02' Toyota mr2 Spyder build

[Mr2guy]

I think my initial reaction to them was very lukewarm because they didn't appear to be a visual upgrade or evolution of the AW11 and SW20. They looked more like a totally different car, something that maybe a dentist's wife would drive. Like, I never would've guessed "oh, that's the new MR2" if I saw one on the road and didn't know what it was.

The AW11 had Fiat X1/9 vibes...




The SW20 had Ferrari 355 vibes...




The SW30 sorta had kei car vibes, a 20hp drop from the previous gen, it was 11" shorter(!), no pop-up headlights, no top, no spoiler, no wedge shape, etc.




I do find it very interesting, however, that these style elements were a conscious choice by the chief engineer Harunori Shiratori to make the car as simple as possible in order to keep costs low and allow for eventual aftermarket customization by the end-user. That's a pretty awesome design philosophy from a large automaker.

Lots of good info there

[toddzilla]

To be honest. I love the styling of this chassis. Don't get me wrong, the sw20 is sexy without a doubt. But I feel every aspect of this chassis is was overlooked and under rated.

I think my initial reaction to them was very lukewarm because they didn't appear to be a visual upgrade or evolution of the AW11 and SW20. They looked more like a totally different car, something that maybe a dentist's wife would drive. Like, I never would've guessed "oh, that's the new MR2" if I saw one on the road and didn't know what it was.

The AW11 had Fiat X1/9 vibes...




The SW20 had Ferrari 355 vibes...




The SW30 sorta had kei car vibes, a 20hp drop from the previous gen, it was 11" shorter(!), no pop-up headlights, no top, no spoiler, no wedge shape, etc.




I do find it very interesting, however, that these style elements were a conscious choice by the chief engineer Harunori Shiratori to make the car as simple as possible in order to keep costs low and allow for eventual aftermarket customization by the end-user. That's a pretty awesome design philosophy from a large automaker.

[Mr2guy]

I love this mr2 too, they are pretty rare here tho...should be fun with 300 horses

That's what I'm thinking. I want it to be fast but I don't want to kill the balance of the car by making it too nuts. I think anything over 300whp should be a force to be reckoned with haha

[Fruttolo]

I love this mr2 too, they are pretty rare here tho...should be fun with 300 horses

[Mr2guy]

The baby Boxster. These are cool cars, definitely growing on me as well. They seem underrated and overlooked. Perfect track car candidates. The SW20 may be sexier, but the MR-S is a hair under 2200lbs bone stock! The 180hp 2ZZ-GE basically falls right in for a 40hp bump with no mods, or do rods and pistons on the stock 1ZZ and you're good up to 400whp for turbo power.

300whp and 2200lbs is a better power/weight ratio than an R8!

To be honest. I love the styling of this chassis. Don't get me wrong, the sw20 is sexy without a doubt. But I feel every aspect of this chassis is was overlooked and under rated.

[toddzilla]

The Mk3's actually understeer from the factory. Increasing the wheel/tire width but keeping the front/rear stagger ratio eliminates the understeer and keeps the rear stable. Squaring everything up eliminates understeer and allows "adjustable" oversteer via the throttle pedal, provided you have the power.

Lots of the "trying to kill you" stuff is blown out of proportion and/or comes from people who don't understand how to drive an MR platform (or never actually drove one and simply repeat gossip). Notice how Mustangs only tend to "lose control", jump curbs, and run people over when guys are leaving car shows trying to impress everybody. Motor Trend got the same Mustang to put down near identical lap times as an M3, but these morons can't go 100 feet without endangering the public. It's not the chassis.

You don't have to be a pro to drive a Mk1 or Mk2 well, you just have to understand what's going to happen when you're loaded up, mid-corner, in a short-wheel base car and you lift off the throttle. AWD cars want to rotate similarly in the same scenario and I've even seen hamfisted morons spin out GTRs in this fashion. Does that mean the GTR can't handle? Of course not. Furthermore, a rear-end that wants to rotate in certain situations is good if you know how to use it. It helps you get around corners, for one thing...

[MikeyRa]

Does this chassis still try to kill you like the early gen's did?

[toddzilla]

The baby Boxster. These are cool cars, definitely growing on me as well. They seem underrated and overlooked. Perfect track car candidates. The SW20 may be sexier, but the MR-S is a hair under 2200lbs bone stock! The 180hp 2ZZ-GE basically falls right in for a 40hp bump with no mods, or do rods and pistons on the stock 1ZZ and you're good up to 400whp for turbo power.

300whp and 2200lbs is a better power/weight ratio than an R8!

[Mr2guy]

Time for a K20 swap!

Na, I'm doing to do a mild build on the extra motor I have and turbo it. Set it up for around 300whp. Maybe set it up on e85

[Mr2guy]

So rad. The new gen MR2's have been growing on me a lot. How long did this take you start to finish?

And how are you liking your Airtekk bags? I purchased their airstruts for my '12 Cooper S. They don't get me as low as I'd want, but currently working with them on that. But the ride comfort is pretty damn good and they're cool guys to work with.

Took me about 7 months start to finish, I worked on it a week out of each month about.

I absolutely love my suspension, it rids way smoother than it did before and the response when driving is amazing.

[MikeyRa]

Time for a K20 swap!

[Hvmbone]

So rad. The new gen MR2's have been growing on me a lot. How long did this take you start to finish?

And how are you liking your Airtekk bags? I purchased their airstruts for my '12 Cooper S. They don't get me as low as I'd want, but currently working with them on that. But the ride comfort is pretty damn good and they're cool guys to work with.

[myron]

^ well shit that was quick haha

looks perfect

[Mr2guy]

Finished

Snapchat-1209036035.jpgSnapchat-1417232646.jpgSnapchat-1434108069.jpg

Just waiting on the rear diffusor. And the exterior is pretty much done. Just need to get the motor finished and some more suspension components

[MikeyRa]

Nice!