As reminder that it’s not all about power, the last car I want to touch on in this Spotlight-O-Rama is the Techno Pro Spirit ZZW30 Toyota MR-S. These guys are out at every Tsukuba time attack event I go to, and are in it for all the right reasons: pure passion and the drive to shave hundredths of seconds off their lap times.

The little mid-mounted 2ZZ has been refined over the years and is now churning out more power thanks to a custom intake setup, special headers and a titanium exhaust system.

Here you can see the main silencer, which sits up high behind the rear bumper.

There’s also a big air scoop that directs cool air towards the sealed-off intake. Being separated from the engine bay like this, it breathes only the coolest air.

Rather that dropping in a bigger motor or going for forced induction, Techno Pro Spirit has stayed true to the original concept of the MR-S and focused on suspension, chassis and handling. It’s all specially set up for Tsukuba too, and the Toyota runs a close-ratio gearbox to maximise its performance throughout the tighter and more technical midfield. At the Super Battle it managed a 1:01.010 lap, which not only looks like binary code, but is also a seriously fast lap for an MR-S, let alone a naturally aspirated one!