Project Slowpoke

[Slowpoke]

Power steering delete is a doddle.

About the ABS delete I had concerns about the front rear balance but diving deep into the info found it has no bias provision. Any brake bias the ZZW30 has is in the disc diameter/calipers/weight distribution.
With the Prius calipers fitted up front, retaining the ABS may be useful.

good advice, that reminds me that techno pro spirit added a super simple brake balancer to their car to remedy this

[Slowpoke]

This is the exact video that made me buy an MR2 with the intention of immediately 2ZZ swapping it, which I duly did.

What a great sounding engine! You just can't beat aggressive track driving like that - hearing the revs skip as the car flies over curbs

[Petrus]

good advice, that reminds me that techno pro spirit added a super simple brake balancer to their car to remedy this

it is very, véry tricky to set up a manual bias valve and then it is either a compromise or you need a  diffeifferent setting for different circumstances.
Because there is a front/rear split in the ABS, it does it nicely for you no hassle.

[Slowpoke]

it is very, véry tricky to set up a manual bias valve and then it is either a compromise or you need a  diffeifferent setting for different circumstances.
Because there is a front/rear split in the ABS, it does it nicely for you no hassle.

In that case it seems smarter to leave the ABS system and focus on weight saving in other places.

My wallet is terrified at the thought of carbon doors and panels but my god would it be nice.

That's the tricky stuff anyways - everything else is just removing things or getting the angle grinder out. Free performance at it's finest (and the bragging rights to call it a proper race car).

[Slowpoke]

Small update, the entire braking system should all be getting fitted very soon - I just made an error in ordering two right sided prius calipers so I'm waiting for delivery of the left one.

Oops.

[Petrus]

In that case it seems smarter to leave the ABS system and focus on weight saving in other places.

My wallet is terrified at the thought of carbon doors and panels but my god would it be nice.

That's the tricky stuff anyways - everything else is just removing things or getting the angle grinder out. Free performance at it's finest (and the bragging rights to call it a proper race car).

Carbon panel doors would be a serious weight saver. Unfortunately they are the opposite of straightforward. More importantly still they compromise the stiffness of the tub considerably: The original doors can be made to fit quite tightly, improving stiffness notably. Dev´s spacers and the TRD sliders work! Either will do. Fitting the other will add more stiffness still but follow the rule of diminishing returns.
 

[Alex Knight]

I absolutely would NOT want to be T-Boned in a car with carbon doors and no side impact protection.

[Petrus]

I absolutely would NOT want to be T-Boned in a car with carbon doors and no side impact protection.

I would not want to be T-boned by a modern lardy in any MR cabrio. I a modern two ton plus barges into you a 40mm diameter rod in the door is token only.

[Alex Knight]

I would not want to be T-boned by a modern lardy in any MR cabrio. I a modern two ton plus barges into you a 40mm diameter rod in the door is token only.

It's not the rod in the door I was referring to, but the door.

I would have thought that was obvious, seeing as the subject was the construction of the door itself,  but I guess to you it was not.

Look at an F1 wishbone. Tremendously strong laterally, but if you were to stand on one, it would snap.

[Petrus]

F1 is a    example of how good cf is in a crash. Regardless @Alex Knight I agree we (fundamentally) disagree and will let the floor to Slowpoke.

@Slowpoke thanks for reminding me. Am looking at the chinese carbon products (again). The same companies offer grp products too.
Shipping and red tape makes buying any of it overseas too costly, but I may talk to the local bloke again about the rear lid. It was big fun putting the Margard Lexan windshield in together.

[Slowpoke]

@Alex Knight @Petrus You both make good points, yes the carbon fibre doors would be awful in a crash, not to mention very upsetting to stomach the costs. In theory if I ever get that far with developing the car then there would be door bars as part of the roll cage to ensure that level of safety with the original doors isn't diminished too much.

The TPS car has the same approach, and they also don't use a full cage to save weight because they still meet safety regulations with the 'half cage' they have. Same applies to most UK based sprint series/time attack events and with the nature of those being 1 car at a time opposed to wheel to wheel racing, there is obviously a decreased risk of serious impact with other cars.

For street driving, I'm not sure if it's entirely legal in the UK to have carbon doors anyway but I'd be inclined to have it as a track toy only if I ever spent that much money on it.

[Slowpoke]

Had it cleaned and went for a coffee run over the weekend, thought I'd update everyone with a couple photos...

[Slowpoke]

Snow! Tested the car in 4 inches of fresh snow and it really surprised me how predictable and controllable the car was. I must admit it was brilliant fun and weirdly confidence inspiring.

The below photo of the car covered in snow was taken at 3am. Crazy how light it was due to the conditions.

[Petrus]

it really surprised me how predictable and controllable the car was. I must admit it was brilliant fun and weirdly confidence inspiring.

Tatááá     Congrats!!

[inigopete]

I'm a bit gutted that we haven't had snow yet down here in the Soft South. I'm looking forward to finding an iced-over empty car park and having a play with the car. I haven't managed to make it lose grip yet, which is almost certainly a sign that I haven't been trying hard enough. But I'd like to do it first in a makeshift skid pan environment so I can get a feel for it, before risking it happening on the road.

[SuperArt]

@inigopete if you're around Essex there's a proper skid pan run by ex met police driving instructors.

I wouldn't purposely swing my car around in any other setting/venue. Don't want bin my car or attract the wrong attention.

[Petrus]

@inigopete if you're around Essex there's a proper skid pan run by ex met police driving instructors.

I wouldn't purposely swing my car around in any other setting/venue. Don't want bin my car or attract the wrong attention.

Rain makes any road a skid pad no?! 

A Sunday morning empty industrial estate will do. There is súre to be a roundabout even. In second gear speeds are low and gives wéll enough torque.

And just for the fun of it, a Nordic flick in first gear on a wet parking lot makes a 180 on the throttle a doddle.

That observed, the only fine I have received in 22 years here (knocking wood) was for ´drifting at high speed´ in the dry on a roundabout (with 120 diesel hp. in a 2 ton old style 4x4  ) so yes I dó get the remark about unwanted attention.

[inigopete]

@inigopete if you're around Essex there's a proper skid pan run by ex met police driving instructors.

I wouldn't purposely swing my car around in any other setting/venue. Don't want bin my car or attract the wrong attention.

I grew up in Essex, my dad was a police-trained driver, so I'm familiar with that skid pan. It's awesome.

I remember, while I was learning to drive, my dad taking me to an icy supermarket car park on a Sunday - when supermarkets were closed on Sundays! - to learn how the car lost grip and how to steer into / out of skids. It was invaluable, and why I'd like to have a bit of a play with the MR2. Of course, it was also a chance for him to show off his skills J-turning and doing other evasive manoeuvres without destroying his tyres.

[Slowpoke]

I grew up in Essex, my dad was a police-trained driver, so I'm familiar with that skid pan. It's awesome.

I remember, while I was learning to drive, my dad taking me to an icy supermarket car park on a Sunday - when supermarkets were closed on Sundays! - to learn how the car lost grip and how to steer into / out of skids. It was invaluable, and why I'd like to have a bit of a play with the MR2. Of course, it was also a chance for him to show off his skills J-turning and doing other evasive manoeuvres without destroying his tyres.

Honestly, seat time is the biggest thing and messing about in a large carpark late at night is one of the easiest ways to get comfortable with how your car handles when it's not got all the grip in the world. Give it some revs and clutch kick it whilst giving some steering angle, you'll get used to how the weight feels when it comes round pretty quickly.

I must add, MR2s seem very difficult to drift consistently in the dry compared to more popular platforms, but taking it out in 4 inches of fresh snow with my mates piled in the passenger seat showed me that it's actually extremely controllable in certain conditions - it was essentially low speed drifting in slow motion, but to the point where you could get lots of angle and connect every corner.

Lots of fun haha

[Slowpoke]

So, I killed the 1zz.
Was driving home giving it some beans and the engine went kaboom. I don't believe it was oil starvation related but the thing sounds like a bag of spanners.

Not really interested in investigating what it actually is as I'm not going to fix the 1zz.

MR2 is going into storage whilst it's dead - looking to swap it (unfortunately a lot sooner than I would've liked). 2zz swap I reckon when I can afford it.

In the meantime, I've bought an Audi A3 1.9tdi sport quattro off a friend of mine as the MR2 was my daily.

Rip 1zz.

[inigopete]

That's sad news, I hope the storage isn't too expensive - and neither is the 2ZZ!

[puma2]

  gutted for you as you can tell you were haveing such a good time with your 2 and getting out in all weathers.
enjoy your new daily and lets us no what you do next with your 2.

hopefully wont be to long before you turn your plans into a 2zz  

ps love the snow pictures 

[Slowpoke]

That's sad news, I hope the storage isn't too expensive - and neither is the 2ZZ!

Me too! Couldn't have been at a worse time too with Christmas around the corner.

I'm asking the local farmers if they would be keen to part with some barn storage for a bit of cash. Definitely a cheaper option that going to proper storage providers. Also I'll be able to easily spend evenings going down to work on the car as I still have the brakes to do from my purchase last month as well as getting the skirts and bumper painted (which still hasn't arrived - grr) and fitted to the car.

I did ironically make a big old plan of all the jobs I have planned to do to the car over winter right before the engine went pop and the engine swap was right at the bottom of the list. Annoyingly it's all of a sudden rose straight to the top 

[Alex Knight]

Sorry to hear this. Let me know if you need any 2ZZ swap advice. I've seen all aspects now!

[Slowpoke]

Also worth noting, the engine has only done 79,000 miles - the fact that it's eaten itself is still baffling to me. I know I wasn't shy of wringing it's neck but complete failure?? The car had an extremely well kept service history and never missed an oil change - admittedly I only performed 2 in the year and a half that I've had it but that is the 'normal' baseline.

I would never have assumed the 1zz to be a 'weak' engine despite it's lackluster power. I'm still certain it can't have been an oil issue as on cheap summer tyres I really shouldn't be capable of pulling enough G's on the road to upset the engine. Not to mention that the 1zz sump is baffled so...

I'm tempted to investigate but seeing as though I won't be continuing with the 1zz platform, it might be a waste of time. I also need to decide on whether I want to carry out an engine swap myself (cheaper but testing my spanner wielding skills) or if I save up enough to have Zurawski Motorsports put a 1.8T in it or alternatively getting Rogue to throw a 2zz in it.

Either way, I want the next engine to be somewhat built and prepared to handle some abuse so it's going to cost £££ regardless.