M1tch's long term 1ZZ build - Project 11

[shnazzle]

...
The PFC is so much nicer to drive as, due to the timing tweaks, throttle response and pick up is a huge amount better, swapping back to the stock ECU made the car feel very lacking until further up the rev range.
....

I experienced the same clearing my emanage. Exact same thoughts.
Glad to hear it's not just me.

[m1tch]

Very interesting. Very good to see your methodical approach to gathering all the relevant data so we can see what the real changes are.

That's the plan, will be doing everything in stages and will make a note of anything I change, now that I have made the bulk of changes in terms of weight reduction and initial remap and seen the difference I can now start fine tuning things.

This project car will be primarily a road car with track and drag upgrades - basically it will never be fully stripped out or be running drag only modifications, I will however continue with getting 1/4 mile times as although this is one of the goals of the project it also helps give a benchmark when doing mods. I am aware that the MR2 isn't meant to be a straight line car, however running 1/4 mile runs I can see how much things such as the 60 foot changes, the overall time as well as the terminal speed top end.

Next things on the list (apart from a MOT) will include more road tuning to get additional AFR samples mainly on cruise and light throttle - luckily the more I am running in those cells the more samples I will get so I can just drive the car around normally and those cells will be better tuned. I did a few adjustments at Santapod via Copilot, however I didn't get a huge number of samples - its good to know however that on average the AFRs between 4k and redline at WOT were between 12.5 and around 13.3 so it seems that those cells are pretty good.

[m1tch]

I experienced the same clearing my emanage. Exact same thoughts.
Glad to hear it's not just me.

I think its due to the stock ECU being quite conservative, even just a small tweak to the timing gives much more immediacy on the throttle and makes the car more responsive - even if it might not give a huge power boost up top. I have no clue what my overall power figure is but all I know is that its better to drive, AFRs are getting there are the knock levels are low (thanks to Copilot auto ignition).

[K T M Rider]

Very interesting. Very good to see your methodical approach to gathering all the relevant data so we can see what the real changes are.

Agreed.

Love the attention to detail in this thread  - it is already a great reference for anyone else seeking to boost their power to weight ratio. 

[shnazzle]

I saw how much effort it took cars at the Pod to get to 13 seconds; massive turbo'd cars revving the nuts off.

So... Getting into 14s on a stock 2 is pretty darn impressive. Shows the importance of power/weight.

[m1tch]

Very interesting. Very good to see your methodical approach to gathering all the relevant data so we can see what the real changes are.

Agreed.

Love the attention to detail in this thread  - it is already a great reference for anyone else seeking to boost their power to weight ratio.

That's the plan, hopefully I will help out others who are interested to see what makes sense, there are already quite a few 'easy wins' with regards to weight saving on the car such as the rear bins or the ECU shield etc.

Just looking up production car 1/4 mile times, a 2014 Audi TT cabriolet 2.0 TFSi seems to run the same 1/4 mile time at 14.96 @ 91.5mph - BHP per ton on that car is listed at 150.6bhp.

I still need to work out the exact weight reduction between the benchmark runs but I think my stock FL car would have been at 1,006kg from the factory, taken out around 65kg of weight from unbolting things plus running around 5kg less fuel (as a guess as I was running 2/3 tank on these runs) and adding in the driver weight of 78kg the 1/4 mile calculator seems to predict a power output of around 157 bhp.

I won't be getting the current engine dynoed or RR tuned, not worth it as I will be dropping in the new engine at some point, will look to run that engine in NA form first before I bolt the turbo on. Worth noting that the engine I am building will be able to rev higher and is slightly larger in capacity (0.5mm overbore) - current engine is on 176k miles and was using a bit of oil during the day owing to the higher RPMs.

Here are the tests I am planning:

Test 1 - Stock - complete
Test 2 - Initial weight reduction - complete
Test 3 - Initial weight reduction and slight power increase - complete
Test 4 - Additional weight reduction and tuning on current PFC map
Test 5 - Adjustments to tyre pressures and aero
Test 6 - Swap to Link Xtreme using MAP sensor and launch control
Test 7 - New engine running NA
Test 8 - New engine running low boost
Test 9 - New engine running mid boost
Test 10 - new engine running high boost

[m1tch]

I saw how much effort it took cars at the Pod to get to 13 seconds; massive turbo'd cars revving the nuts off.

So... Getting into 14s on a stock 2 is pretty darn impressive. Shows the importance of power/weight.

I had 3 other runs at 15.00xx so it was very close to having other 14 second runs, I am yet to tune some of the midrange which should help with initial acceleration - the car only goes through the sub 4k range once, doesn't really drop into this range again when shifting at max rpms. Its worth also mentioning that I am at the very top of 3rd gear @ 7k rpm at the line with the stock 6 speed box.

I have still got a fair bit of weight to take out the car, the lightweight exhaust is yet to go in (which might free up a bit top end), lighter seat (currently using the stock driver seat) a well as a lighter weight battery - need to move this to the frunk for extra space or run it secured in car to reduce the length of battery cable needed.

There is also the question of the volume of fuel to run, I overestimated the amount of fuel I needed to get over to Santapod meaning I was running heavier than I would have liked over the weekend - was aiming to arrive with half a tank left, ended up arriving with around 2/3rd. The car takes 48 litres full - might be able to run with around 10kg less fuel next time.

The engine that is currently being rebuilt will have a fully worked over valve train, I believe the stage 2 cams are rated to 8.5k RPM but will probably limit the RPMs to 7.5k owing to the piston speed on the long stroke 1zz - this would give me an extra 500rpms for each gear shift which should help me keep in the lower, harder accelerating gears for longer.

[m1tch]

Block, pistons and rods are ready to be picked up from the machine shop, will take some photos of the parts soon so everyone can follow along with the build, still planning to run the car NA for a bit for it to break in, coupled with collecting parts for the turbo build.

[m1tch]

Just had the car MOTed - it failed on a few bits:

EML light on (failing main cat sensor)
Lambda emissions out of spec (CO % and HC PPM are low though) - too lean in closed loop it would seem
Handbrake efficency

I knew the handbrake might be an issue so I have full discs, pads and calipers which should sort them out (cables move fine).

Lambda issue on emissions is a new one for me, last year it had no issues, I have resorted back to the stock ECU as the PFC isn't very good in closed loop.

Running the stock ECU I have found that the lambda is perfect and holding 1 using my wideband sensor in the manifold but seems to be reading too lean at the tail pipe - I have found a small exhaust leak in a joint between the main box and one of my TTE tips so I have a feeling that the mixture is correct coming out the engine but is being leaned out just before the MOT testers probe in the exhaust.

The TTE clamp is very rusty - has done 177k miles at this point, I can see that its been a bit bodged in the past so I have replacement gaskets and clamps for them, one side seems to be fine, the other needs replacing.

I have also ordered replacements for all 3 O2 sensors - all of the heaters had failed (but bypassed with the resistor so no check engine light for that) however they do take a bit of time to warm up and I can see that one of them is fairly lazy.

Hopefully this will fix all the issues on the car - MOT runs out at the end of the month, retest is next Wednesday so will give me a chance to sort a few bits out.

Things like the handbrake was expected, wasn't expecting to have an issue with the emissions - I think it might be that exhaust leak though but will find out.

Also worth noting that my PFC was only just out of range in terms of lambda even though this was a closed loop test and the PFC wasn't set to run closed loop!

[m1tch]

MOT has now been passed for another year - 177k miles and no advisories! The Lambda reading was slightly on the lean side of 1 but within limits, the original cat (with no precats) was well within CO and HC limits which is great.

I have now ordered a MAP sensor and air intake temp sensor to get my Link Xtreme ECU connected up, I am still tuning the PFC and it might be interesting to try back to back comparisons for the PFC and the Link Xtreme.

The main thing I am looking forward to with the Link Xtreme ECU is the fact that it can take a Wideband O2 reading which can then use that for the closed loop fueling, as well as 'quicktune' looking at the target AFR table vs the actual AFR which should speed up getting the car up and running.

Next things on the list are:

Tuning:

Fit a MAP sensor
Fit/wire in an air temp sensor
Wire in wideband O2 to Link ECU
Get the car to fire up on the Link Xtreme and sort out initial basemap

Parts to fit/buy/research

Replace the TTE exhaust with the lightweight exhaust
Replace OEM driver seat with race seat - looking at Sparco Sprint
Lightweight battery
Coilover fitment
Whiteline front and rear ARBs
Whiteline camber bolts
Wheel alignment
Upgraded radiator (perhaps done when the engine is swapped)
Lightweight road wheels - still deciding setup in terms of tyre and wheel size

The CSS block is also ready for collection which has been bored and honed for the custom forged pistons, along with the Molnar rods. Need to buy a few additional parts before I can start putting the engine together, will look to do this in the autumn/winter months with a view to fitting the engine early next year. The engine will run NA initially using the base tune on the Link Xtreme, once the engine is broken in and any issues I will then start looking into other parts for the turbo build.

[m1tch]

I have just done some working out with regards to the weight saving over stock in 'race trim' to see what the difference is in time with weight removed, I think I am missing one or 2 items though - one being an under tray which I think is a few of kg - however this will offset the additional 3.1kg of running a hard top vs the softtop so would cancel that out.

The total weight reduction so far is at 67.957kg, I think I might have been running slightly less fuel on the second set of drag runs but it will never be perfectly matched - difference in stock runs pre and post came to 0.664 seconds - just under 0.01 second improvement per 1kg removed.

Basically removing around 10kg will give you a 0.1 second improvement in the 1/4 mile time (to a point) but is a rough guide, I still have a few items to lighten up including:

Lightweight battery
Lighter seat
Lighter exhaust (still to fit)
Coilovers (will probably be lighter than stock)
Lighter wheels

This is slightly offset by the increase in weight from things like upgraded ARBs, braces and roll hoop (future development) but will make a note of any weight added or removed either way.

I think a fairly low hanging fruit is the fuel that I run - running 10 litres less fuel would give me an extra 0.1 second improvement with no loss of drivability etc so might have dropped the car to a 14.86 (with additional power from the PFC) or a 15 second run with the stock ECU. Worth also noting that I plan to run the Link Xtreme ECU soon which will convert the engine to a MAP sensor, coupled with features such as launch control and the ability to easily tune the fueling via the wideband vs the AFR target so will probably bump the power up a bit from the partly tuned PFC map.

I think my overall weight reduction for the car will come to around 100kg so on a stock ECU it would probably run a 14.8, and with the extra power from the ECU should drop me to a mid 14 when running NA - I think this is probably as far as you could go without fully stripping the car out.

I am trying to find a public weighbridge to be able to get an idea on the weight of the car as it stands, however the stock FL car apparently weighs around 1,006kg - car would now weigh 938kg without the driver - weight goal will be to weigh the same as a stock FL car with the driver and turbo fitted.

Working this back, if the car weighed 1,006kg I would need to be running 339bhp (343bhp per ton) which should be manageable on a fairly low boost setting (looking at the Borg turbo matcher) 12psi @ 8k rpm, would be running a low 11 second pass on high boost 21psi setting it would seem.

[Nvy]

Have you researched on:

Lighter seat - id like to replace my seats before i hit the track.
Lighter exhaust (still to fit) - what exhaust are u going to use? Anything titanium or just something short w/o added weight?

[m1tch]

Have you researched on:

Lighter seat - id like to replace my seats before i hit the track.
Lighter exhaust (still to fit) - what exhaust are u going to use? Anything titanium or just something short w/o added weight?

I am currently looking at a Sparco sprint, but still deciding on what I want to do as I want to still retain the stock seatbelt for road use (don't have a hoop as of yet for harnesses).

The lighter exhaust I have is basically a small race silencer attached to the OEM fitting - will post up a photo of it when I can, think it weighs around 6.5kg (TTE apparently weighs 13.7kg) - plan to add on a motorbike exhaust can onto the end of it for road use if its too loud etc. Swapping out the exhaust will give me a 7.2kg saving off the back of the car.

[jvanzyl]

Are you running FL or PFL seats? There's a big weight difference (FL being heavier).
Then there are the lights, PFL rear lights are lighter - and I'm assuming the same for front lights.

There is a guy selling a BUNCH of nice goodies on Spyder chat - but he's based in Greece and part of the load are some really nice blue race seats...

[Nvy]

Are you running FL or PFL seats? There's a big weight difference (FL being heavier).
Then there are the lights, PFL rear lights are lighter - and I'm assuming the same for front lights.

There is a guy selling a BUNCH of nice goodies on Spyder chat - but he's based in Greece and part of the load are some really nice blue race seats...

Racing seats should be tried first because if you cant fit then its of no use for you.

[m1tch]

Are you running FL or PFL seats? There's a big weight difference (FL being heavier).
Then there are the lights, PFL rear lights are lighter - and I'm assuming the same for front lights.

There is a guy selling a BUNCH of nice goodies on Spyder chat - but he's based in Greece and part of the load are some really nice blue race seats...

I currently have FL seats but might look to fit something like the Lotus seats - will only be changing the driver seat over as the passenger seat isn't fitted when I unbolt certain items to 'race trim'.

[m1tch]

Are you running FL or PFL seats? There's a big weight difference (FL being heavier).
Then there are the lights, PFL rear lights are lighter - and I'm assuming the same for front lights.

There is a guy selling a BUNCH of nice goodies on Spyder chat - but he's based in Greece and part of the load are some really nice blue race seats...

Racing seats should be tried first because if you cant fit then its of no use for you.

This is why I haven't bought any seats as of yet, need to make sure it fits correctly - passenger seat weighs 13.9kg with the Sparco seat weighing around 8.7kg - its a 5kg saving so not a huge priority compared to other mods - I know that the Kirkey race seats are around 6kg so could unbolt both stock seats and fit a very lightweight driver seat for when I do go racing.

[Call the midlife!]

Meisters are definitely lighter than OEM, I know we weighed them like for like when I fitted them last year, not massively but when you're chasing gains it'll help.


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[m1tch]

Meisters are definitely lighter than OEM, I know we weighed them like for like when I fitted them last year, not massively but when you're chasing gains it'll help.


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I am going with some Tein superstreets with EDFC, need to check the spring rates but should be easy to swap out if needed.

I think the main thing is that after a few other items as listed already, without going for carbon fibre parts or stripping out the HVAC etc the car is as light as possible for road use - from there on its time to add power.

Quite impressed so far though as I think once the Link Xtreme ECU is tuned and a few other bits are lightend it should be able to run a high 14 second pass which is comparible to an EP3 Honda Civic type R with 200bhp and a higher rev limit.

[m1tch]

5 BAR MAP sensor has now been fitted - using the hose where the evap solinoid uses which isn't in use anymore.

The car has fired up on the Link Xtreme now, just waiting on a set of open barrel crimpers to be able to wire in the wideband O2 sensor into the CAN port on the ECU, this will allow me to auto fuel and sort out the fueling map. It would also seem that some of the sensors aren't 100% setup correctly on the Link software as its showing 60C intake temps and 70C water temps on a cold engine!

Next stage after wiring in the wideband is to work out the calibration of a few of the stock sensors and then drive around a bit to get some logging done for the fueling.

I have also spoken with MWR with regards to the JUBU or SSC 3rd and 4th gears, they have confirmed that the gears will be ok for my power goals - they also said that 21psi of boost would be the most they would run to maintain reliability - which is good as that is the boost target I was planning.

I have used the Borg Warner turbo matcher and it also has estimated torque and power figures, at 7,800 RPM the engine should be making just over 400bhp and just over 300 ft/lb of torque - this is just in the limits of the gearsets which are rated to 295 ft/lbs. However MWR also mentioned that its usually the gearbox temp that causes the failures and I am planning to run a gearbox cooler in my build so this should keep the temps down meaning the oil can do its job. Plugging in the figure of 400bhp and a weight of 1000kg its predicting a 1/4 mile time of 11.54 - using the Borg power calculator and knocking back to boost to 14 psi it should have enough power to run high 11s. It all come down to how much the whole turbo setup weighs along with the extra coolers, I am aiming to hopefully run with stock weight of 1006kg for a FL - will see where it ends up.

With regards to engine cooling and protection I will be planning to run:

Baffled sump - probably the Elise parts one, Moroso have many issues with not sealing properly
Accusump - will preoil the engine before start up and maintain good oil pressure all the time
Engine oil cooler - probably with a rad in the driver side vent
Gearbox cooler - probably with a rad in the passenger side vent
Charge cooler - rad will be up front

Its worth noting that the engine should be able to handle more power than the 400bhp or so it should be running, its the gearbox that is the weak point, I don't plan to run an E153 box but I am probably at the limits on the C series box - although should be reliable with a gearbox cooler added.

[Nvy]

There is a lot on the subject, the gearboxes are failing due to wheel hop and making all the rubbers polyurethane so the box will take all the stress. That being said cooler temps will help for longevity for sure.

[m1tch]

There is a lot on the subject, the gearboxes are failing due to wheel hop and making all the rubbers polyurethane so the box will take all the stress. That being said cooler temps will help for longevity for sure.

The C series gearbox doesn't have an intergrated cooler like the E series box, the C series box runs hot under heavy load or prolonged track use which thins the oil and causes wear, plan is to have my spare 6 speed box rebuilt and refreshed with either JUBU gears or SSC gears in 3rd and 4th which should then hold the torque of the engine. I also plan to have the car mapped as to reduce the torque when shifting to avoid shocking the box. The car will be 95% on the road so will be running with fairly standard bushes etc to reduce vibration day to day.

[dan944]

Just one on the engine cooling. I'm obviously aware that you're going to be running more than twice the boost levels that I'm at but with the new sump you'll be surprised at the cooling effects. It adds more than 2 litres to oil capacity and is essentially a giant heat sink itself.
I'm running a tiny eBay special radiator at the moment but with the koyorad one that I have in the garage fitted I think the system will be pretty darn effective. Is twice(ish) the thickness of stock.
Just thought I'd mention.

Also I wonder if you just used an ally heatsink to the underside of the sump it would make much difference?

[shnazzle]

Someone on here welded fins on the bottom of the sump. Making the sump even more of a heat sink. That should theoretically be the most effective because you're increasing the surface area of the metal by like 3x or more

[dan944]

Someone on here welded fins on the bottom of the sump. Making the sump even more of a heat sink. That should theoretically be the most effective because you're increasing the surface area of the metal by like 3x or more

That's pretty epic. I mean it was a theory for me but love people who actually have the skills and minerals to do stuff like this lol.