There isn't a single high-glamour part on Brad Bedell's MR2. The body is basically stock, the interior is basically stock, the stock suspension geometry is in place, the brakes are dang near stock and the engine is out of a Camry. Come on, is there anything more run of the mill than a Camry?
Its parts may be mundane, but as a whole Bedell's yellow Toyota manages somehow to be exotic. It takes someone with some knowledge to recognize it, but look at how the car squats on those 17-inch 5Zigen Typhoon wheels. Kind of menacing, huh? Those are Toyo Proxes RA-1 tires-serious rubber. And those dual exhaust tips sure don't look like they're evacuating the waste gases of a puny four. But the clincher is when Bedell starts the car and it idles with a burble and blower whine. To those outside the performance church, it's just another MR2. To us true believers, this thing is a supercharged angel of righteous V6 fury.
Although the car was originally built in Japan by Toyota, the vast majority of the work that has brought it to its current condition, including the paint and body, was done in Bedell's own Plano, Texas, garage. He bought the car, a 1991 turbo, brought it home and immediately began stripping it to nearly bare metal.
Working with a clean, painted surface he started by shoving in the 1MZ-FE 3.0-liter, DOHC, 24-valve Toyota V6 that was originally installed in the Camry, Solara, Avalon and ES300. Mated to it is a five-speed manual transmission from a '99 Solara, a Clutch Masters Stage 3 Kevlar clutch and a Quaife Type-ATB limited-slip differential. That diff feeds axles fitted with CNC-machined and hardened inner axle joints for additional beef under stress.
That stress is mostly due to the TRD supercharger system heaving air into the 1MZ-FE. Built around a 62-cubic-inch Eaton Roots-style blower, the TRD kit is supposed to swell the output of the V6 (as installed on a Y2K Solara) from 200 to 270 hp when pushing 4.5 pounds of boost. With a smaller pulley set, Bedell spins his Eaton faster so it creates up to 9 pounds of squish. Bedell has also ported the heads, dropped the compression ratio to 9.15:1 using Arias pistons on Eagle rods, installed metal head gaskets off a later-model VVT-i version of the engine, and sewn everything up with ARP studs.
Fuel is thrust in by a Supra Turbo fuel pump, which feeds a set of 440cc injectors (also from a Supra) through an Aeroquip adjustable pressure regulator. An Autronic SM2 stand-alone ECM does the decision making while an Autronic CDI ignition sparks it. On top of all that, Bedell threw on a Nitrous Express 125-hp direct-port shot of N20 just in case.
The suspension retains all the standard 1991 MR2 links with the notable exception of a 1995 rear crossmember that, Bedell says, effectively corrects the bumpsteer that's otherwise inherent in '91 and '92 models. The shocks are Tein coil-overs both front and rear, and the TRD front anti-roll bar is matched by a 1995 MR2 anti-roll bar in the back. TRD also supplied the bushings and the strut tower brace. The already-mentioned Toyo RA-1s run 235/40R-17 in front and 255/40R-17 in back. And the 5Zigen Typhoon wheels measure 8 inches wide in front (35mm offset) and 9 inches wide in the rear (43mm offset).
The brakes also come from the '95 model MR2 including the rotors, calipers and ABS pieces. ATE Superblue brake fluid runs through a Goodridge SS brake line kit according to pressure generated by a slightly oversize master cylinder. Bedell likes to swap between EBC Red brake pads for track excursions and EBC Green pads for the street.
The front lip spoiler, taillights and rear wing are all from a '95 MR2, while the side scoops were fabbed up especially for this car. The paint is PPG Tri-Stage yellow.
On the inside Bedell added Schroth four-point harnesses, a three-spoke steering wheel and a shift knob with red stitching from a JDM '98 MR2. He also switched the instrument cluster over to a wire-driven '95 speedo, but it looks dead stock to the untrained eye.
When Bedell was running the MR2 with just 7 pounds of blower boost, it ran, he says, a best of 13.0 in the quarter mile at 106 mph. That's pretty dang Ferrari-like. And with the 9 pounds now aboard he's claiming 306 hp with more than 260 lb-ft of torque available from just 2200 to 6500 rpm. In other words, it pulls hard enough to pull the truth out of George W. Bush, John Kerry and Ralph Nader simultaneously.
You'd think that all the work he has into this MR2 would make Bedell sick of the car. But somehow he found time amid all this to build a V6-powered MR2 for his wife too.
1991 Toyota MR2EngineEngine Code: 1MZ-FEType: 2995cc supercharged V6, aluminum block and headsInternal Modifications: Ported heads, lowered compression to 9.15:1, Arias pistons, Eagle rods, ARP head studs, metallic head gaskets from VVT-i versionExternal Modifications: TRD Supercharger, 9-psi pulley set, 3-in. cold-air intake pipe, Aquamist water/alcohol injection, stainless-steel 2.25-in. custom headers and exhaust, Supra MK III 440cc injectors, Supra Twin-Turbo fuel pump, Aeroquip adjustable fuel pressure regulator, NX Wet Kit 125-hp shotEngine Management Modifications: Autronic SM2 stand-alone computer, Autronic CDI ignition, Dakota Digital tach adaptor
DrivetrainLayout: Transverse mid-engine, rear-wheel driveDrivetrain Modifications: Camry Solara five-speed manual transmission, Fidanza aluminum flywheel, Clutch Masters Stage 3 Kevlar clutch, Quaife Type-ATB limited-slip differential
Suspension Front: Tein HA coil-overs, TRD anti-roll barRear: Tein HA coil-overs, 1995 MR2 anti-roll bar
BrakesFront: Stock 1995 MR2 10.8-in. diameter rotors, EBC Red pads on track, EBC Green pads on streetRear: Stock 1995 MR2 11.0-in. diameter rotors, EBC Red pads for track, EBC Green pads for street
ExteriorWheels: 17x9 in. 5Zigen Typhoon w/43mm offset Tires: 235/40R-17 (F) and 255/40R-17 (R) Toyo Proxes RA-1Body: Stock body with 1995 MR2 front lip spoiler, taillights and rear wing, custom-built side scoops, PPG Indy yellow Tri-Stage pearl paint
InteriorSchroth four-point harnesses, 1998 JDM MR2 three-spoke steering wheel and shift knob with red stitching, Pioneer head unit with Boston Acoustic Pro separates speakers instrumentation modified to accept 1995 wire-driven speedometer