Toyota MR2 battling Honda NSX

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chuyler1

chuyler1

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chuyler1
I had lots of fun last night battling it out in my MR2 tuned for 450pp. Prior to starting several races the top 3 drivers' free run lap times were usually within a second or two. Some tracks Aaron in his NSX was quicker and other tracks I was quicker. Jimmy was also very quick in his RSX but not on this track. In general though, I think the NSX has the upper hand. I really had to work hard for my lap times while Aaron could make a few mistakes and still keep up.

For this race, I lucked out and got the pole position and kept Aaron in my rear view for 3 and 1/2 laps with some defensive driving (no swerving, just making sure I was lined up for the inside line) Aaron waited patiently and eventually took advantage of a slip-up I made. I broke loose on turn exit and that gave him the jump for the next series of turns. I got flustered lost my line and that was enough for him to slip by on the inside. After that I stayed close until he put a tire on the grass. Very exciting racing. I wish every online race was this intense.

Cudos to Aaron for racing clean behind me. One little love tap when I braked instead of just lifting off (he might have been able to take that turn WOT but I wasn't confident enough to do that)...but after that it was real clean.



PS, we're online most nights from 9:30-12:00 EST. Just look for a room titled "450pp street cars".
 
Very fun, reminds me of some races I did last weekend.
I was racing in a Gran Turismo Frod GT LM Spec II,
and some dude from italy (nice guy) was driving a Ferrari Italia.
Both cars were downgraded because of the PP limit.
We had some great races. He was faster on the straights but I was faster in the corners. We kept taking eachother over every corner! Lucky for him we were only playing on high speed ring. Which has alot of straights. So he won every race by 0.100 seconds! Overall it was a great experience.
 
Goodjob, and great driving technique. I usually race in the 400pp-450pp ranges myself, and I've been wanting to use my rainbow MR2 army much more. I usually have to hop into my ASL Garaiya to be competitive with team Honda (Integra, NSX, etc), but this video inspired me to keep on trying!
 
I was running an '02 Garaiya last night as well. It's the quickest car I have on Trial Mountain but any track with a straight kills it. The MR2 has a little more grunt but I haven't been able to dial the suspension in so it can run as flawless as the Garaiya. I also have a '97 MR2 in my stable. It isn't as exciting to drive as the '86 but it can be quicker on some tracks.

After replaying Aaron's run in his NSX I am almost certain I could run quicker laps in his NSX than my MR2. I may experiment with camber to see if I can improve the grip a little. For this track, I could have gotten away with a lower suspension. I was running -2 but I bet -10 to -15 would work if I stayed clear of the high curbing. I also haven't touched the individual gear ratios to see if I can speed it up there.

But anyway, if you want to give my tune a run, try out these settings for spec 450pp.

MR2 1600 G-Limited Super Charger '86
Max Power: 237 hp
Max Torque: 236 ft-lb
Weight: 1070 kg
PP: 450

Racing Soft Tires
Chassis Reinforcement
Aero Wing Type 1: Downforce 15
Sports Intake Manifold
Sports Air Filter
Sports Exhaust Manifold
Sports Catalytic Converter
Titanium Racing Exhaust
Upgraded Supercharger
Fully Customizable Transmission
Adjustable LSD
Fully Customizable Suspension

Top Speed: 137 mph
LSD: 9 / 36 / 18
Ride Height: -2 / -2
Spring Rate: 6.9 / 9.4
Extension: 5 / 7
Compression: 6 / 6
Anti-roll: 5 / 3
Camber: 0.5 / 0.5
Toe: 0.05 / 0.20
Brakes: 6 / 2
 
Nice video.

I had some good racing the other week with you and some others, I was mainly racing my white MX-5. I'll join you again for more racing at some point.
 
Yeah, your MX-5 is quick. I've got one in my stable but I don't pull it out very often. The MR2 feels more go-kart like and I enjoy squeezing every bit of speed out of it.
 
Oh yeah, I wanted to say that your tune was pretty good. Driving it with sports soft got a bit tricky though, so I've kinda been re-tweaking your set-up in hopes of finding that sweet spot. I'm not an expert tuner, so it would probably take a while...or forever.

Anyway, I did some rough hot laps on sports softs at Tsukuba where I usually test cars below 500hp (or at 450pp) and got some good results. I used two similar MR2's for this.

Your tune:1:02.487
My test tune: 1:02.492

For comparison, my Garaiya '02 did 1:01.777 while the NSX Type R '92 did 1:01.886. I'm more familiar with the Garaiya's limits while the NSX is well...you know. For my MR2 tune I had to work a bit harder while yours eased by. Maybe if I push the MR2 harder I can reach those times...

But I don't want to derail this topic into a tuning discussion. Good tune though, as the car felt better. I'll be looking forward to any adjustments you make.
 
chuyler1
I also have a '97 MR2 in my stable.
Click to expand...

Hey man, would you be kind enough to share the '97 specs? Is it the NA or the Turbo version?

I'm working on the tuning but aren't really getting anywhere.
 
I haven't done much work with anything but racing soft tires since that's what my group of 450pp use online. If the back end is squirrelly on you, add as much downforce with the wing as you can. With PP racing I have to dial it back because every click in downforce is a reduction in HP.

I now have 3 '86 MR2s in an effort to crack the performance point sweet spot. When it comes to handling, sadly I don't think they will ever handle like the Garaiya. No matter what the settings are, the MR2 is very choppy. But each of my cars drives very differently.

1) Supercharger with no weight reduction. Added tons of mods including the upgraded supercharger and stage 3 engine tuning. I used the power reduction to dial it back to 450 pp. It hits peak torque at 5k and peak hp at 5.2k and is flat to redline while torque slopes down. I short shift it and run between 5-6k. It's a torque monster and probably best for fast courses. The transmission is set for a very high max speed so I can spend as much time as possible around the 5500 sweet spot. It laps Trial mountain at 1:31.6.

2) Base with full weight reduction. Since the base is actually heavier than the supercharger model in this game the weight reduction puts it at the base level for the supercharger version...so I use the same suspension settings for both cars. This one is maxed out on all performance mods and has the stage 3 turbo. It gets peak power right around redline so you have to set the transmission for each course. With the transmission at 137 it laps Trial Mountain at 1:31.5.

3) Supercharger with full weight reduction down to 910kg. This car still needs some work. At this weight the car is very slick. I can't get it to lock down. To run at 450pp I do not install the upgraded supercharger but all other performance parts are installed. I am running 1:31.8s on Trial Mountain and can't seem to get this one to go quicker. Peak power is at 7400rpm so shifting at or beyond redline works best.

As for my '97. I'll have to get back to you on that. I'm not sure what state the tune is in.
 
Here's another battle from last night. Afterward I made it my goal to get more straight line power out of the MR2. Even with boost on, I couldn't get around the MR2 MK1. All cars were tuned for 450pp so in theory we should have been equal. The 512BB was quick too but he was all over the course. We swapped fenders a few times so I think it was all good. My last pass was a little dirty though...but I pulled back several times before that and I knew the only way to get around him was going to be through late braking. I thought he was going wide so I tucked inside him. He found some extra grip but I was already there. Oh well.

 
That was some slick driving, I agree with TimberW on the MR2 GTS tune. If you would be kind enough to share it I would be grateful. I'm trying to tune mine on sports soft and it tries to kill me every time I show it a turn. I am trying to do it with out a rear wing because I like the stock wing. That and I've tune a Celica GT-Four, and am in the processes of tuning a Supra RZ without a rear wing.
 
Well my tune won't be of much help because it is still tail happy with race tires...no wing though. Try using the GT5 quick tune spreadsheet posted in the tuning forum. That's what I use as a starting point on most cars...but these MR2s are just real slick for some reason and I haven't quite mastered them without the wing.
 
chuyler1
Well my tune won't be of much help because it is still tail happy with race tires...no wing though. Try using the GT5 quick tune spreadsheet posted in the tuning forum. That's what I use as a starting point on most cars...but these MR2s are just real slick for some reason and I haven't quite mastered them without the wing.
Click to expand...

Okay thanks for the advice, yeah the MR2's are all tail happy, even the MRS! I have to use a wing with the MRS and did on the MR2 MKI (more because I could) But the MKII's wing is sick.
 
For performance point racing, it is defintely worth while to tune a car without the wing because it gives you more points to put toward power. That could be part of the reason that MKII was pulling away from me in the second video. He didn't have a wing. However The short wheel base and rear biased weight just makes the MKI too tail happy. I suppose I could try adding ballast to the front instead of a wing on the back. That would double my potential for adding power.

Oh, on another note, I just finished tuning a MKI non-super-charger. It's heavier so it needs all the mods to run at 450pp...but with a stage 3 turbo it makes tons of hp near redline. It's just a little short on torque. I can run equivalent times at Trial Mountain in both cars but only if I run manual in the supercharger and shift early to stay in the high torque band. The non-sc can run to redline in auto mode and might be a better option. I'll run some races next week with both and report back. I'll also pull out my MKII and see how it fairs.
 
I always run the NA MR2 MKI, I use a manual gearbox, so I shift at the redline and it will set me back around 6500 RPM. I puts me in the powerband at all times. It's a little slow off the line, but once you get going, and if you can shift at the right points, it's a monster.
 
Yup, the NA MR2 is very quick at the 450pp level. In fact I ran it at 446pp last night and was still pulling hard on most of the racers.

I tried a trick and it worked. Full weight reduction. The MR2 has 45/55 weight balance so I calculated (kg/55)-(kg/45)=96kg. I added that to the very front of the MR2 using the ballast feature. It dropped the pp down to 446 but whatever. Then I tuned the suspension to be equal front and rear springs at 5.8, dampers all at 3, rollbars both at 2. It was quick, AND it cornered completely neutral. You could get oversteer under trail braking if you wanted it but otherwise it ran straight and true. Good enough for a 1:31.2xx at Trial Mountain. I finished top 3 in all my races. Boost was on low but unlike the supercharger edition when I got to the front I had enough power to pass. I'll have a video up shortly.
 
Video of my Turbo'd MR2. Boost is on so its tough to tell who's fastest but I got the pole after a 15 minute free run qualifying. There were 16 other drivers but I'd say only 6 of them knew how to drive. I removed the first 3 laps because I was punted from behind several times and had to play catch up. I was punted again at the beginning of this clip but thanks to boost was able to come back for the win. I really don't understand why people don't know how to follow without ramming. You gotta be prepared to brake earlier than usual. I race with one foot so there is plenty of time to react between when I take my foot off the gas and I tap the brakes. There were a couple of rough spots but I tried my best to race clean and wait for the right moment to pass. I backed off in a few spots instead of wedging my way in.

[Youtube]m3093TsPve0[/media]
 
Hey, great video. Enjoyed watching it. I have a super charged mr2 but never used it. Thik I'll take it for a drive later on. :)
 
TimberW
Hey man, would you be kind enough to share the '97 specs? Is it the NA or the Turbo version?

I'm working on the tuning but aren't really getting anywhere.
Click to expand...
i forgot to mess with my '97 last night but at the request of a friend i tuned a MR-S. It is the fastest 450pp car in my stable right now and will run 1:30.1xx on Trial Mountain. My '86 N/A with a stage 3 turbo can only do 1:31.xxx.

Here's a video from last night's racing. Lobby restriction was 450pp. I exited to make a last minute change so that's why I started at the back of the pack. It didn't take long to make it to the front. I would've caught the top two drivers on lap 4 but they both wiped out making for an easy victory. The video cuts to some other action until the end of the race.



Tune (as best I can remember)
Ballast: +100kg @ -50% (on the front axle)
LSD: 9 / 36 / 18
Ride Height: 0 / 0
Spring Rate: 6 / 6
Compression: 3 / 3
Extension: 3 / 3
Rollbars: 2 / 2
Camber: 0.5 / 0.5
Toe: 0.05 / 0.20
Engine: Stage 3 Turbo, Racing Exhaust, Cat, and some other stuff.
Wing: Not installed
 
If I can snag another Supercharged MR2 (fingers crossed!) I'm defiantly going to try to mod it with out the upgraded supercharger. In my mind that would probably be the fastest (and the hardest to handle) of the bunch. With a higher power band, and the add torque for the supercharger.... Sounds like fun to me!
 
Racing softs? Do street cars really need that much grip? It always bug me when people put anything more than sport softs on.
 
You can play the game however you want. In my room RS tires equalizes FR FF and AWD cars so they can all race together at the same PP. I personally can have fun on any tire. I was doing the 80's special events on comfort tires just yesterday.
 
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