Very Confused

My 91 turbo had been running 15.1's at low 90's in the 1/4 mile with a 2.0 60'. Everyone say's that these cars run 14.6 stock, so I figure I'm missing some power. Well I took the car to the dyno to take a look at the A/F ratio, and to my surprise, the car made 188hp and 200lb-ft of torque. So now I'm thinking I'm just a bad driver, and have my dad drive the car. Same results. Like I said, a 2.0 60', redline first and shift at 5500 for the other gears. One thing that was different when I did the dyno run, was that the car had Gumout in the gas tank. I don't think that this acts as an octane booster, but now I am not sure. I don't have any extra weight in the car from an audio system or anything like that. One thing that I noticed, was that on the sticker in the driver side door, the car is rated at weighing 3370lbs.. I've heard that they were 2800lbs.. This car is a 91 with T-tops, full leather interior,and factory limited-slip. Could my car weigh more than other's, or is this the normal performance that I can expect? Any help would be appreciated because I am very confused.

It could be weight, or tires, or your oil, or clutch, worn out cap and rotor..... a lot of things could be taking power, or not allowing it to get to the ground.

what have you done to the car in terms of upgrades?

Upgrades include HKS exhaust, K&N filter, GReddy intercooler and boost controller set at 14 psi. I bought a new cap, rotor, wires, and fuel filter from toyota about 7,000 mi. ago. The plugs are new, and are the NGK BKR7E. Wheels are 17 in. enkei EVO 5's with BFGoodrich G-Force Sport tires. There is no audio system or bodykit or anything to add weight to the car. The car made 188hp yet it run's slower than a stock MR2 should run. With a 2.0 60', I would assume that the clutch is fine. Suspension is fine, besides, I think a worn out suspension would actually help at the drag strip, as it would allow the car to squat on take off. Like I said, the only difference in the car during the dyno run, was the Gumout in the gas tank. I have not ran the car down the strip since the dyno run or since putting Gumout in the tank, but I don't think the Gumout made a difference since it cleans, and is not an octane booster. Also the car did not feel any stronger with the Gumout.

wow that sucks also that 14.6 is 14.7 and its by pros so dont feel bad do you have full exhaust or just a muffler or a tip? the 17s will rob u a bit you can launch at higher rpms but itll slow u down for sure they came with stock i think 15s mabey 14s. quisten how do you have stock limitied slip? as far as i know that didnt come on usdm mr2s till 93... or am i wrong?

The exhaust is the HKS Hi-Power exhaust which goes from the primary cat back, and eleminates the secondary cat. Yeah my 91 came with 14 in. wheels, but even with those it ran the same times. I think in 91 and 92 few mr2's came with limited slip, and then, in 93, it became standard. Also, I know it has limited slip because that's what the burn out marks on my garage floor tell me.:grinyes:

targa tops ARE heavier..... roof's heavier and there's extra bracing to stiffen them up. leather and options are also heavier. and i wonder how much dirt is under the carpet after all these years?

also... what sort of Dyno? some read higher than others....

The dyno used was a Dynojet.

i guess theres just that big of a difference from professional drivers and amatuers sorry buddy

Well, that's what it looks like. Also, does anybody know if Gumout acts as an octane booster, and what the stock boost is because on low boost, the car does not pull at all. I think the highest I've seen in low boost was 8.4psi..

I just bought an HKS VPC and was wondering if I am going to need to have the car dyno tuned after installing it, or, if I can buy a chip from HKS for my specific mods, and run the car like that with no problems.

hmmm 188 hp at 14.5psi , correct if i'm wrong but doesn't that seem abit low with the mods he has on? I know i haven't been in an MR2 for a while but i remmeber making more power than that with those same mods. I also agree with envy that the pros drive the cars way better than us common folks. Can't expect to pull out a 13.5 with a stock STI unless you have tried so many many times. Plus there are too many discrepancies in the euqation. Temperature, altitude, mechanical malfunction, driver error all play a role in running times. It is too hard to exactly pin point the source.

BTW: Wassup DAN, and Jekly and hyde. Long time no see, how are things? I am currently ghosting on AF so ill be dropping in and out. Sorry to half hi-jack this thread but i figured it was better than starting a new one.

turbotoyota, the weight rating on teh door is how much the car can carry totla if you load it up (passengers, luggage, etc).

The turbo MR2 weighs around 2800-2950 lbs.

Your 2.0 in the 60' is an average launch, not a great one.
If you would nail a 1.8, like a pro driver, you would be right down to 14.6-14.7.

The car is rated for 14.7-14.8 stock.

You said your car is a 91 with sotck LSD, there is no such thing unless you added it. LSd was not an option on the MR2 until 1993.

BTW: Wassup DAN, and Jekly and hyde. Long time no see, how are things?
Good ... can't complain much.
Well over 550 rwhp now :) ... just wish I could stop.

Sorry about the wrong information on the lsd. I can't remember where I got it from but it made sense to me because my car pulls with both tires. So I guess a previous owner had it installed.

... I got it from but it made sense to me because my car pulls with both tires. So I guess a previous owner had it installed.

All MR2s pull with wheels. It is completely possible to lay dual burnouts tracks with an open0diff MR2.

Well at stock boost levels a 2.0 60' gave me a 16.1 in the 1/4 mile. So if I was able to hit a 1.8 60', could it really put me at around a 14.7? Also, the trap speed has never been higher than 93 mph at stock boost or at 14psi. Isn't this kind of low or is it normal?

Well at stock boost levels a 2.0 60' gave me a 16.1 in the 1/4 mile. So if I was able to hit a 1.8 60', could it really put me at around a 14.7? Also, the trap speed has never been higher than 93 mph at stock boost or at 14psi. Isn't this kind of low or is it normal?

At most, you can expect .2 for every .1 gain in the 60'.
So if you go from 2.0 down to a 1.8, you might see a .4 drop in your ET.
That would get you down to a 15.7. No way the launch is going to get you down to a 14.7

I suspect one of three things or all of them:
*you are missing your ideal shift point
*you are shifting way to slow
*your car is really down on power

Your mph with your slow ET indicates you are down on power.
How old is your ignition compinents? (cap, rotor, wires and plugs)?

Yeah I didn't think it was possible to get the ET that much quicker with a 1.8 60', but JekylandHyde in one of your previous posts you mentioned that a 1.8 should get me around 14.7 from a 15.2 1/4 mile assuming I can shift properly the rest of the way down the track. I think that you may have misunderstood and thought that the car was stock. As far as shift points go, I redline 1st and shift at about 5500 for 2nd, 3rd, and finish in 4th. I'm shifting as fast as I can, which may or may not be fast enough. Well I figured it was missing power too, so I got it on the dyno and it actually made 188hp and 200ft/lb of torque at 14 pounds of boost. Couldn't tell you what rpm peak power was at because I never got the dyno sheet from the shop. I was there for the dyno run but can't remember where it peaked. As for the trap speed, it has always stayed between 91 and 93 mph from the time the car was stock to where I have it now.

Yeah I didn't think it was possible to get the ET that much quicker with a 1.8 60', but JekylandHyde in one of your previous posts you mentioned that a 1.8 should get me around 14.7 from a 15.2 1/4 mile.
In the previous post you said you went 15.2 ... now you are saying 16.1.
That's a HUGE difference, especially for having the same mph and same 60'.

Do you have some insanely heavy rims and tires on there?

Sorry I forgot to put down that the 16.1 was at stock boost while the 15.2 was at 14 psi. But yeah, it was the same 2.0 60' BUT MY MISTAKE, I just found a timeslip that shows a 16.1 at 83 mph. So, at STOCK BOOST the car ran 16.1 at 83mph and at 14 PSI the car ran 15.2 always between 91-93mph. Sorry, I know I must have you really confused by now. The wheels are enkei EVO 5's with 235/40/17 on the back and 215/40/17 on the front. Not exactly sure how heavy they are but they don't feel to bad.

So today I noticed that with TE1 and E1 connected, if I brought the rpm up off of idle the CHECK ENGINE light displayed code 51. But as soon as I let the car idle, the CHECK ENGINE light steadily flashed as if there were no codes. So I turned the car off and then back on and there were no codes displayed. Is this normal? Can I trust that the car actually does have a code 51?

Code 51 is for the 5SFE engine, not the 3SGTE.
Code 52 is the knock sensor code for the 3SGTE and that would definitely affect performance.

My Toyota repair manual says that code 51 for the 3sgte is a switch condition signal. Just wondering if it is normal or not that it only shows up when the car is revved up off of idle.

I didn't see that at the end .. wonder why it is not in numerical order?!

Not sure why it is not in numerical order, but do you know if it is normal or not that it does not show up all of the time? Also wanted to ask if it could be possible to have a bad knock sensor but not set a code? And how could I test it to see?

So I checked the cam timing and with the motor set at TDC, the exhaust is off by an 1/8th of an inch. Is this enough to cause a loss of power? Should I correct it?