My Silver 2003 Turbo MR2 - Sprint & Hillclimb Car

[Swan_Connery]

Hello all!

Following on from my introduction I'm creating this little thread to follow the progress of my Silver 2003 MR2 with HASS turbo kit.

I bought it with the turbo kit fitted, but have plans to strip it somewhat and get it ready for the Scottish Sprint and Hillclimb 2016 Championship and run in Class A8 for Road Marque Cars such as S2Ks, Elises, VX220s, Z3s, TVRs, MX5s and even mk2 mr2 turbos!

I have entered the Wigton Cross Border Sprint at Kames on the 4th of October. So my aim is to get the car ready for then as part of it's first shakedown in preparation for next season. I know the track pretty well and my personal best is a 79.55s for the 3 laps, but that was in my old single seater, so I'm aiming for anything under 100s really!

I do have an E46 320d M Sport as my daily driver, but I did use the mr2 for the first week I got it, but being stuck in traffic jams with a stage 3 clutch isn't much fun. So it's weekend and track toy only I fear. I need to study the road car regulations in the MSA blue book to see how much I can strip out of the car and it still be classified as a "road" car.

As far as I know (from what I've been told and researched from old threads on here) here is the current spec:

• HASS Turbo Manifold
• Garrett GT28RS Turbo
• Stage 3 ACT clutch
• 440cc injectors
• Custom 3inch dual exit exhaust
• Greddy Emanage Blue
• Greddy E-01 (linked to EMB with 3 diff. maps)
• Greddy Profec B-Spec Boost controller
• Boot mounted intercooler
• Porche 911 OEM BoV
• Digital Air/Fuel meter
• AFAIK std internal 1zz-fe engine

Obligatory turbo and manifold pic:

[Swan_Connery]

[centre:244laszy]Step1 - Coilovers![/centre:244laszy]

Went for some BC Racing Type Ra coilovers with 5/7 springs. I don't think I've paid more for a set of shocks in my life, in fact I've bought cars with less money!   s:oops: :oops: s:oops:    s:D s:D  

An early start saw me in Clackmannan this morning at "The Garage" to utilise their ramps for the suspension swap. Ian Murray at The Garage was my team sponsor when I was racing the single seater and I've been using his services for a decade now. I've never proclaimed to be a mechanic but I've picked up a few skills along the way watching Ian and I generally like him to go over any of my work in case I've c0ck3d up somewhere  s:D s:D

Anyway, even after stopping for a roll at half 10 I had the old suspension off and the new coilovers on by midday! No swear words or broken nut in sight! Well happy!

I haven't adjusted the ride height as yet, but it is noticeably lower than stock, and I can still get over the massive speed bumps in my street! So I'll wait a few days till everything has settled before adjusting anything more. I set the fronts on 10 clicks from full soft, and rears at 15 clicks from full soft. It was probably too harsh driving home but the control and feeling of the car was phenomenal in comparison to stock.

I've got caster bolts coming on Monday along with EBC yellow stuff pads too. So I'll need to get the car booked in for alignment before the 4th, but before even that I've still not decided if I want to stick with 15/16 inch wheels or go for 15s all round! Still researching this one but with my style of driving I'm thinking about squaring it all off!

[MrStev3]

Awesome bit of kit. Bet that's a hoot to drive
I haven't long started sprinting myself and love it.
Going to be doing the Welsh kne along side the tss one next year but so far this year it's great.

I recommend gt-4 play for parts as many do on here.

Welcome along too

[Anonymous]

The suspension is nice to work on thankfully. How did you get on with the rear drop links? (not tear drops!)

Really interested in seeing how things go with this, I've thought about hill climbs myself

[Swan_Connery]

You know I did try to get on to the gt-4play website at work but it was blocked under *sex* category - wtf?" lol I'll need to get it unblocked and will order for them next time.

[Swan_Connery]

The suspension is nice to work on thankfully. How did you get on with the rear drop links? (not tear drops!)

Really interested in seeing how things go with this, I've thought about hill climbs myself

To be honest I prefer hillclimbs to sprints. It's point A to point B in the fastest time possible, and the hill brings other things into play like momentum; that half a second you lost at the bottom of the hill actually equates to 2 seconds by the time you reach the top.   s:cry: :cry: s:cry:  

Drop links came off easy enough. The guy that had it before me had previously stripped the entire car as he was turning it into one of his Turismo Mr2s, but he put it back to stock with body panels and suspension from a TF300, so pretty much every nut and bolt was a breeze.    s:D s:D

[Anonymous]

Ooh! I remember that car now! Well that made your life easy, well done  s:) s:)

What is next on the list to do / upgrade?

[Swan_Connery]

I've got Yellow stuff pads and a short shifter kit coming tomorrow. Liking the reviews of the HEL brakeline kit so might add that to my list.

Are the seats mounts still available from Rougue btw? Might give them a phone tomorrow.

[Anonymous]

Good choices, and yes the braided hoses are worth doing in my opinion.

Yes they still sell the seat mounts  s:) s:)

[Swan_Connery]

Cheers. I'm still looking at seats but I'm struggling with the term Fully Trimmed in the MSA blue book...

I'll also mention I'll be changing the current intercooler and it's location as I can't see it being of much benefit where it is just now. Will update later with some pics!

[GT4-Play]

You know I did try to get on to the gt-4play website at work but it was blocked under *sex* category - wtf?" lol I'll need to get it unblocked and will order for them next time.

At a guess the whole 4 Play thing might get web blockers excited?
I can assure you there is only car porn on the site  s:) s:)

[Swan_Connery]

I hope it's only car p0rn!  s;-) ;-) s;-)

Will probably be dropping an order your way tomorrow once I decide on a colour scheme. Have you got all colours of the HEL brake lines in stock?  s:D s:D

[Swan_Connery]

Sorry, bit of a dark phone pic but you get the idea.

[Anonymous]

A chargecooler setup is normally more efficient than an intercooler on our cars so might be worth a look.

[Swan_Connery]

Radiator down the front and run it all the way to the back?

Worried about the extra weight versus extra performance tbh. Water, pump, extra pipes...

[Anonymous]

Very true, a large intercooler with bolt on fans would cut the weight and help alot it would be noisy tho.

[Swan_Connery]

Got some bucket seats on the cheap today. Will need to fabricate some mounts though as I didn't realise the subframe on my existing seats is attached to the seat upright.

On the upside the new seats weigh half as much as the old ones  s:D s:D

Are these leather seats with the mr2 roadster embossed come as standard?

[tomaky]

Sure are.
Im running chargecooler at the back and chargecooler ran at front.

[Anonymous]

Got some bucket seats on the cheap today. Will need to fabricate some mounts though as I didn't realise the subframe on my existing seats is attached to the seat upright.

On the upside the new seats weigh half as much as the old ones  s:D s:D

Are these leather seats with the mr2 roadster embossed come as standard?

Rogue Motorsport sell the seat mounts. It's the neatest solution...trust me I tried!

[MrStev3]

Yup I also have rogue seat mounts , tried and tested.
Quick question , where you getting your cage from as msa regs show you will need one minimum of half so that's roll hoop and rear stays
I went for the ppcages one after I saw meeerrrks one and I had been messed about by a local
Builder.
The price was more than what most had paid as they had a price increase but was well worth it

[Swan_Connery]

No cage required as I am doing sprints and hillclimbs in the road going class. It is recommended and I will get one eventually but not just yet. Would rather a hardtop first.

[MrStev3]

For the Welsh one even in street all covertibles must have a roll bar, damn it I'm
Coming to scotland

[Swan_Connery]

you're welcome anytime!

[Swan_Connery]

You made me check the regs in the MSA Blue Book again lol:

Sprint and Hill Climb Vehicles
10.
10.1.2.
Road-Going Series Production and Road-Going
Specialist Production, K.1.6.1 or K.1.6.2 recommended.

[Swan_Connery]

What really worries me is what I CAN'T remove according to the Regulations:

11.4.1.
Silhouette of the vehicle must remain unaltered
in construction, dimension and material. The silhouette
will be taken in the condition in which the car competes
(convertible closed cars competing with the hood or
top not erected shall have the silhouette determined in
that condition).
11.4.2.
Engine bonnet/cover and luggage/boot cover
may be replaced with an alternative material.
11.4.3.
Laminated windscreens permitted but all other
glass may not be replaced by another material.
11.4.6.
Interior trim must remain fitted (except floor
carpets/mats).
11.4.7.
All working equipment fitted as standard (heater,
window mechanisms, sunroof, door handles) must
remain operable at all times