Ultimate Street Car Challenge 02: 2000 MR2 Spyder

James Chen of Los Angeles, Calif., can drive pretty much anything he wants. He won USCC last year with a near-stock Ferrari F360 Modena and he owns a Porsche 911 Turbo, a Bentley Turbo R and several big-buck SUVs, but he chose a Toyota MR2 Spyder to be his really fast car.

"I think the platform has the most potential for all-around performance," he says looking at the silver two-seater. "It's just about the lightest car you can buy. Unlike a Miata or Civic, it's mid-engined and rear-wheel drive. I like my Ferrari and my Porsche--I just prefer the way a car handles with the engine behind me. There's just no other car that size that can hang with the big boys.

"The downside? James' MR2 is on its fourth engine. When the car was originally built, the plan was for about 200 hp at the wheels. That was enough to make it a fun little car but, as James says, "Power is addictive." He got greedy and turned the boost up to 12 psi. The engine blew. When we tested it for the June 2001 issue, James had just bought a new block and ran a conservative 8 psi. The car made 235 hp and 205 lb-ft on the Dynojet and ran a 12.9-second quarter mile.Soon, James turned the boost up to 12 psi again to race some of his friends with their Ferraris. That time, he learned. He bought two engines. One he put in the car just to run; the other, he built.

Teddy Hiraoka, of Mavrik Motorsports in Santa Fe Springs, Calif., built the new engine. The block was machined at Taylor Engines in Santa Fe Springs for Darton sleeves, allowing the bore to be increased 2mm to 81mm. The crank was welded, stroked 5mm to 96.5mm, knife-edged and lightened 5 pounds by Castillo's Crankshaft. Final displacement is 1989cc. JE forged pistons yielding 10.0:1 compression were teamed with Crower rods and ARP rod bolts.

Teddy also ported and polished the head, lightened the flywheel by 2 pounds, and installed a Clutch Specialties clutch assembly.The original turbo system, designed by Je-Kin Loke (Luke) was reused, but a new turbo was sourced through Tod Kaneko, owner of last year's USCC rotary 510. It's a Garrett GT2540 (which is completely different than an HKS GT2540), with a T04E, 54-trim compressor. Luke says it will flow 44 lb/hr, giving it the potential for close to 400 hp at the wheels at 20 psi. From what we've already seen, that seems possible, and Teddy says the engine is built to take it.Unfortunately, the engine was put in the car only two days before the USCC, and Team Axis Wheels had just one day to tune. James said it was limited by fuel flow with the 420cc Honda S2000 injectors.

The chassis wears TRD chassis braces and Axis Mag-Lite four-spoke wheels, which were designed specifically for a 4x100mm bolt pattern, allowing tight packaging around the lug holes and the elimination of a lot of unnecessary material. That helped Axis attain a weight of just 13.8 pounds for a 17x7-inch wheel. Project u brake pads have been added.The interior remains the same, with Sparco Roadster seats and matching interior trim sewn by Stitchcraft, in Westminster, Calif. Audio Options installed a full Clarion audio system, with a head unit feeding a 200-watt amp and 8-inch subwoofers behind the seats.James' Ferrari walked all over much of the USCC competition last year. This car is 700 to 800 pounds lighter, and may make about the same power. Fuel economy shouldn't be a problem, and we know it does well in handling and acceleration tests. Hell, it was our inspiration for our own Project MR2 Spyder. As James has said, "The MR2 Spyder has the right potential to spank a bunch of cars." If USCC has taught us anything, it's that we don't know what to expect. We'll have to wait and see if the MR2 has what it takes.

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