I did Elvington, too - I just fancy experimenting  s:) s:)

theres 2 fuses though that could be pulled on the ABS system, they are linked through a relay to the ABS hydralic motor and servo pack, but the ABS ECU still has several power links and may cause problems, lets try it and see what happens on the day  s:? :? s:?  we'll definatley get a light but there shouldn't be anything else