That's Porkchop at the beginning! He's a legend at VIR! The guy at turn 1 with the big beard is Mike, he's got a late model stock car that he runs pretty regularly at VIR. He just got a new engine himself!
Many thanks. I've liked these since my father owned one. Stuck to a corner like sh"t to a shovel, did fit a full whiteline suspension kit. Been looking to pick one up for my own fun. Wife thinks I need to sell my Busa and gsxr first. Did tell her if she sells her Impreza first. Yip wife, in her 40s and drives the Impreza like she's in a race to go shopping 😁
Taking some pointers from Spirit MR-S builder: Remove gas tank, add small fuel cell in the "frunk" area. Pillowball Spherical bushings all around. Remove all abs and electronics, run everything as analog as necessary (add brake controller and make braking force rear biased) Spring rates 12K front 16K rear Tires 16 front 17 rear with wide size (245+ rear). Camber -3.5 front -5 rear. 👍🏼 it's all about balance.
I took a note from the 2003 and newer MR2 and installed 16X7 wheels on the front and 17X7.5 rear and it doesn't act up in corners anymore, with the 2AR it needs the Xtra traction. You will also want some heat protection, Summit Racing sells some with an adhesive backing that works good, I also use a header blanket from Nissan part-16590-3TA0A
I do like this engine conversion a lot about guy from FM answered all my questions on the how to do it stuff so big respect to him. Hes a propper car guy.
Oh my! you described some of this on the phone but it wasn't really clear until i saw it on video. There's a lot of little things i've learned over the years of racing an MR2 Spyder, we can make that thing handle a hell of a lot better without a ton of work. It does not have to feel like it's trying to kill you at ever corner.
@@hamsterbrigade I actually have done so many times in my videos but i really should assemble it all in one video to make it much easier to reference. I'll put that on the video todo list.
@@GearsandGasoline Nice, i actually don't have any video from the early days of the Spyder. We actually took it to Barber for it's first outing and after about 3/4 of the race we gave up because we were all tired of the white knuckle driving. I think i'll take you up on that offer, it would make the video much better and easier to understand why the changes have been done.
I would say those under/over steering issues came from aerodynamics. Maybe front and rear aero needs a little tweak to fix the problem. Front too much drag, rear too much air passed through underbody of the car which caused the front of the car to 'float' during high speed. But idk tho, i don't even have a car 🤷🏻.
It's a convertible, I could be wrong but I think you need a bit more chassis bracing. No strut tower front or rear. You need the midship member brace that goes on the belly of the car. The 00-02 have no bracing....as years when on up to 07 each year came with more chassis bracing.
Oversteering types: 4:27, the first one is "lift off" oversteer, from throwing the front of the car left too hard while trail braking, which lifted the heavy rear and lets it swing around. 4:39, power oversteer. The tyres are very busy with turning, hanging way out on the left side of their grip "performance oval". Adding power too quickly asked too much from the tires. Ben needs to recalibrate his gas foot so he can roll into the power slow enough to give the car time to rock back onto the rear tires more. This will remove grip from the front, possibly introducing understeer, but will possibly allow for more power out of the corner.
Oops, accidentally hit send. 4:56, he hit the curb while cornering hard. When you unsettle the car like that you need to unload the tyres a bit (corner a bit less) so there is a safety margin to handle the unstable grip levels
Coming from a mustang crowed killing guy, widen the rear track a little more so the wheels are more staggered. Won't kick as much. Whether you use more aggressive wheel offset or even if you gotta use spacers.
I feel like a lot of people think that 230whp isnt alot because of crazy fast cars these days, but i have a 2001 mustang gt with a 4.6L V8 and it only makes 220whp and weighs 600lbs more than a stock MR2. 230whp in a "track" MR2 has to be insanely fun.
The tape is actually for insurance purposes. If you go off track and the car is totaled you tow it off track, claim innocence, and then commit insurance fraud. It’s normal here at SoCal tracks to cover your plate
Now time for brakes (incl bigger booster), wider wheels & gripper tires(especially in the rear), and some suspension mods to deal with the heavier cornering mass!
What I find interesting is in the UK where I'm from there's a company called zurawski motorsports who do 1.8t swaps on these, and the partner stavtech has his own RUclips channel where he documents everything anyway I digress stavtech has a 515whp 1.8t swapped mk3 and the traction he gets is actually ridiculous, his isn't currently setup for track but it's not just a drag car he has mostly standard width wheels and tyres all be it slightly wider but still realistically very small tyres for the power/grip he gets. Might be worth hitting him up an seeing what they did to get the traction they did given their power numbers
I’m no track expert, but I have raced like 500 times in forza. In short wheel base rear engine vehicles. It’s important to get most of your braking done before the corner, so you’re not breaking a whole lot of traction during the corner and trying to correct it. The braking mid corner upsets the car and your tires can’t do too much at once. The car does make double its power from factory though, so probably just need to adjust it the whole car besides driving style/ line.
Hey Ben! That lift-off oversteer, combined with a lack of consistent cornering power is typical for MR/RR cars due to weight distribution and tire stagger. I don't think a damper or anti-roll bar change will help you. I may consider switching to a salisbury diff, dial in a little more differential preload or coasting ramp angle to help braking and corner entry stability, and probably some rear downforce device to assist high speed stability. The MR-S is indeed a good driving coach, but there is no properly setup racecar will tolerate that level of difficulty. You are a great driver for keeping it all together and making the right decisions at right time.
If it's anything like the mk1 MR2, it's well balanced, and you can feed in oversteer with engine braking or power (the latter not really an option in the original 1600cc MK1). I owned one back in the days, did 120.000+ kms in it and learned the art of balancing it on the limit. I never spun it and I got really good at inducing just the right amount of oversteer in the corners.
Wheel alignment makes such a difference, I'm always spinning my aw11 track car. haha. That said, even though I've driven aw11's for 26 years, I'm too aggressive. Though recently I have got my own wheel alignment machine and had a play. Last time on the track in December last year I beat my pb and didn't have a spin the whole day. So now I want to continue to learn how my suspension and wheel alignment changes will make the car better. That 2ar sounds mad, if I was keeping my mr-s it's a swap I'd entertain.
Lower rear ride heigt reduces snappy feeling in entry. Does decrease rotation but that coud be incresed with sway bar or dampening. Lowering rear is way to go with 911 ass well
By the way, it's actually not 215% *more* horespower. It's just 215% horsepower (compared to the original amount). 215% more than stock would mean that the car now makes over 300whp, which it doesn't.
You have to keep throttle even when cornering so th weight doesn't shift and mess you up. You can try it tho I'm not quite sure if it'll work. So my verdict is you have to throttle control through most of the corners or you'll see the face of death.
Put a wing on it man. ViR demands it. We were racing there a few years back. Our spoiler decided it wanted to do something else. We almost cleared the whole class out.
Your much better at track driving and understanding what needs to be done, I say it need Aero, need a big wing for rear grip, some front canards ect. Maybe try a degree or 2 of camber? Just some advise to help
1:07 reminds me of the 1989 Batmobile backroad through the woods scene!
I love how nice and understanding that worker was lol
That's Porkchop at the beginning! He's a legend at VIR! The guy at turn 1 with the big beard is Mike, he's got a late model stock car that he runs pretty regularly at VIR. He just got a new engine himself!
After seeing him, I really want to run with this org now. Super nice guy
Porkchop also flags for bikes, everyone at VIR is pretty dope, the gate guy can be a little cranky sometimes.
Yal'right?
Sears Point used to be very cool like that.
Can we have an update on this build? What's next?
I'm in love with this build..
Lsd, splitter for front down force and a longer wheelbase!
I call my 3SGTE Aw11 the widowmaker too! and for very good reason!
Such a dope build!
Many thanks.
I've liked these since my father owned one. Stuck to a corner like sh"t to a shovel, did fit a full whiteline suspension kit.
Been looking to pick one up for my own fun. Wife thinks I need to sell my Busa and gsxr first. Did tell her if she sells her Impreza first.
Yip wife, in her 40s and drives the Impreza like she's in a race to go shopping 😁
Yo that drift car is lit 🔥
That little thing is a beast and I look forward to seeing it in its fully dialed in form.
Love the Eurobeat at the mention of oversteer
That initial d music 😮💨🥰
Taking some pointers from Spirit MR-S builder:
Remove gas tank, add small fuel cell in the "frunk" area.
Pillowball Spherical bushings all around.
Remove all abs and electronics, run everything as analog as necessary (add brake controller and make braking force rear biased)
Spring rates 12K front 16K rear
Tires 16 front 17 rear with wide size (245+ rear).
Camber -3.5 front -5 rear.
👍🏼 it's all about balance.
I took a note from the 2003 and newer MR2 and installed 16X7 wheels on the front and 17X7.5 rear and it doesn't act up in corners anymore, with the 2AR it needs the Xtra traction. You will also want some heat protection, Summit Racing sells some with an adhesive backing that works good, I also use a header blanket from Nissan part-16590-3TA0A
I do like this engine conversion a lot about guy from FM answered all my questions on the how to do it stuff so big respect to him.
Hes a propper car guy.
115 mph vibration mine was worn tie rod ends felt like I was in a paint shaker 😂
What a cool track worker
4:34 love this background music
love the eurobeat once the oversteering section of the video came in
Oh my! you described some of this on the phone but it wasn't really clear until i saw it on video. There's a lot of little things i've learned over the years of racing an MR2 Spyder, we can make that thing handle a hell of a lot better without a ton of work. It does not have to feel like it's trying to kill you at ever corner.
Any chance you could, share these tips in a public forum as well?
@@hamsterbrigade I actually have done so many times in my videos but i really should assemble it all in one video to make it much easier to reference. I'll put that on the video todo list.
@@FrankensteinMotorworks thanks, with that my buddy's mr2 can keep up with my honda acty truck in the hills 🤣
If you actually do want to make a video about that, I can send you tons of b-roll. I'm sure you've got a bunch as well.
@@GearsandGasoline Nice, i actually don't have any video from the early days of the Spyder. We actually took it to Barber for it's first outing and after about 3/4 of the race we gave up because we were all tired of the white knuckle driving. I think i'll take you up on that offer, it would make the video much better and easier to understand why the changes have been done.
MRS Spirit runs stock brakes with good pads (like Endless MX72), -5° camber on the back & -3.5° camber on the front. Spherical bushings all round.
this guy is such a good driver. you don't expect that from youtubers sometimes
It sounds so good!!!!!!!!
When initial d music came on, I knew it would be awesome!
When the Euro beat came on as he started to counter and over steer was hilarious
I see some Frankenstein Motor Work sticker. I love that dude and company.
We need an updated video on how you tackled the issues
When the euro beat came on… 🤯
excellent video--this is the shit we need more of
Reminds me of the gr yaris video where the guy lost eps for half a second due to the battery coming loose.
I love that little mr2. My dream car is a death trap like that.
Watching the two cars together, damn. Its terrifying with the engine swap and a nice daily drive with out it.
I would say those under/over steering issues came from aerodynamics. Maybe front and rear aero needs a little tweak to fix the problem. Front too much drag, rear too much air passed through underbody of the car which caused the front of the car to 'float' during high speed. But idk tho, i don't even have a car 🤷🏻.
Left foot breaking will help when going through corners
It's a convertible, I could be wrong but I think you need a bit more chassis bracing. No strut tower front or rear. You need the midship member brace that goes on the belly of the car. The 00-02 have no bracing....as years when on up to 07 each year came with more chassis bracing.
Dang, that looks like fun !!!! :)
The eurobeat made my day 😂
Tracking without a working tachometer on a new engine. Big skill and big balls.
Guess you can just hear those revs though!
I have an Elise, and always liked this car. They really are well built and fun. Relatively cheap to run too.
The mini Carrera GT.
Love how f0king RAW this car is.
Really like the car, lots of fun
10:39 Mr. Snap would be a great name for this car
Lol @9:45:
“What’s it got STUNT MANN!!”
Oversteering types:
4:27, the first one is "lift off" oversteer, from throwing the front of the car left too hard while trail braking, which lifted the heavy rear and lets it swing around.
4:39, power oversteer. The tyres are very busy with turning, hanging way out on the left side of their grip "performance oval". Adding power too quickly asked too much from the tires. Ben needs to recalibrate his gas foot so he can roll into the power slow enough to give the car time to rock back onto the rear tires more. This will remove grip from the front, possibly introducing understeer, but will possibly allow for more power out of the corner.
Oops, accidentally hit send.
4:56, he hit the curb while cornering hard. When you unsettle the car like that you need to unload the tyres a bit (corner a bit less) so there is a safety margin to handle the unstable grip levels
Coming from a mustang crowed killing guy, widen the rear track a little more so the wheels are more staggered. Won't kick as much. Whether you use more aggressive wheel offset or even if you gotta use spacers.
My Kswaped mr-s did awesome without any problem. Well except for 1 time where the shifter cable poped out. But that's an easy fix.
liked for session 2
You can avoid snap oversteer if you dont let of the throttle mid corner and get the suspension tuned by professionals
I feel like a lot of people think that 230whp isnt alot because of crazy fast cars these days, but i have a 2001 mustang gt with a 4.6L V8 and it only makes 220whp and weighs 600lbs more than a stock MR2. 230whp in a "track" MR2 has to be insanely fun.
2001 mustang GT only weighs 2800lbs? Wow that's really light for a muscle car
@@ErikSeastead mr2 weighs around 25 to 2600 a 99 to 04 mustang gt is 31 to 3200
This is gonna be so satisfying when it’s dialed in
Better brakes, decent wheel alignment, and a solid roof will get you closer to where you want to be.
The tape is actually for insurance purposes. If you go off track and the car is totaled you tow it off track, claim innocence, and then commit insurance fraud. It’s normal here at SoCal tracks to cover your plate
Damn, I guess painters tape is cheaper than track insurance lol
Good Lord this look like to much fun
Maybe the liftoff might be helped with left foot braking but idk
Man o man.. both Ben's running in the same class.. I know you've thought about it
Now time for brakes (incl bigger booster), wider wheels & gripper tires(especially in the rear), and some suspension mods to deal with the heavier cornering mass!
Fair driving tbh
Maybe other and wider tires which will help with traction on the rear and breaking performance
If you look @2:40 ur passenger side front tire came off the road maybe a half an inch/ inch on the turn
Check that alignment
Wow this car is making mor HP with a lot less money than the S10K!!!! Crazy. I think Marc is a Genius.
Nuts! That was foolish amazing line
Been waiting for this one....
the "i wont lie... im scared" had me rolling. At least you didnt baby it :D
Lol that battery engineering bit was so funny. I will not be a chump!
What I find interesting is in the UK where I'm from there's a company called zurawski motorsports who do 1.8t swaps on these, and the partner stavtech has his own RUclips channel where he documents everything anyway I digress stavtech has a 515whp 1.8t swapped mk3 and the traction he gets is actually ridiculous, his isn't currently setup for track but it's not just a drag car he has mostly standard width wheels and tyres all be it slightly wider but still realistically very small tyres for the power/grip he gets.
Might be worth hitting him up an seeing what they did to get the traction they did given their power numbers
The Initial D style music during session 2 was too perfect.
oversteer can be easy overcome. toe and tire pressure are your biggest friends.
Try putting 15 inch front and 16 inch rear wheels with staggered 205 225 bigger on the rear with a softer front sway maybe that would help
Great video. I really like the Initial D style music lol.
I’m no track expert, but I have raced like 500 times in forza. In short wheel base rear engine vehicles. It’s important to get most of your braking done before the corner, so you’re not breaking a whole lot of traction during the corner and trying to correct it. The braking mid corner upsets the car and your tires can’t do too much at once. The car does make double its power from factory though, so probably just need to adjust it the whole car besides driving style/ line.
Hey Ben! That lift-off oversteer, combined with a lack of consistent cornering power is typical for MR/RR cars due to weight distribution and tire stagger. I don't think a damper or anti-roll bar change will help you. I may consider switching to a salisbury diff, dial in a little more differential preload or coasting ramp angle to help braking and corner entry stability, and probably some rear downforce device to assist high speed stability. The MR-S is indeed a good driving coach, but there is no properly setup racecar will tolerate that level of difficulty. You are a great driver for keeping it all together and making the right decisions at right time.
Love the sudden Initial D music 😂
The old magic tap the relay trick 😂😂😂
Nice. Eurobeat intensifies.
You've just taken the little MR2 to the limits of what it can do.
more mr2🙏
God Damn this thing dangerous!
I think you need ventilated brake? To make brake always cool with those fresh air
That track official was a really nice guy!
Maybe an MR2 subframe H-Brace and beefy sway bars. With Big Brake Kit.
You need a limited slip diff
If it's anything like the mk1 MR2, it's well balanced, and you can feed in oversteer with engine braking or power (the latter not really an option in the original 1600cc MK1). I owned one back in the days, did 120.000+ kms in it and learned the art of balancing it on the limit. I never spun it and I got really good at inducing just the right amount of oversteer in the corners.
Needs a wing for stability at high speeds and under heavy braking
Wheel alignment makes such a difference, I'm always spinning my aw11 track car. haha. That said, even though I've driven aw11's for 26 years, I'm too aggressive. Though recently I have got my own wheel alignment machine and had a play. Last time on the track in December last year I beat my pb and didn't have a spin the whole day. So now I want to continue to learn how my suspension and wheel alignment changes will make the car better. That 2ar sounds mad, if I was keeping my mr-s it's a swap I'd entertain.
Lower rear ride heigt reduces snappy feeling in entry. Does decrease rotation but that coud be incresed with sway bar or dampening. Lowering rear is way to go with 911 ass well
By the way, it's actually not 215% *more* horespower. It's just 215% horsepower (compared to the original amount).
215% more than stock would mean that the car now makes over 300whp, which it doesn't.
4:23 The eurobeat mix, lol
Awesome video. Thanks Ben(s and Luke)
That intro was very Great British Bake Off
Take some hints from best motoring to get the suspensions to stop trying to kill you
You have to keep throttle even when cornering so th weight doesn't shift and mess you up. You can try it tho I'm not quite sure if it'll work. So my verdict is you have to throttle control through most of the corners or you'll see the face of death.
Looks like the extra power distended your suspension setup and braking issues
Put a wing on it man. ViR demands it. We were racing there a few years back. Our spoiler decided it wanted to do something else. We almost cleared the whole class out.
When Ben called he sounded so sad to hear that he needed to call back later
LOL i have exactly same issue with my MR2 on first track day - battery moved, power steering wasnt working. Ive tied it with towing rope :D
Your much better at track driving and understanding what needs to be done, I say it need Aero, need a big wing for rear grip, some front canards ect. Maybe try a degree or 2 of camber? Just some advise to help
Lol the under steer music was perfect
Mr.Snap lol you love it