Harry's 3VZ-FE SW20

I bought this about 6 weeks ago now. I've owned a whole list of imports that all get used as street and track cars, but have always wanted an MR2 - initially a turbo hardtop. It was actually the first import I ever test drove, but back then you could get an R32 GTR for the same money, and that was my dream car, having grown up as a motorsport fan and I was about 17 when the GTRs were dominating ATCC. But an MR2 has always remained on the want list. After seeing V6 conversions in recent years, I thought they sounded pretty cool, so when this one came up on ebay recently on a no reserve auction I put in a bid, not really expecting it would be enough... but it was :)  It was an absolute steal actually! I found it on here before buying it and it looked like it would be a good thing - Senol's build thread: http://www.mr2australia.com/mr2play/tm.aspx?m=51019&mpage=16
 
Basic specs are:
3VZ-FE 1996 136kw
TODA lightweight 3sge flywheel (modified to fit 3VZ)
NA gearbox with Quaiffe LSD :)
BC Coilovers 
Suspension bushes done
Wheels: 17x8 +32 and 17x9 +37 Buddy Club P1 
Tyres: 215/40, 235/40 Federal RS-RR
 
Two weeks after I bought it I was going to Forster for a week to meet up with a friend who was over from NZ visiting family down there. That happened to coincide with a Toymods track day at Wakefield Park, so I decided to take the MR2 and a pair of old 235/40x18 semis off the front of my current track car, because I figured RSRs on the front and normal street tyres on the back was a recipe for disater - ie massive oversteer. Well, RSR front and Hankook Z221 softs on the rear = massive understeer! This was my best lap:

 
After a few sessions I was getting tired of the understeer, so I put the normal tyres on the back just to see... and yep, massive oversteer! lol Which was way more fun, but just when I thought i was getting the hang of balancing that in the mid engined car, I had a bit of a tank slapper moment, and called it quits before things went pear shaped. 
 
 
I've since bought a pair of 225/50 Hankook RS3s for the rear to better match the RSR fronts. Ideally would have liked matching RSRs, but they were only available in 205/50x16 - no other 16" sizes. I wanted a little bit of stagger after reading up on these things here. 
 
Other than that, the only thing I've done so far is bought a seat frame so I can get a race seat for more driver feedback and to sit lower in the car - have to squish down in the seat with a helmet on at the moment. Hopefully pick one up off a mate during the week. I've entered it in the Lotus Club DTC gymkhana sort of thing this coming weekend, and the MX5 sprints at Lakeside a week later - definitely want the seat before that one!
 
I'd post a photo if i could only work out how! lol 

Thanks, yeah it was great fun. My current track car is a Toyota Soarer, so the MR2 feels very small, light and nimble by comparison! :) Best lap was a 1:13.4. Should be able to go a little faster on the matched tyres it has now. The gearing suffered a fair bit too with the 235/40R18 semis on the rear - way too tall!

Nice catch through the sweeper!
Welcome and look forward to seeing you around the traps in the future.

Buddy Clubs and RS-RRs on :) 17x8 215/40 and 17x9 235/40. Be interested to see how it handles now with less difference in tyre diameters and the same type of tyre front and rear. Slightly lower gearing might help a little on the track too.


I really want to paint the taillight panel and under the bumper black again.
Also fitted the 'race' seat, which despite being mounted as low as possible, doesn't seem to be any lower than the original seat. I'll have to remove the base cushions to fit in with the helmet on. Other changes inside since I bought it are the 330mm Nardi style wheel replacing the horrible brown D shaped autotechnica wheel, shift knob (had a 6spd knob on it) and the Engine Guardian temp gauge/alarm

Rev1 swaybar mount problem strikes! After developing a good clunk in the front right a couple of weekends ago, I found a gaping hole torn in the chassis by the sway bar mount. Google then informed me it's a pretty common problem on the early SWs. It must have been like that for a while looking at the state of it and how dirty and rusty some of the edges were. Also by how many squeaks/groans have been eliminated now that it's fixed...

 
A mate who's a coach and motor body builder plated both sides up with some overkill 3mm sheet. Car feels alot more responsive to steering now, and just generally tighter - almost all it's rattles and squeaks are gone, just one from the targa roof now. Looking forward to another track day at Lakeside at the end of the month to try it out properly! :)

 
Didn't like the look of the commercially available reinforcement plates. They miss the point -  the mount takes vertical loads from the swaybar, so ours wrap around the side of the chassis rail to support it in that direction, not just a flat plate with diagonal bracing which would help more with horizontal loads. The two bends in the commercially available plates would also promote flexing in that vertical direction unless the material was extremely thick. 

Oh good, imo it was singing out for this. Nicely done.

Booked in for the Street Sprints at Lakeside next weekend :)

Lakeside today. This thing is heaps of fun to drive!I now fit inside the cabin with the roof on if I take the seat cushion out and remove the trim panel from under the Targa Top - didn't want to bust it by hittin git on bumps. So now you can hear something other than wind noise on the videos. No data overlay though - the GPS thing is playing up.
Previous best was 64.2 on RSR/RS3 tyres, improved on that today with a 63.5 on the new RS-RR tyres. There's probably a little bit more left in it as I'm still very much getting used to MR handling...