Toyota MR2 shops and questions

[S4Rules]

My brother has a 95 MR2 that he's selling to me. Can anyone recommend some good MR2 service places? Places that will do aftermarket installs? I really want a turbo MR2 and was wondering how much it would cost to replace the NA 95 MR2 with a Turbo MR2 or how about putting a turbo in with the NA 2.2 MR2 motor?

Thanks for any help you might have.
Paul

[StevenMosley]

To get the best answer post your question on MR2FAQ.com.

I have am not sure where to take it, but a good GEN3 clip will run you 2-3k. Gen3 motors ran 245hp stock in Japan on 98 octane pump gas. They don't have AFM's
and are a better starting point then the Gen2 motor that came in the 91-95 US and JDM cars. I have no idea what someone would want to put the motor and transmission in, but think it would run about 2k mininum for a trust worthy shop. The only guy's I would recommend are NoShoe's in Virginia, and RickB in the Bay area. These guys know Gen2 MR2's inside and out. They can tell you how involved it is.

If you really want a Turbo I would say don't bother buying your brothers 1995. If it is in
excellent condition leave it alone. The car is already a classic and you will be ruining its resale and spending more on it then it would be to just buy a good Turbo. I know they only made a couple hundred Turbo's in 95 and about 2500 Turbos in 93.

BTW: If you are a Toyota lover I am working up in Toronto for the next few weeks
at Toyota of Canada. It has been fun and very interesting. It is a pretty cool
company.

[dledmo]

There is another option for the MR2. I had a Sport Compact Car magazine which had a detailed engine swap for the MkII. The MkII engine bay had enough room for a 1FZE engine from a Lexus or Camry. The 1MZFE makes something like 200+ hp and since it is a V6 the torque curve is flatter. Also, TRD makes a supercharger for the 1MZFE which can go to 300 hp easily. This article caught my attention because they bought an MR2 with a burnt out engine and then found a replacement 1MZFE in a junkyard for under 5-6K$ total. Of course there is the massive amount of labor involved, so it something interesting I wanted to pass along. Good luck and keep us updated.
I looked online, it the the April 2003 magazine, but could only find the table of contents for that issue.

[Spinne]

Another thing to consider if you are planning on autocrossing it is what class you would end up in if you turbo'd or swapped motors.

It it were me, the car was in good shape, I'd follow Mosley's advice and either leave it NA or look for a turbo'd one instead.

Good luck!

[miata#37]

FWIW, those NA second gen mr2's are the hot ticket in ES. So much so that it's often called "spec mr2" at the national level. Turbo mr2's don't fair as well in their class. Just a matter of where the SCCA drew the class lines.

Of course locally it doesn't make that much difference...

[S4Rules]

Thanks for all the help. I think I will keep the 95 MR2 NA - too much hassel to do the engine swap. I'll just look for a Turbo.

[phile]

Originally posted by S4Rules


Thanks for all the help. I think I will keep the 95 MR2 NA - too much hassel to do the engine swap. I'll just look for a Turbo.

You are going to find that the NA car is much easier to drive at the limit than the turbo model.

[Jeremy Engel]

Hey,

If you want someone else to do it, I would look up Carl Crawford in Chicago. He is a mad man when it comes to that sort of thing. He has put a few turbo engines in MK1's and can fabricate anything. You could drop off the car and then pick it up later with the new engine..but it ain't cheap.


There is a guy locally that has a white mk2 that he had converted. He has shown up at an autox or two.

Jerm