which year is the best?

[200SXGTi-R]

is there a prefered year for the 2nd gen...like my boy said the 91 are better for some reason. what are the changes throughout the years 90-95? what websites can i find factory specs on everything about the car and the years? are the jdm engines more powerful, stronger, better desing in some areas or they are pretty much the same?

[JekylandHyde]

93 had several changes:
*front air damn
*larger throttle body inlet
*better synchros
*extra subwoofer (8 speaker set up instead of 7)
*suspension geometry changed slightly
*larger brakes
*larger wheels (15" instead of 14")
94 changes:
*different spoiler
*different tail lights

A lot of serious reacers prefer the 91 suspension set up. It has more of a tendency to over steer.

I prefer 91s because there are more of them and they are much cheaper to buy

[200SXGTi-R]

so the motors are prety much the same. whats the difference between USDM and JDM?

[JekylandHyde]

The US and JD motors were tehe samea until the gen III. There is a 3rd gen JDM motor in Japapn. It is rated at 225 hp compared to the 200 HP of the gen II.

So what I say.

Not worth the hassle of not being able to get parts for it here in the US. Lots of people have gone to Gen III .... I see no point to it personally.

[200SXGTi-R]

i agree...just test drove a 92 today and is has some problems but i'll take it

[MR2Driver]

Pre-congrats on the 2

[ghetto7o2azn]

i thought the jdm 3rd gen had 245 and and the 2nd gen has 225 cause in 1994 in japan they went to the ct20b turbo... or am i getting mixed up ??

im pretty sure the 2nd gen mr2 has always had at least 225 hp in japan

[200SXGTi-R]

i remember reading in a magazine some guy did the jdm swap for the 245 hp....i think

[JekylandHyde]

You are all probably right on this ... I honestly would never consider doing a JDM swap, so I am not as "up" on them as I could be.

Thanks for the corrections.

[HondaChili]

there is no way we will ever know for sure, i have a jdm motor. from what i hear they are all about the same, us or jdm spec. the only difference that i have discovered in the two are that the jdm engine has a higher set fuel cut limit at 13-14 psi (forgot which one), the us is 12 and the jdm motor has less smog restrictions than the us because well simply the japanese people dont care about smog. Lucky bastards!!!!!

[200SXGTi-R]

one guy said it made 260hp!

[200SXGTi-R]

hyde...what setup are you running to make those 11 sec times. i want to better than a 12.6 reliably and consistently...what do you suggest? my se-r ran 12.81 @15psi and i want to beat that with my MR2. I could have run a better time but i had no traction for 20psi.

[Tach_it]

no shit those are damn good times for 308whp, unless Hyde you are a good driver, I assume.

[JekylandHyde]

Tach it, I dynoed at 308 rwhp @ 20 psi on a really hot day. I ran a pair of 11.7s on a cooler day, lower elevation and at 22.5 psi of boost (figure at least 20 more rwhp). The 11s were probably in the 325-335 rwhp range.

As for me being a good driver, I have my complete history of 85+ passes in Hyde here:
http://www.jekylhyderacing.com/slips.htm
It was not such an attractive start ... I have put a lot of effort into improving my driving.

200SXGTi-R, my complete mod list is on my Web site under Hyde.
The slips page I referenced above lists each mod I did and the affect on improving my ETs.

Here is a copy/paste I made yesterday on the MR2 board about getting a "free" .4 in the 1/4:

Improve your ETs by .4 without mods
Last season, I learned that I could improve my ETs by at least .2 by improving my shifting (faster and staying on throttle)

Last season, I had a total of two 60's in the 1.7s.
Those 2 were my frist two runs on a new tranny, LSD and motor mounts.
That is two out of 32 attempts! I only had four 60's in the 1.8s.
I was not pleased with 6 good launched out of 32.

It was my goal this season to improve my launch.
With the tires and power I have, I should be able to get a more consistent good launches.

So far in '04, I have 13 runs in and my 60's look like this:
One in the 1.6s = 7.7% compared to '03 = 0%
Four in the 1.7s = 30.8% compared to '03 = 6.2%
Five in the 1.8s = 38.5% compared to '03 = 12.5%

The only change over the winter was the weight savings (About 145 lbs) and how I am launching the car. I honestly spent time "thinking" about launching & shifting ~ visualization as they call it.

I guess what I am getting at, is there is so much "free time" out there to improve upon. Years ago I used to criticize drag racers ... "anyone can drive fast in a straight line"
I retract all of those statements ... doing it right and doing it consistent is not easy.

As I have often heard NoShoes say, "work on the nut behind the wheel."

Improving your launch and improving your shifts could easily get you .4 if you do not have it down already.
If everyone could increas .4 ... we would have over 60 MR2 in the 12s! (going by the current registry).

[KiwiMR2]

With regards to JDM...225 type II 245 type III, I can post some differences if you really want....which IMO make a big difference.

Cheers
KiwiMR2