2ZZ Track Car

[Benlake]

Hi thought I would start a thread to document what I have done to my car and get some ideas of best ways to improve it further. The car is for the track and some weekend / fun use on roads.
I bought a 2006 mr2 and immediately pulled the engine out, I installed a 2zz after doing oil pump gears & new pump / baffled sump / timing chain / water pump and afew seals and gaskets here and there.
With my pal we also put the c64 box with swapped lsd in with lightweight flywheel and new clutch. Got a wiring harness and Celica ecu and finally a new custom exhaust from rogue with cobra back box.

Took the car out yesterday for the first proper drive and wow found lift somewhat frightning yet totally addictive.

Wondering whats best to do next thoughts are new soft top or hardtop?
(My soft top is best its best!) Possibly bodykit parts, thinking the front lip with spats from hzdynamics improves the look of the front end.

But any suggestions would be much appreciated do people find front lips and spoilers generally improve stability a bit or they are just for show? Probably going to spend another 300-500 this year so want to tru and spend it wisely.

[1979scotte]

What tyres have you got?
Which pads?
Do you have any bracing?
How old are the shocks and springs?

[Benlake]

Tyres are nankang ns-20 on the rears and verstien Sportek 5 on the fronts (or something like that I'd never heard of them).
I have stock pads and disks but am planning to bleed them and put some better fluid in, the brakes and disks have plenty of meat left on them.
It seems bizarrely  the previous owner had one strut / spring replaced the rest is stock.
It is also post face lift so has some underbody bracing but it's all stock still.

[Benlake]

I like the look of this it looks like it wouldn't be too expensive to add splitter skirts and a spoiler but for me at least makes it look much more sporty

[jvanzyl]

Refreshed bushings will make a big difference to handling when the car is more than 10 years or 100K has passed. Replace with stock if you can, but polys aren't too bad.
You'll find that the "scariness" will go when you've done that as part of the process is re-torqing all the suspension components and I've found that in the past has made a big difference.

The balance of air pressure front and rear does make a big difference as well - standard being 26 front and 32 rear.

Next up would be bracing - stick a front strut brace on and prepare to be amazed with the difference to turn in and general "less crashiness" in the cockpit. Mid under brace also makes a big difference but it does cost a lot more.

Generally I'd look to refresh with oem wherever possible in terms of suspension and then add the bracing - I think that'll make a really great handling car.

If you want hardcore track focused and your prepared to compromise on the everyday niceness then coilovers and polys are you next port of call... but I'd honestly do the rest first before leaping onto that boat.

Oh and generally the consensus is to try and keep matching tyres all round...  Toyo and Yokohama are typically what most opt for, Yoko's are very good, with a nice stiff sidewall but there are reports of needing to be a bit more careful in the wet and even more careful in the cold... Toyo's are generally cheaper and the new version is supposed to "fix" the softer sidewall that they historically had....

Basically for everyday commuting I'd be happy with Toyos (especially when getting punctures) and then for more tracky stuff or knowing that I was going to go for a blast (ding day) I'd want Yoko's..

[JerryL]

Which bushings are best to replace?

[1979scotte]

As you are on track I would recommend YOKO AD08R at a minimum.
I don't like mismatched tyres at all  couldn't run a different brand front to rear.
Are the tyres in the correct sizes?
Spend your money on tyres bracing and suspension get those right and it will be a quick car.
All the power in the world is pretty pointless if you get those wrong.

[Benlake]

Thanks for the advice, ahh I want to do it all! Yeah tyres are correct size, just the ones that came with it. The front brace and suspension replacement sounds like a good plan as mine has done 100k so besides not feeling great could be a liability on a track day. I also read beefed up rear ARB has a big difference too and was considering it.

When I looked at poly bushing they were 30/40 quid for each bit, are OEM more pricey than this generally?

Do people generally not buy into bodykits improving aero to a point where they make the car feel more stable? I was expecting them to make some difference although not major (I mean they weren't designed by Adrian Newey of course!).

[Joesson]

£300 is a ballpark price for a new soft top from Swansea,
£500 is a ballpark price for a SH hard top and fixing kit, but you won't need either for weekend fun
You have potential in your engine, as Scotte said you need to get that onto the road and that means " tyres bracing and suspension".
Not mentioned are brakes, but the OE are PDG, but replace fluid with fresh OE grade for general use or higher grade for the track together with some harder pads.
Engine oil is sometimes overlooked and that too should be matched to your useage.
I believe bodywork adornment gives poor value for little performance gain and that money could be better spent at your entry level.

[Benlake]

Ok thanks will look into poly bushing and front bracing and get saving. Toyota said they only sell rubber bushings with the suspension arms so that would blow the budget.

[jvanzyl]

Ok thanks will look into poly bushing and front bracing and get saving. Toyota said they only sell rubber bushings with the suspension arms so that would blow the budget.

OK so you can buy replacement front wishbones that come with the bushes for about less than £50 off of ebay. Basically our cars share components with the yaris and scion so it's pretty good for pricing.
drop links the same - you can get them new off ebay for like £20+ per axle I think.

ARB and rear bushes trailing arm bushes - I don't know where you can get OEM ones.. so your options are either Poly, or going with fully adjustable battle arms etc..

Front strut brace you can buy a brand new Ultra Racing for about £120, less if you can find it second hand.

[Benlake]

Ok great advise, plenty to save up for. Will get the roof done first as mine has an actual hole in it!
Then next affordable one would be the front brace will see if any sh ones are around. Poly set is 280 on ebay - a pricy one, I will have to save up a bit longer for that one.

[toyofan]

OK so you can buy replacement front wishbones that come with the bushes for about less than £50 off of ebay. Basically our cars share components with the yaris and scion so it's pretty good for pricing.


Thats not completely true, A Yaris/scion will fit, but the stock Yaris bushes is not the same as MR2 bushes, so installing new Yaris wishbones will actually be a downgrade from stock (unless they are worn out)

[1979scotte]

OK so you can buy replacement front wishbones that come with the bushes for about less than £50 off of ebay. Basically our cars share components with the yaris and scion so it's pretty good for pricing.


Thats not completely true, A Yaris/scion will fit, but the stock Yaris bushes is not the same as MR2 bushes, so installing new Yaris wishbones will actually be a downgrade from stock (unless they are worn out)

I'm not disagreeing necessarily but how do we know the yaris bushing isn't the same?
Also on cars that are a minium of 13 years old I would be surprised if they weren't an improvement.

[Benlake]

The 280 quid kit has 20 separate bushings in, seems like good value for a full on a belt and braces approach.
I can live with the harder set up if it makes it go better at the track day

[Benlake]

Had an engine management light come on, but swapped the TPS wires and it went away also seems to have gix the high / wondering idle issue. Took it for a drive in the wet and it feels pretty skitish at the back coming off roundabouts. Thinking some chunky good quality rear tyres would sort this. I booked it in for a new hood with the Swansea man, so once thats out the way next mods will be bracing and polybusing hoping that will make feel a lot more solid coming out of corners.

[Benlake]

I got the ultra front brace and ordered whitline adjustable rear arb and drop links. Was thinking of maybe doing the bushes bit a time from reading various posts these yaris control arms seem like a good low cost upgrade and would save the faff of pulling out the old bushing for polly replacement. Just wondering do they def fit a FL'06 car?
These are the ones I temped to buy...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Front-Lower-Control-Arm-Left-LH-Right-RH-Pair-Set-for-MR2-Scion-xA-xB-/351007624127?hash=item51b9af4bbf

[JoeCool]

I have those front lower arms on mine. They're the same pre and post face-lift. It's just the bracing around them that changes a bit.

Not sure where you heard about the rear arb? Most people when acing just remove the rear arb! I've left mine stock and put in a stronger white line front arb, makes the steering a bit dead until the car is up on its toes, but then I do have steam roller front tyres too. Stronger rear arb will Increase the tenancy of the car to oversteer, fine if you like that kind of thing but could make the car snappy. Seeing as turn in isn't really a problem with the mr2 I left the rear one alone. Down to preference though!

Definitely look at tyres and suspension first. Once that sorted, just a set of decent pads wil lgo a long way for braking. Just fitted ebc yellows tuff to mine, I had greens before, so I'll report back.

Hope you're enjoying the car!

[Benlake]

A few posts I read were saying it made it flatter with less roll - thats what I was aiming for anyway! I watched this video with the Mr Miagi of 2zz MR2s recommending them also. https://youtu.be/RbjSVa242hc

Ive ordered the yaris wishbones and fensport front drop links (I thought would be easier than fighting with my old ones).


So hopefully this will all make it feel more safe!

[JoeCool]

Great video! I'll watch it more fully later. I think the 16Kg/mm rear spring rates might explain the need for a tougher rear ARB! Nice to see confirmation that the Stock MR2 brakes are good for track work!

Where are you based mate? happy for a meet up/drive out before you go spending big money. You cansee what you like/don't like about mine.

[Benlake]

Hi sorry for late reply yeah that would be good Im live in Cheshire?

[james_ly]

Personally I would change the brake fluid, maybe fit track pads (e.g. Yellowstuff), then just track it a few times standard - then you'll know what you want to change. They are well set up out of the box. And with a 2zz it should be quick over a lap!

[Benlake]

Took the car out on its first track day at Blyton yesterday, we had a great time. The car was awesome it ran very solid with no issues.

We were going over on the side walls though, the tyres were not great, just what it came with and I think the side walls were too soft. There is a fair amount of body roll in the corners although it is progressive, the suspension is stock and pretty tired.

We did add more pressure on the fronts from 26 to 28 which helped. Also managed to toast the rear brakes so ordered some new brembo / padgid discs pads from europarts got a great deal on 170 for the lot.

How much difference do good tyres make compared to good suspension? Also which tyres have stiff side walls as this seemed to be the limiting factor of the car?

So far I've poly bushes the rear and added a whiteline arb, replaced drop links, wish bones, track rod ends and added front strut brace.

[1979scotte]

For track you want
YOKOHAMA ADO8R
TOYO R888
NANGKANG NS2R

That sort of thing.
Apart from driver training tyres are the most important mod.

[Benlake]

Ok will save up I did some driver training was useful - by the end felt like I was putting the car in the right places it just felt like Id found its limits on my crappy tyres.