While most car builds revolve around the usual suspects like Hondas and Mitsubishis, its a refreshing sight to see someone delve into something different. How different? Well how about the curvaceous, second-gen Toyota MR2. With a mid-engine rear drive layout, 50-50-weight distribution and a perky 2.2-liter engine, it certainly has all the elements for the makings of an awesome tuner car.
Take our featured car here for example that’s loaded with all the right bits without going overboard. Starting with the exterior, the owner chose to enhance the bodylines to get a serious JDM tuner look. A front bumper from Border Racing was put in place along with a rear diffuser. Other exterior mods include a rear wing/spoiler, engine lid, aero side mirrors, and a hybrid side skirt. All of which were made by Bomex that’s a highly popular Japanese body kit company. The combination of the JDM aero styling and the immaculate white paint looked spot on, but the owner wasn’t about to stop there. Starting with a set of Rays Engineering Volk Racing 17-inch GR-AV3 staggered wheels; it was then shod with Dunlop tires (205/Front, 235/Rear). Not wanting to drastically alter the MR2’s already naturally balanced handling, Bilstein short stroke dampers with KG/MM lowering springs were chosen that also lower the MR2 with a righteous amount of stance.
Power-wise, this USDM unit comes with a normally aspirated 2.2-liter 5SFE engine that’s far from stock. Why? The owner has opted to install dyno-proven bolt-on mods such as, an XS Motorsport exhaust header, Apexi rear muffler, AEM intake tube and air filter. They also hooked up a Greddy e-Manage piggyback ECU to let the ECU take advantage of the aforementioned aftermarket bolt-on parts. This piggyback unit allows the tuner to adjust a broad range of performance-oriented parameters together with the factory ECU, thus gaining more horses. Tuning and maintenance duties are handled by Titan Works and Autogiko Repair Center.
It’s never an easy task to fix up any car, let alone something like this MR2 that doesn’t have as much aftermarket parts readily available like a Honda does. But that’s just part of the hobby, for its the thrill of the chase (tracking down parts) that makes it all worthwhile. Most especially when you have an MR2 just like this parked in your garage.
1991 USDM Toyota MR2 (SW21, California Ed.)
Exterior:
- Border Racing Japan Front Bumper
- Border Racing Japan Rear Diffuser/Spats
- Border-Bomex Hybrid Side Skirts by Neosdesigns UK
- Bomex Japan Type 1A Rear Wing/Spoiler
- Bomex Japan Engine Lid
- Bomex Japan Aero Side Mirrors
- Altezza-Style Smoked Tailights by Ultra Cosmetic Lighting UK
- Front Bumper Clear Signal/Indicators by Ultra Cosmetic Lighting UK
- Rogue Motorsports UK Rev 6 Rear Center Panel/Garnish
- Bosch Germany 8000k HID conversion kit on fog lamps
- OEM Koito Fog Lamps
Interior:
- MOMO 3-Point Safety Harness
- MOMO Harness Pads
- MOMO Shift Knob
- Toms Short Shift Conversion
- OEM MR2 Steering Wheel with airbag & cruise control
- OEM blue leather interior
- Pioneer CD/MP3 Headunit
- Pioneer Speakers
Chassis:
- 17” Volk Racing/Rays Engineering GR-AV3 staggered wheels
- Cusco Strut Brace (Rear)
- Cusco Strut Brace (Front)
- Front tires: Dunlop R17/205/40
- Rear tires: Dunlop R17/235/45
- Bilstein Toyota Short Stroke Shock Absorbers
- KG/MM lowering springs
Engine:
- 2.2L 5SFE (NA)
- Bee*R Rev Limiter
- Greddy e-Manage (Blue, Piggy-Back type)
- XS Motorsport 4-1 Exhaust Manifold
- APEXi Dunk Megaphone Exhaust
- AEM Air Filter
- AEM Air Intake Tube (with K&N sticker haha)
- Aftermarket Red Silicone Hoses
- Garage Fukui Volt/Ground Stabilizer
- Garage Fukui Battery Cut-off Switch
- Aftermarket Ground Wiring
- Royal Purple 10w40 Synthetic Oil
- Royal Purple Power Steering Fluid
- Royal Purple Purple Ice Coolant
- Motolite 2SM Battery
Tuning & Maintenance:
- Titan Works (Quezon City)
- Autogiko Repair Center (Makati City)
Auto Club:
- Club MR2
