Toyota MR2 Turbo
J_____'s MR2 is a testament to how the right used car, lightly tuned, can take on expensive modern peers. He's had nearly every bolt of this thing off, cleaned, and fixed. The fit and finish is vastly superior to most Japanese cars and most cars in general.
The ride is unreal compared to the cars that I've been in thus far. Around the corners it is seriously planted. Boost comes on fast and pushes you into the seat in earnest. So fast!
The brakes seem to work quite well for being mostly stock. We got to the bottom of a downhill run and one of the pads was sending off puffs of smoke, on fire! Woo! It appeared to be a stuck caliper. They worked fine on the way back. The above photo was taken after J____ rebuilt and painted his calipers and installed stainless brake lines.
Meticulous mods
The wheels are the coveted forged SSR integrals in 16x7 front and 16x8 rear. Simple, strong, lightweight, and gorgeous. He's also added an Apexi turbo timer for the heat sink, brass shifter bushings, BFG G-force KDWs, TRD plug wires, Porterfield R4S pads, stainless braided brake lines, a JDM CT26 turbo, and a full exhaust. On top of that he's replaced about 1/2 of the stock parts on the car with factory new. It is immaculately taken care of. I hope he sells it to me for cheap.
J____ rebuilt the MR2's rear brakes with russel stainless lines, NAPA rotors, Porterfield R4s pads and AutoZone remanufactured calipers. The calipers didn't come with the sliders, had a pitted caliper piston and were missing a vital washer so we had to rebuild them more or less. The "sliders" on the old 200k mile calipers were seized solid. We had to press/hammer them out with great difficulty. The braking on this car now throws you into the seat belts with authority. Not bad at all for stock 1991 brakes! If the warping rotors continue upgraded aftermarket brakes or stock 1993+ MR2 Turbo units will likely be in order.
The bushings and strut tops have now been replaced as well making a night and day difference according to J____. That makes the brakes front and rear, the suspension and bushings, and the tires all in a newly refreshed state. The foundation for more power has been completed!
Everywhere but the engine and cooling system on this car the repairs and modifications are quick and easy. Three bolts per side to do the rear bushings! The strut tops were a 2 hour affair at the most partially because the strut tops are keyed for the strut piston. On most cars you have to use air tools to tighten that top nut but on this car its merely a torque wrench!. The only exception may be the stock anti-roll bar end links - that j____ has now replaced with simple hemi-joint units. If you want an easy suspension to modify, this is it!
My favorite modification is going into the MR2 at some point. A lightweight flywheel! I'm not sure how much the stock MR2 flywheel weights but anything that helps a small turbo engine rev faster is going to make a big difference.
