I got a "new" car!

Takumi Fujiwara

Takumi Fujiwara

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2,336
United States
Los Angeles, CA
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WRBWRXMAX
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Max Archer
Well, no longer am I a Subaru runner. I've now gone old-school!

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1987 Toyota MR2. 195k on the chassis, but the motor is a JDM Hi-Comp out of an AE92 with 70k on it, and it runs like a dream. It's got a super old-school HKS exhaust, too.

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Car's in mint condition, it's been repainted, but the interior is like new, just one little cover that doesn't stay attached and one dash crack. Seats, cluster, everything is perfect. Alpine deck with kenwood speakers is a bonus, too.

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Paid two grand for it last night. I'm in love with this car, the feedback is awesome, and it's reignited the love of driving that I lost when I started racing the WRX, which was simply boring to drive. Now... I've just gotta learn to handle this oversteer-happy Mid-engined car.
 
Nice! I've got a silver '87. For whatever reason my motor died at 135k miles, so I swapped a jdm corolla motorinto it... nothing fancy, large port, direct swap for the stock motor.

I think you'll enjoy it for a long time, they're really great cars. I've been driving mine stock for about three years now and haven't gotten bored with it yet. Granted, with the other cars I've raced, and the Ninja I've got, the car's acceleration seems pretty slow, doesn't corner all that hard... but it's still a ton of fun for a street car.

You've probably already seen it, but go sign up at mr2oc.com if you haven't.
 
A hard top 87' 👍

I own an 88 supercharged (t tops) with a few mods, which seems to be an on-going project. Take time to get used to the handling, the lack of power steering, and non ABS brakes- so you don't find yourself learning about these things in dangerous situations.

good luck with it.
 
Thats a sweet FC in the background, do you happen to own it too?
Congrats on the MR2, looks like a fun little thing.
 
Ooooh, now that's a cool car! I wonder how it is to flog a mid-engine car. I'm not used to oversteer at all, so I'd probably crap myself if I got a big dose of it. How much power does that old school motor make? I notice your battery is the most prominent thing in the engine bay. Now you just need to tune the crap out of it and you could be setting better times than your old WRX.
 
Great car 👍

My cousin does up Mk1 MR2s. To a very good standard aswell I hear. Some guy came all the way down from Glasgow for one. Shame my family isn't the closest, so I hardly ever see him.
 
Omnis
I love the white shiftknob.
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Sad to say, I didn't. It was made of super-light plastic, so it didn't shift well. I replaced it yesterday, with one that's almost identical, but made of aluminum with a black chrome finish, feels much better now. It's a little lower, too, so the shift is a bit shorter. A shortshifter is actually on my mod list, my WRX has a Kartboy shortshifter, and I love the short action.

As for the motor... we don't know much about it at the moment. It's defenitely a Hi-Comp, and we figure it's making 140-150HP, and probably came from an AE92. It revs and sounds great, too. I love it with this old HKS on it, it has a nice mellow, deep, tone, up until about 5k at WOT, and then T-VIS opens up and suddenly it sounds like a formula car! I'm strongly considering putting ITBs on it down the line, which, coincidentally, is the setup Ueo runs on his D1 AE86.

On another front... now I'm closer to being able to accept the Takumi name I chose way back... I've got the wrong era, but right model, Subaru, and the right era, but wrong model, Toyota... but both do have the correct motors for the Fujiwara cars!

I'm really dying to put some wheels on this car. I like the black on red look, but am not crazy about the painted stock wheels. Any cheap suggestions? Someone recommended Miata wheels, but I thought they were a different lug pattern, I'm thinking of getting Konig Rewinds in black right now. Come to think of it, I know they're super-common, but 14" or 15" Slipstreams could look great on here, too.
 
Nice car indeed! and cheap too.. gotta get me one of those. BTW, Arureman is going to love you and drown you with his AW11 knowledge. :D
 
GT_Jim
Fabulous car, but i don't like the rims.
A superleggera would be great:tup:
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Nah, OZ's don't fit the car properly. The guy lives in LA, as well, so he could easily get his hands on some imported rims. Like, say, some Tom's 4-spokes, like the Intercepts. ;)

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Awesome car, I just don't like the fact they they lack much of an aftermarket. I couldn't find a single coilover set, or some sway bars or anything.
 
GT_Jim
Just make sure to always drive it sideways:) :) :)
MR2=Great drift car
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Not realy, it's about 9 billion times better at autocross than drift. Haha I love the fact that the intake part actually has TVIS on it. TVIS JUST KICKED IN YO
I'm gonna go scrawl TVIS in marker pen on my engine now.

Has it still got all the original suspension on it? You should get some nice coilovers and replace all the bushings and bits if it is.

I must admit I didn't read your post at first and I thought dang thats an unusually unfaded super red. Then I realised it's a respray, which is pretty common anyway seeing as super red is the most fadey toyota paint ever in the whole world. The respray looks realy nice though.

Nice find though, for 2 grand thats a steal. They go for simmilar here, but it's pretty much impossible to find thats not held together by rust. I realy like the look of the AW11 with those 8 spoke Watanabe wheels (yeah I know takumi dori lmbao etc but I love the way they look with the aw11)in gunmetal, well thats what I would have done if I was able to find an aw11 at the time.

Man my T-VIS engages at 4K though. :p

The don't the ITB's come from one of the crazy ass 4ag engines in the later later levin/trueno cars.
 
toyomatt84
TEIN and RS-R make coilovers for the AW11 chassis, as far as I know.
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And, if he's price consious, Koni makes some adjustable shocks, while Eiback makes 1 inch lowering springs, and both can be ordered from Tire Rack for a good price. I personally had the same type of Koni shock on my Cavalier and loved them. The installation was a little finicky, and the instructions don'y instruct very well, but the pictures were easy to follow.

But as PB said, there aren't many antiroll kits for it.

Tire Rack also has a 15x7, 13.5 lb wheel by Kosei for only $120!
 
GTRacer4
Get some pimped out Lexani rims.
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Lexani makes one of the largest collections of the worst made/designed/looking rims in the world. He might as well buy a large pile of manure and pack it onto his stock rims at that point. They'd look/weigh/drive just as good.
 
toyomatt84
Lexani makes one of the largest collections of the worst made/designed/looking rims in the world. He might as well buy a large pile of manure and pack it onto his stock rims at that point. They'd look/weigh/drive just as good.
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beat me to it.
please remind me to never take any advice from GTracer4 ever.:scared:
 
GT_Jim
Just make sure to always drive it sideways:) :) :)
MR2=Great drift car
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It's rather obvious you've never driven one.


PERFECT BALANCE
Awesome car, I just don't like the fact they they lack much of an aftermarket. I couldn't find a single coilover set, or some sway bars or anything.
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Being 21 years old, the aftermarket isn't huge. One advantage to that is that the people who do make parts make quality stuff, and actually care about their customers.

You can spend a few thousand on coilovers (I know of at least 3 or 4 different companies that make them for AW11's) but your really better off just getting adjustable strut inserts, a rear swaybar, and suspension technique springs. The car will handle like it's on rails, no need to spend huge amounts on coilovers.

Takumi Fujiwara
Sad to say, I didn't. It was made of super-light plastic, so it didn't shift well. I replaced it yesterday, with one that's almost identical, but made of aluminum with a black chrome finish, feels much better now. It's a little lower, too, so the shift is a bit shorter. A shortshifter is actually on my mod list, my WRX has a Kartboy shortshifter, and I love the short action.
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Heres my short shift setup :D
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^
Bah i'm just tempted to go with those cusco coilovers, or maybe the tein flex. But Another shop I found introduced me to this bilstien spring insert combo which looked decent. Iono god I need more research and to be a better driver.

Also your shortshifter is ghey.
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I mean are the aw11's throws that long anyway? I know the early sw20s were but iono the aw11 didn't realy seem that bad to me.

toyomatt84
TEIN and RS-R make coilovers for the AW11 chassis, as far as I know.
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I'm pretty sure Tein doesn't make full coilovers for the aw11 anymore, well it doesn't have any in their current catalog thats been sitting on my desk. I checked the rsr america site and I could only find ones for like 5 models, unless they still make them in that horrible japanese country called japan. But god that would be a pain in the arse to order stuff from that place.
 
Race Idiot
Also your shortshifter is ghey.
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I mean are the aw11's throws that long anyway? I know the early sw20s were
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It wasn't too long stock, but now it's uber short, and low.
I find myself heel toeing around every corner in my mr2. :)

Race Idiot
Bah i'm just tempted to go with those cusco coilovers, or maybe the tein flex. But Another shop I found introduced me to this bilstien spring insert combo which looked decent. Iono god I need more research and to be a better driver.
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Why spend $3000 on coilovers? You need a 3sgte.:p
 
backspace
It wasn't too long stock, but now it's uber short, and low.
I find myself heel toeing around every corner in my mr2. :)


Why spend $3000 on coilovers? You need a 3sgte.:p
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Iono my car's shifts feel awesome, the only one that has felt better to me is the S2000's. God damn the shifts are awesome (awesomer) in that car.

Also my limit is about £1000, seeing as the suspension is all original it probably needs a good replacing allong with the bushings. I mean it's over 10 years old now. Also i'd much rather have a 3sge beams blacktop so I can have t-vis and vvti kicking in yo.

edit: this is apparently now the gtp mr2 thread, next all three of you are going to laugh at me because i'm the only mkii
 
So, I put a ghetto intake in the AW11!

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HKS filter with some parts-store piping and silicone connectors. Surprisingly, I can actually feel some gains, especially in the mid-high range, and the sound is good too. The bend is a bit agressive, but it was the only to make it fit and clear, and it's better than the stock airbox, which is in the trunk and doesn't really get any air. This one's right under the engine cover vent. Saves a couple pounds, too, and moves a little weight closer to the car's center.
 
Ultrashot
Curious as hell what you're gonna do with this 👍
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I've actually got my build pretty much mapped out. Including the purchase price of the car, it should be about a 10-12 grand project, but well worth it.

Exterior
-Carbon fiber front hood, w/ drop vent (functional, of course)
-Replace front lip, either with something similar but a bit more agressive, or if nothing of the sort is available, an undamaged stock one.
-Flush fixed headlight conversion
-APR GT-Wing when I'm at the track, stock wing otherwise.
-Possible diffusers / underbody panels if I can find or engineer something aerodynamically effective.

Interior
-Bride seats (red). Zeta III for the Driver, some kind of recliner for the passenger.
-Takata harnesses in trademark green
-Nardi Classic wheel w/ quick release hub
-Full rollcage, probably autopower, painted in the same green as the harnesses.
-HKS CAMP system, screen mounted in stock cluster location to replace stock gauges.

Driveline
-HKS Cams
-HKS Adjustible cam gears
-HKS fine tune timing belt
-HKS Metal headgasket
-HKS 5AG Stroker piston set and crank
-HKS Valve Springs
-TRD (20v-sourced) ITBs w/ custom plenum that routes to the factory air intake on the passenger side.
-Koyo radiator
-All plumbing replaced/updated
-Remote oil cooler
-MAP sensor
-HKS F-Con V Pro
-Flywheel (TRD, TOMS, etc, not sure atm)
-Clutch (HKS would be nice, but not sure if available, so probably ACT or Exedy
-TRD 1.5way LSD
-Short-shift kit
-Misc. stuff, inc. HKS grounding kit, plugs/wires, etc

Exhaust
-Undetermined header, TRD if available.
-Street - HKS Sport Exhaust (currently installed) w/ HKS cat.
-Track - custom straightpipe, no cats, no muffler.

Suspension
-Koni adjustible inserts
-Undetermined springs, hopefully SWIFT if their application is available in time
-Undetermined sway-bars, strut bars, adjustible links

Brakes
-Project Mu pads, rotors
-TRD Lines
-Motul fluid

Wheels, Tires
-Street: Konig Rewind, 15x6F 15x7R, black, w/ Hankook RS-II.
-Track: Enkei 5-spokes, flat black w/ red lip, 15x?, V700 tires.

Can you guys tell I'm a big fan of HKS's product line? I'm hoping to do well enough in trackdays that I can get some kind of sponsorship from them. Anything not available from them will be TRD-sourced.

The car will be oriented around insane response, and should make around 180HP when done. I'll be running it extensively in 4AG-specific competition, and it should be a dominator in the N/A class. It'll also see extensive canyon duty. Hell, maybe it'll even see a show or two, just to please potential sponsors, it'll be clean enough when it's done...
 

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