Sw20 Project Car, Track Only

[gtstcruiser67]

My R33 was sold a few years ago with no car to replace it. As I didnt want another fast street car due to lack of self control...So I built a ST162 which saw one track day at Powerplay's last track day in 2008. It was a stripped out, seam welded fun car that suprised most people as it had 100hp and capable of 1.14 first time out. The plan was to upgrade with a 3SGTE but after doing the figures it wasnt really where I wanted to go as I always liked the MR2, then one became available at Autostyle. After some negotiation with the guys at Autostyle, I became the owner of a 1998 Sw20 for track use only. I checked the car over then decided to do a few mod's but this became more than a few mod's. It became a very highly modded track car. The goal is to log as a 2A Marque sports car. All the safety standards are very high, mods are within the reg's with a inspection by a CAMS scrutineer to confirm if all is above board.

I spent 12mths building the car to a level to get on the track and get started then develop the car more as time goes by. Its that little 'I can make it better' syndrome most of us suffer who are into cars. .

What I have now is stage one with more to come in due course.

Handing:

A few friends others helped a lot regarding the set up(fabrication, roll centre modifications) for the car which I took on board. This included the lowering of the rollcetre with adjustment plates on the ball joint(32mm), lowering the rear toe adjustment links then fitting AE86 toe links( with persausion..),lowering the steering tie rods, the caster links have also been lowered. The RCA's also have a camber adjustment which sets the camber at about 2.5-2.7. All urethene or rose joint llinks throughout the car. Suspension is Tein coilovers with 8kg(Tein) rear and 7.5kg(Eibach) up front. Sway bars are 22mm front and rear.TRD I think..

The Chassis:

Seam welded front and rear strut towers, all front and rear internal panels, structual panels, windscreen frame, door frames, rear window and other bits and pieces.

Installed a 10 point bonded CDS CAMS spec rollcage which starts at the the front strut tower and finished at the rear.

Weight reduction:

Every bolt was cut back, doors cut to shreads, deadner removed, second rear firewall removed, steering column replaced with toyota echo column to save 5+kg,lexan windows, all unnessessary fittings removed, rewire. Thankyou to Alister at Powerplay for the rewire! Great guy, good friend.

So I went a little crazy but had a great time in the process.

Other Mods:

Improved radiator air flow with ducting

Relocated the IC to above the engine

Relocated the air intake to the top of the engine bay

Oil cooler

Apexi AVCR

Internal door handle is now stainless steel wire cable pull system

Rear wing mounted through to the chassis rails

Incar camera for rear view

Reloacted lights to the front bar

Pumped gaurds(IT came with this)

And the list does on..

The weight is close to 1050kg or less. I will weigh the car soon enough but based on the log I have this is a pretty close estimate.

The engine has a few little mods which help but I have yet ot see its potential due to a problem we created with the rewire. Should be fixed soon.

Paint:

I found the colour scheme on a F430 that runs on ALMS. We masked and painted it in two pac one sunday.

Brakes:

330x35 front(Alcon 'C' spec calipers), 300x35(wilwood superlites), Tilton series 600 triple floor mounted pedal box with dual master cylinders, cable operated adjustable brake bias. Braided lines throughout.

Drivetrain to be done:

Just purchased a AP 7.25 twin plate carbon clutch with light weight flywheel. Total weight 4.5kg

Relocation of alternator to the front of the engine.weight saving 6-8kg

Alloy pulleys for alternator and crank.

The future plans:

Fuel system will updated soon

More weight reduction

More weight reduction!

Additional bracing to the front and rear chassis rails.

Diff and the typical engine mods to see 200-240kw at the wheels

The car will be at superlap this year and the car will hopefully be reliable and holds it manners and not eject me into the sand too often.

It is loud in car and quiet outside and total blast to drive

Here are the pic's

[GTS4WD]

wow. This thing is awesome!

Its grat to see something a little more different running around too!

Interior looks awesome!

Congrats!

Ill see it at superlap

[gtstcruiser67]

Thanks,

Looks like I have posted the thread twice. Not sure what happened there but will sort it out. It has been a fantastic experience building the car and now look forward to driving it.

Superlap is its first competitive outing followed by plenty of track days with friends having fun. The car will also see a few rounds of irace this year and perhaps the Wakefield 300.

Not really looking forward to removing the engine/box but has to be done for the next stage. The optimum power for me will be 280kwatw. The most effective and reliable is more around the 240kw. Optimum weight is as little as possible! Under 1000kg is quite acheivable but weight balance is the bigger issue. If I can get it to 55%-45% front to rear with the as much weight as low possible. The clutch,pulleys,alternator will help move very close to the optimum weight.

The car will be at Powerplay Imports next week for undertray and a few other things.

Hey GTS4WD, we met a few years ago at Bathurst at the back of the new pit area. Hope you finished all the work you were planning on the car.

[Russman]

Looks good mate. Those are my old Enkei's! haha

I will be up for superlap too so I'll have to come and say hi.

[gtstcruiser67]

Looks good mate. Those are my old Enkei's! haha

I will be up for superlap too so I'll have to come and say hi.

Cool!

Hey they are fantastic rims. Very happy with the rim. They work very well with the rotors and RCA's. Better than the Sparco's, plus there lighter.

As for Superlap, be great to see you.

Cheers

[gtstcruiser67]

Figured I better provide an update on the MR2.

After Superlap a few problems were found which had to be addressed before going to the track again.

These included a broken rear toe adjustment link which was causing the car to shift all over the place at any given time. This has now been fixed.

There was a gear selection problem so the box has been rebuilt with a new KAZZ 1.5 way/ 80% preloaded LSD installed while the box was out of the car.

The CV joints were stuffed, so these have been rebuilt with a new set of CroMo units ready incase there is a problem with the reconditioned units.

The most important issue was the brake bias as it was almost all to the rear of the car causing havoc at every opportunity. This too has been resolved.

After the track day at Wakefield last week I left the track with a huge smile with the braking system on the car.

Once these critical issues were resolved I have been focused on more improvments to smooth out the handling of the MR2. ATM is really is coming together with a few more pieces in the puzzle to be completed in March. What has been done since Superlap are the following:

Rear camber units were fabricated and fitted to allow exact setting for rear camber as this was not possible. Infact it is probably on one a handful in the world with this option.

Fully adjustable CroMo lower control arm links complete the rear adjustment package.

The front end has received new CroMo toe links to reduce bump steer.After driving with these fitted it really has transformed the handing on the car. Its not twitchy on turn in or mid corner which is a welcome relief.

The plan for March is to fit the new Adaptronic ECU, the injectors, finish the plenum and fit, replace the 65mm restrictor on the exhaust and get a tune.

Also fitting a surge tank and fuel drain line to take advantage of fuel management.

As for another drive, the ARDC Practice day in March is looking good.

Cheers

[Russman]

Good to see you got the brake bias sorted. Are you hitting superlap again this year?

[gtstcruiser67]

It really did make a difference sorting the brakes but as you know, sorting cars out never ends.

As for Superlap it all depends on have the application sent in as quick as possible as it will be heavily subscribed. One thing for sure the car will be quicker than last year but really only interested in having a good time more so than winning as I simply dont have the budget to compete with the tuner shops, doctors and the likes. The chassis and braking are very close to where it needs to be. The suspension is good but not there and the power is 10k away from a serious set up. Cooling, fuel delivery system, ECU, plenum are all good, the transmission is great as is the diff(excellent).

An aero package on my car will also have to wait but there is another MR2 running who will have a very trick aero kit, gun driver and big power which will raise some eyebrows.

They are a great little car and very quick when rubbed the right way but... unforgiving if you lift off when on the limit.

If I can manage a 1.46 I will be very happy but the other one will be into the high 30's.

Will you be running in Superlap?

[Russman]

It really did make a difference sorting the brakes but as you know, sorting cars out never ends.

As for Superlap it all depends on have the application sent in as quick as possible as it will be heavily subscribed. One thing for sure the car will be quicker than last year but really only interested in having a good time more so than winning as I simply dont have the budget to compete with the tuner shops, doctors and the likes. The chassis and braking are very close to where it needs to be. The suspension is good but not there and the power is 10k away from a serious set up. Cooling, fuel delivery system, ECU, plenum are all good, the transmission is great as is the diff(excellent).

An aero package on my car will also have to wait but there is another MR2 running who will have a very trick aero kit, gun driver and big power which will raise some eyebrows.

They are a great little car and very quick when rubbed the right way but... unforgiving if you lift off when on the limit.

If I can manage a 1.46 I will be very happy but the other one will be into the high 30's.

Will you be running in Superlap?

Planning to. Car should be ready for it. Lots of changes from last year.

I'm like you. Racing there for the fun of it in such a big event.

[Beer Baron]

great choice of car mate. I have a big soft spot for the SW20 MR2s. they have a punchy 2L engine, great packaging and styling and good fun to drive. also start with pretty low kerb weight and faily good balance. 1:46 is a great time at EC. best of luck. what kind of time did it run at EC last year?

[gtstcruiser67]

great choice of car mate. I have a big soft spot for the SW20 MR2s. they have a punchy 2L engine, great packaging and styling and good fun to drive. also start with pretty low kerb weight and faily good balance. 1:46 is a great time at EC. best of luck. what kind of time did it run at EC last year?

Thanks mate, they are a great little car to tune and drive.

The car ran 1.49 last year with plenty of issues which have since been sorted out as well as a few upgrades so a 1.46 is a pretty realistic time for myself as the car will no doubt be quicker with a gun driver behind the wheel.

[Beer Baron]

hey mate, 1:49 is quick. some people loose a bit of perspective at events like SL. so many of the cars there have been developed over YEARS and with drivers who have been driving those cars and EC for years too so their times are usually a bit quicker than average that's for sure. anything under 20min for a road car is good (depending on the car of course) and for a track car under a 50 is well on the way to getting quick. best of luck on the 46, I'm sure it will get there.

[gtstcruiser67]

hey mate, 1:49 is quick. some people loose a bit of perspective at events like SL. so many of the cars there have been developed over YEARS and with drivers who have been driving those cars and EC for years too so their times are usually a bit quicker than average that's for sure. anything under 20min for a road car is good (depending on the car of course) and for a track car under a 50 is well on the way to getting quick. best of luck on the 46, I'm sure it will get there.

Thanks for putting that into perspective BB.

I may be at Circuit club/Wakefield this weekend having a run and taking my GF for a few laps. Come and say hello if you are around.

[Russman]

Any updates?