Toyota MR2

[lozzzzzz]

I did this with the pug, i just want to make a record of what it can do, then i'll testing the handling a bit instead of mpg

Its an AHF engine, will your stuff fit? What have you got?

[sebring]

mine is off an asv engine - not sure if it will fit, but then you got this engine in an MR2! - you will have to check up on other forums perhaps, but its a hybrid turbo, injector nozzles, side mounted intercooler with alloy pipes and proper clamps, and the maps

[sebring]

oh, and egr delete kit, and pd150 inlet manifold

[lozzzzzz]

I've done a lot to the inlet, and I think I'd have to go roof mounted to fit a bigger intercooler, I think my only options are the turbo and injector nozzles. 

I can't really afford to spent that money just yet although I'd very much like to. 

[lozzzzzz]

Well I've done well over 500 miles in Mr Two now and I'm falling in love with it.  It really is exactly right!  Fast, economical, loads of fun, and really quite tolerable on a long run.  I love it (did I mention that). 

I can now confidently say that I have accurately measured the MPG and compared it to the read out on the dial.  Unfortunately the dials are a little optimistic, by 10% in fact.  I was a little disappointed, however a 10% error means it was still able to do 80mpg on a long run behind a lorry.  Still impressive I feel.  The average for that tank of fuel was 70mpg, that's mostly motorway driving (slowly) but perhaps 1/3 of it was A roads.  I've since tried driving it like a tool to see if the 10% error still stands in the region of 50mpg.  I'll fill the car up again soon to test this. 

The gauge suggests that the car can do 63mpg at a steady 70mph and this drops to 54mpg at 80mph (as I said I'll confirm these figures soon), this really makes me want to fit the 6 speed box.  I don't know for sure if it'll bolt up to this engine and whether or not I would need new driveshafts again. 

I think I can fairly safely confirm that its not as good as I previously suggested on MPG, but is certainly no worse a golf TDI. 

Anyway, thats enough about MPG, at 30 to 35p/l fuel is cheap therefore motoring is very cheap! 

In other news, I've now fitted a very  lame stereo, soon to fit some speakers, nothing fancy, just normal stuff.  I've messed about with and shortened the little gear lever on top of the gearbox (this has made a very small difference, it still needs a little adjustment) and I've cleaned up and "stone chipped" the rear arches and underside of the car.  I feel happy that its weatherproof now



I can't get my head round how solid this car is underneath

To sum up, its friggin brilliant!! and I love it!        oh and the front brake is binding a bit

More to come

[greasemonkey]

That's some serious MPG.
Is that stonechip stuff a one coat solution to corrosion, or would it be better put over, or under a coat of paint?
Is it available in brush on cans, or is it only spray?
I used to like underseal, but I've gone off it a bit, at least for really sound metal.

I don't have any spraying equipment. I should invest in an electric spray gun really, but I just need to get something under my transit pretty quick, and would rather spend the money on paint than kit, just at the moment.

[lozzzzzz]

I think its overpaintable, you don't have to though.  I bought the cans that attach to a paraffin air gun.  You can get spray cans (aerosol cans) or you could buy the big cans I got and brush it on from them. 

I used Waxoil for a bit, years ago, but its really c**p, it just washes off.  This is awesome stuff and dries to a rubbery finish, very tough.  I believe this one is zinc based too...?

[greasemonkey]

Ah, cheers for that. I might give it a go then. Might paint first with some thinned down paint to get into the fissures, then go for the stone chip. I was wondering if it was rubbery. That's what I was looking for really. Less liable to crack.

[lozzzzzz]

indeed!  Its good stuff! 

I think its Dinotrol stonechip 447

[greasemonkey]

Oooo! That ain't cheap....... I can see it's ace for the arches, but I think I'm going to hesitate to do the whole of the underside of the cab with it, especially considering the age of the vehicle, and how sound it is. Probably overkill.
Might get a can just for the arches mind.
Anyhow, I've got to get my mega truck ramps welded up first, and have a good inspection. This weekend, with luck.

[simonallen]

to convert to 6 speed would be a big job, you need drive shafts, clutch, flywheel, starter motor and gear cables. the clutches are expensive for a 6 speed too

[Dickjotec]

to convert to 6 speed would be a big job, you need drive shafts, clutch, flywheel, starter motor and gear cables. the clutches are expensive for a 6 speed too

You don't know Lozzzz, big jobs on cars are normal for him!

[simonallen]

I'm not afraid of a big job myself :-) I fitted a ford 2.9v6 Granada engine into a lada niva 4x4 which involved cutting the floor out and remaking it.

Ive read through the thread and have no doubt he will be able to do it, I think I came across wrong when I said big job, its all relative I guess.

Another thing to note is the physical size difference of the 6 speed box compared to the 5 speed. the 6 is a two person lift to get it back into a car when changing the clutch, and a 5 is doable on your own. I do like the 6 speeds though, and the 6 speed clutch will handle around 300lb/ft of torque in standard form. However to spend the same amount of money on a 5 speed clutch you will be well into competition specs. For future reference if you do plan on tuning the ve tdi engine with a 5 speed in it, I've tuned pd engines with 220bhp and 350lb/ft of torque running through a g60 flywheel, and a vr6 clutch which ill all bolt right into the mr2 as it is now and does away with the dual mass flywheel 

with a set of .216 injector nozzles and a remap this engine would do around 150ish bhp, would make for a very fun car. Stick a pd150 turbo on there (you may need a new engine mount though depending how you have it setup) and some .260 nozzles and you should be seeing 170/180bhp quite reliably.

[Dickjotec]

He will be tweeking it. His scimitar is bonkers. We should start a book on when he does the first tweek!

[lozzzzzz]

I've missed these recent post and not replied, how rude!!!

That's interesting to know about the complexity of the job.  I have found next to no information about putting the 6 speed on the earlier engine anywhere on the interweb, I guess the PD is a good tunable motor so no one bothers.  From your reply SimonAllen, I assume that it will at least fit bolt up to the AHF engine block?  I've no doubt the 6 speed will improve MPG, particularly on the motorway, but with my Bio being 28.5p I have to think about how long it will take for the saving to pay for the conversion. 

Thank you for your kind and encouraging comments Dick   I have spent the last couple of weeks flicking from "I'll get a 6 speed" to "Its not worth it, stick with this" on a near continuous basis        Watch this space. 

I bet that Niva was good Simon, I've always thought the Essex engine into a series landy would be good, but the niva with the later engine would be way quicker   I've read so much about tuning this 110 AHF engine and it just seems crazy how easy and cheap tuning it is, especially when compared to a petrol engine.  I'm really trying to save money where ever I can at the moment so serious tuning will have to wait, but it great to know how much you can reliably get    

(saving money.......    perhaps I shouldn't have built and MR2 TDI and just stuck with the 106     )

Anyway as Dick say, I have been tweaking it a bit   read the latest update.  69p tuning isn't bad right?   




I've not written an update for a while and I've done a few bits over the weeks. 

I've been driving in a much more normal way now (not lorry chasing).  Like fury early on Sunday mornings and at least matching motorway traffic speeds on my long daily commute.  The average figure over a few thousand miles has been 54.2mpg.  I guess I was hoping for a little more but that has included a lot of of revving and "pressing on" so not too bad. 

I've got a list of very small niggles that I've been working through and have recently tackled the one I considered to be the trickiest.  The heater light was flashing on the dash board which suggests a the brake pedal switch problem and would not allow the cruise control to work.  After much forum reading and head scratching I've finally stopped it and cleared the fault by connecting the MR2 brake lights through the TDI pedal switch.  This means when the pedal is not pushed the ECU detects earth via the brake light bulbs and is now happy. 

This means THE CRUISE CONTROL WORKS      Very pleased    I've yet to mount the switch properly but the tricky bit is done

I've fitted some speakers and a crappy radio for now, so it's been nice having the radio for the daily commute. 

I've mounted some mini push switches for the MFA to work, it turns out it's still over estimating the MPG by 10% but all the other function are great. 

I've had a play with the "tuning box" and found it's a 2K resistor (which expains why it didn't do much), this is way to much! so I've been messing about with a 69p 1k variable resistor and it seems to work all the way down to 500 ohms.  It transforms the performance, in fact I would go as far as to say it makes the 110hp engine in the MR2 at least match the performance of the Fabia VRS which was my target for this car.  I'd still like to drag race it and find out the difference with and without the resistor and it would be very interesting to get it on a rolling road and find out the numbers too. 

I've "adjusted" the leverage ratio of the throttle pedal to accommodate the TDI throttle pot more suitably.  The pedal required quite a bit of force to push and had very little travel.  It's funny how much this has transformed the driving experience, I'm very pleased I pursued it and will be trying various things to improve the gear shift next  



I've now driven the car several thousand miles and I'm still besotted with it!  Its a joy to drive.  With current fuel prices at around 1.10p locally and my fuel being 28.5p, the car is doing a cost equivalent of 209mpg.  Can't complain really  

More to come