Cuda's Cars, v2.0

[CudaMan]

Now *that's* spicy! I've seen a different video of that car before. It's so good, seems really well done from what they showed.

K20/24 is kind of the answer in lighter cars in many ways. The state of CA likely hates that swap, but they hate everything. Videos of K-swapped Spyders are also really interesting. The high pitched Honda scream in a compact RWD chassis that can put power down well? Sign me the eff up!



No spice for me today. I couldn't get the trailer lights to work with my Dad's truck even though the connector is a match, so the trailer stayed put at my friend's house. I may see if the local UHaul rental store might let me test if my lights work with their trailers.

[Random]

K20 swap is possible within the constraints of CA smog, fwiw.

[CudaMan]

I remember looking into it a while back. I recall one of the hurdles was RSX exhaust manifold clearance with the MR-S subframe, but I was pretty confident about a couple of workarounds that would be legal.

Then I heard that one car has a returnless fuel system and the other car has a return system, and that CA required a full conversion to the donor engine's fueling system, meaning an RSX entire fuel tank/pump/etc would have to go in an MR-S... That's when I gave up on the idea. I'd love for that info to be wrong.

I'm not actually sure if I'd prefer a 2ZZ over a 1ZZ in a Spyder. The 1ZZ is at least linear and has a characterful exhaust note that I enjoy (yes I'm weird, I also loooved the straight piped 5SFE SW20s!). The narrow powerband of the 2ZZ with gearing that is too wide to stay in the hot cam all the time has always bugged me in principle. Never driven a 2ZZ though, outside of an Elise.

[Random]

Yeah, I think Tony is running an aftermarket ECU (and 6-speed?) to get around the hot cam issue in his track car. Main issue with the 2ZZ is that they seem to have oiling issues (and weak cams), which is non-ideal for track cars.

[Random]

My ideal MR-2 is still a 2nd Gen with some engine that revs (like a K20). Was the most disappointing part about the car I test drove back in the day...

[CudaMan]

Hard to get a lot of revs from a 2GR from what I hear, but the big flat torque curve seems fun. VQ35HR would be tons of fun (7500rpm stock) but I don't know of a FWD application for that variety of VQ and I'm sure there would be plenty of hurdles.

The lightest ES SW20s back in the day were about 2400lbs IIRC. Hardtop, no AC, no wing, straight pipe, 9lb Volks, light Hoosiers, etc.

[CudaMan]

Target acquired!




Big surprise, it's an MR2.




Every car that enters my driveway must first pass this clearance test with no angle. I usually angle out so that gives me a safety margin.


Making an SW20 look a little chunky.

It's definitely a project car. It hasn't been registered in a couple years, it needs a new top, the engine burns oil, various bits are missing, it's filthy and it came with a box of parts, etc. But it starts and runs, and it's mine! Eventual autox and hopefully track toy. It'll be a long term slow project unless cash flow improves. It does have some goodies: aluminum underbody bracing, rebuilt brakes with new pads and slotted rotors, Kosei K1 wheels in probably 15x7 (so classic!), good tires, a Team Moon exhaust (not on the car), a fresh windshield and a spare set of stock wheels. Oh, and it's on coilovers. Tein HA which is pretty old school and basic, so those may get changed out depending on what I think of them.

It isn't blue though.

[CudaMan]

This makes it 6 MR2s that I've owned. It's my first one in 15 years (I bought the grey Turbo in 2006). The Spyder now means I have owned every variety (chassis and engine) of MR2 sold in the US. I've wanted to do this for a long long time!

I'll sort through it slowly but surely. It'll be a fun autox toy, probably an occasional track car once I get a roll bar in it, and someday it'll likely get an engine swap. When it first got on my radar I was thinking to run it in E Street (stock class) autox for a year or two first, but this one is probably too far modified to make it an easy conversion to ES so I think I may just run it as is for funsies instead of serious competition.

Don't let the bumper and taillights fool you, it's a 2000 model year.

[FaultyMario]

Nice grab!

Which reminds me of...

[dodint]

This is going to be fun to watch.