AdamR28

This. When calipers break it is almost invariably one or more of the following: - Random bolts / washers setup - Bolts not kept tight - Adaptor breaks first and takes the caliper out too

Thanks again Dave! Yeah what I was meaning is that the MR2 seems different to most, maybe because of the low nose. A picture will tell it better than my words (the car in the photo has a body kit with a slightly extended 'nose' but not too much)... Having compared the vent locations on the VX220 and Elise - the closest cars I could find in terms of nose height - they seem to be quite far back, much more so than the pressure plot from a 'normal' car would suggest. Been trying to work out some CFD software for myself the last few days but not having much lock with OpenFoam or any of the free CAD stuff. Perhaps it's a step too far and will just swallow too much time anyway! The handling as standard is moderate understeer at low speeds and a bit 'agile' at higher speeds. Apparently with the roof on and no spoiler, the rear creates a fair amount of lift (looks like it from the above image too). Obviously this will all change now so I'll have to suck it and see. Hoping the balance will be better having blocked the nose off, ducted it out, and removed the roof! I can tune handling fairly easily with alignment though. The rear has mild toe out in bump, so running either slight toe in or parallel will give quite different characteristics!

That's all brilliant info Dave, and pretty much what my research turned up just with a few extra nuggets - thanks a lot, really appreciate your input! The idea behind venting out of the bonnet is to get rid of the air that otherwise would be flying around behind the rad, yeah. I've already found some CFD images from the MR2 and surprisingly most of the bonnet is in negative pressure (I think it's because the 'line' between the bumper and bonnet is quite low compared with a 'normal' car, which seems to have a region of extreme negative pressure right at the front of the bonnet, then transitions to high positive pressure at the base of the windscreen?), so had carte blanche with the vent location. Cut that the other day (and left a Gurney at the front), just needs the ducting finishing now in the style you said. With the car being rear engine, and just having a few long alloy pipes running from back to front in a small tunnel, there's not too much heat going on so I figure I can seal the floor pretty effectively. To my untrained eye it doesn't look too bad as standard (for an older car), certainly better than a FWD car with no undertrays and an exhaust that runs all the way back, but can defo be improved. There are various 'features' with handy holes already in adequate positions for popping some rivnuts in, so that's the route I'll go. Looking from the front... appears my car is missing those deflectors / diffusers in front of the front wheels! And from the back: The lowest part of my exhaust sits pretty much level with the bottom of the sump, so I'm not sure how much room there is to fit a diffuser. Have chopped a ton out of the rear bumper instead, while still leaving just enough to make it look car-ish That image is a pretty spectacular demonstration! I had intended to just add a pointy 'tail' to the rear of the roll bar, a bit like the bottom right of the below pic. The tubing is 50mm diameter so with a 100-125mm tail I figure that will reduce wake significantly and should at least halve the drag from the roll cage. And look pretty bloody weird in the process = win. Any thoughts / data on completely enclosing the rear wheels, aka the early Honda Insight? From Ecomodders forum I can see it will drop some drag, but I am wondering if I might run borderline on brake temps if I do that - the car is about 63% rear weighted and the rear brakes carry out a high proportion of the braking! Perhaps just stick with wheel tabs, plus try to a.) keep air out of the arch, and b.) vent the tops like on the front?

Thanks for liking Rowan's post Dave, thats a good clue! From what I can tell, pretty much in this order... I'm more thinking about drag than lift / downforce, for now anyway. - Block off excess holes in the front bumper. - Vent out of the bonnet. - Flat floor. - Diffuser makes a small difference, better if the air gets to it in good 'condition', I won't bother for now. - Vent out from wheel arches. - Deflect air away from the front lower faces of the tyres. - May even add some streamlining (bits of plastic gaffer taped into an aerofoil shape) to the roll bar. The MSA rule book specifically states you're not allowed to do this for competition, so that means it must do something if you do! There's a reasonable amount of CdA going on there (not far off 10% of the total drag of the car, from my maths!) so if I can halve it that'll be a nice easy gain. But who knows what I'll end up doing

Hadn't seen these - but I have now - thanks dude! What's 'comforting' is that the theories all the YouTube Experts™ talk about align, hopefully meaning they're not bullshit, ha.

1ZZ and staying that way. Put waaaayyy too much time and effort into that manifold to swap now At the moment I'm not sure, perhaps 730kg ish, then likely 750+ once I've added aero bits n bobs.

I wanted to leave it body-less, but then checked some more TDO's T&Cs more carefully and I think it'll be borderline, and not worth the hassle. So the regular bodywork is back on and I've spent the last few days in a YouTube 'race car aerodynamics' black hole, mostly in the hands of Kyle.Engineers, who used to be at Merc F1 apparently: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh3tzzP6n5b1EWcMUpiEhXg. Aero is something I've never really bothered with before so it's nice to learn something new! I figure even though the car will be heavier, it will still be ugly as hell and overall faster than no bodywork. How much left to do on the TT Luke? What sort of spec is that engine that's going in? Looks like it'll be fun for some road blasting! Good call on the tyres Sam, far too many people stick 888s or similar on kit cars for the road, then wonder why their cars are scary in the cold and damp And because this thread still needs things to look at (this is obviously pre bodywork fitting)...

As you've found at the rear, it does settle in with use. To speed this up, you can sand the paint off the back of the pads.

Situated between an adult bookstore and a crematorium, nonetheless... Priceless

Haha, yeah it is a lot lighter than expected. Technically it still has an MOT, so if I put the lights and horn back on... How're you getting on with the Duratec dude?

BwwwaaaAAAARRRPPP! Gotta love a set of ITBs. Been beavering away on Mr Poo over the last few weeks... It's all gone a bit Mad Max

Have a few more, but here's one to start...

Fallen into the classic trap... he just needs more seat time In other news, I've ben getting busy with the welder again.

So good. Every now and again he does something and I think I'm watching Flipp!

Plastic tyre lever works well for this...

Clever technique, I like it!

#MunteR2

I accidentally another MR2. £650 though!!! Full history, massive folder of receipts, all 4 tyres the same and nearly new, recent wheel refurbs, almost perfect roof, and even the aerial works...! So cheap I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to munterise Mr Poo and resign him to track duties.

Yeah, should be fine for a while I reckon.

MSA sprinting / hillclimbing is a bit more accessible, depending on which car you run, but there is still a significant financial outlay to become compliant, and the scrutineers are often jumped up old men trying to prove a point. Track time is also minimal, perhaps 4 or 5 runs (one or two laps max) all day. Javelin Track Days run a more relaxed sprint series, which allows more normal cars (all you need is some yellow tape on your earth lead, a helmet, and crack on), and you'll get more runs. I massively prefer this to MSA events Overall sprinting is cheaper than racing, but worse value track time : £ ratio. Racing is big money no matter what anyone tells you, especially if you want to be competitive. The front runners will either have years of experience or pretty much unlimited budgets, or both. In general though, having any car near the edge of grip is where the fun is, no matter what speed you're doing or how much you've spent. If you're 6" from another lunatic at the time, even better. It just gets even more expensive when something goes wrong, and that is multiplied the faster you are going. The 24hr C1 race I did at Spa last year (I say did... the team managed to get disqualified before I'd done my stint... but at least I got a test day and quali in) was still one of the most memorable racing experiences I've had, and sharing (double driving) a bog standard totally f**ked MX5 with a mate at a sprint event was the most fun sprint. Anyone thinking about racing or sprinting is welcome to give me a call at Tarty any time, I have all the t shirts and they all have warts!

Amazing stuff Flipp!

1:38 and 1:58 reminded me of Elastomania.

Thanks dude. Like Liam Neeson, I will find you. And I will message you. Edit: I found you. And I messaged you.

Go for another Shimano.

My roof? You wanna see the other side... I think I could fit my head in the hole. I've put a lot of hours in tweaking it this last week and it now drives very well. Have quite a lot of scuttle shake though so wondering if @dann2707 will be kind enough to sell me a set of door bushings If anyone is interested in a shit example of a rather good 18 year old Japanese car, then have a look here: https://www.mr2roc.org/forum/index.php?topic=69843.0