Bnicho's 1985 AW11 Toyota MR2

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bnicho
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Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 8:35 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Bnicho's 1985 AW11 Toyota MR2

#1 Post by bnicho » Sun May 29, 2011 6:06 am

This car I acquired almost by accident.

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I used to own an 1988 AE82 Toyota Corolla Seca with a glorious 4AGE twin cam engine. It was my grassroots track car and was terrific fun. I sold it some time ago and regretted it afterwards.

Anyway, last year when I bought my Beetle and started using it daily I no longer needed my old daily. It was a tidy 1980 Toyota Corona Liftback. Essentially I just got bored with it!

On a Toyota forum I regularly haunt there was a temptingly cheap 1985 Toyota MR2 for sale. It was a bit scruffy and had been for sale for months with no takers. The seller needed something larger and said he would consider a swap for a Corolla estate or similar.

An early MR2 is a car I've often admired from afar. Unkillable 4AGE mechanicals (like my old Corolla) combined with great handling from the mid-engined layout. I never thought I would actually own one. Yet here was one right under my nose.

It was small enough to fit on my car trailer if necessary. Best of all, being a 1985 build it was now 25 years old so it qualified for cheaper but more restrictive Historic registration. So I could drive it to the track rather than trailer it.

One e-mail exchange later and I found the MR2 owner was interested in my Corona Liftback. An appointment was made and I wafted across Melbourne in the Corona to check out this MR2.

That O-So-80's wedge shape, squishy red and black velour seats, white wheels, pop-up lights and a rorty exhaust. Plus the unashamedly impractical mid-engined layout. The MR2 also came with a heap of useful spares. I was sold. The MR2 owner was equally happy with my tidy old Corona and we shook on a direct swap deal. Don't you just love it when things work out that nicely!

When I arrived home and proudly parked my new purchase out the front, one of my neighbours thought it was a Lotus. :D

So, what exactly did I get? Well, it's a 1985 AW11 MR2 and its quite possibly the oldest MR2 in Australia. The MR2 wasn't released in Australia until 1988, this car actually started life in America. I'm a real softy when it comes to cars with an odd history and this car is no exception.

Some nutter shipped it to Australia in 1986 as a personal import, before the MR2 was released here. Back then Left-Hand-Drive cars were banned in Australia, so a Right Hand Drive conversion was required, probably at huge expense.

The RHD conversion appears to have been done very well. But there are few giveaways that the steering wheel used to be on the other side. The wipers sweep the wrong way, the lumbar support and height adjusment are fitted to the wrong seat and the speedometer is still graduated in miles-per-hour.

It's had a biff in the right rear corner which has only been roughly beaten out and there are various other battle scars. The paint is an amatuer job which may have been performed with spraycans. The carpets, stereo, air con and various bits of trim inside has been removed to save weight. In short, just right for my intended purpose. After all, it doesn't need to be pristine for the track.

I did some dipping into the car's history. Thanks to a stateside contact I was able to establish that the car was sold new at Cabe Toyota, Long Beach, California in July 1985.

All the MR2 needed was some new rack bushes and it passed inspection for Historic plates. No complaints there. Then it was just the small matter of adding a few stickers and some bonnet pins to ready it for the track. But the first service was not fun, with the oil filter tucked in a rather inaccessible location!

So how does it perform? Well the extra 200kg of weight over my old Corolla is noticeable under acceleration. But the pin-sharp handling and more driver-friendly layout of the controls more than compensates. It encourages you to chuck it into corners hard and the lovely exhaust note just screams more!

Now my Beetle's clutch has expired, I have been using the MR2 daily for a few days. It hadn't been driven for eight months, but with a freshly charged battery it started first try. Typical Toyota reliability!

Cheers,
Brett Nicholson
1965 Morris Mini Traveller - Trixie
1966 Austin Mini Super-Deluxe - Audrey
1969 Morris Mini Van - Desert Assault Van
1971 Morris Moke - Mopoke
1974 VW Super Beetle - Olive
2009 Nissan Pathfinder

bnicho
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Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Bnicho's 1985 AW11 Toyota MR2

#2 Post by bnicho » Sun May 29, 2011 8:33 am

yoeddynz wrote:Cool- I used to own a supercharged version. A 4agze engine. Lovely it was! I think 160bhp with a nice spread of torque from quite lowdown.
I also used to regularly spin it around- 360 degrees on many occasions. I think this was due to constantly jumping from driving my first ever car which was a ponderous triumph 2500 into my MR2 with its quick steering. I never learned....
They all have a tendency to swap ends, so I'm told. Like an early 911, apparently it happens without warning. The previous owner told me about spinning on a roundabout once in the wet and exiting the roundabout backwards. I haven't managed to achieve it yet. :)

I'd love to fit a 4AGE 20 valve engine to it someday. A 4AGZE would definitely be better, but would cause too many issues with class regulations for motorsport.
Brett Nicholson
1965 Morris Mini Traveller - Trixie
1966 Austin Mini Super-Deluxe - Audrey
1969 Morris Mini Van - Desert Assault Van
1971 Morris Moke - Mopoke
1974 VW Super Beetle - Olive
2009 Nissan Pathfinder

rich.
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Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 9:18 pm

Re: Bnicho's 1985 AW11 Toyota MR2

#3 Post by rich. » Sun May 29, 2011 9:03 am

ive always liked those, but id settle for the later version, they are "cheap"..

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Mrotwoman
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Re: Bnicho's 1985 AW11 Toyota MR2

#4 Post by Mrotwoman » Mon May 30, 2011 3:41 pm

It looks nice without the rear spoiler we are used to over here.
Have you forgotten that once we were brought here we were robbed of our names,robbed of our language,we lost our religion,our culture,our God? And many of us by the way we act,we even lost our minds.

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JPB
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Re: Bnicho's 1985 AW11 Toyota MR2

#5 Post by JPB » Mon May 30, 2011 4:53 pm

Mrotwoman wrote:It looks nice without the rear spoiler we are used to over here.
Eureka!

I've been looking at the pics of the car on and off all day thinking; what is it that looks odd about that car? Now, thanks to Mrotwoman, I can worry about stuff that matters instead.
:) I do like the smoother look of the thing sans spoiler though and can't imagine that its presence would create anywhere near enough downforce at normal speeds to affect the snap oversteer that these can experience.
J
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true.. :oops:

bnicho
Posts: 761
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 8:35 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Bnicho's 1985 AW11 Toyota MR2

#6 Post by bnicho » Tue May 31, 2011 12:20 am

Well spotted guys. Because it is a very early MR2 it came without the spoiler and the
full-length side skirts. Amongst the spares that came with the car was a rear lid with spoiler. I tried it on the car but decided I prefer it without.
Brett Nicholson
1965 Morris Mini Traveller - Trixie
1966 Austin Mini Super-Deluxe - Audrey
1969 Morris Mini Van - Desert Assault Van
1971 Morris Moke - Mopoke
1974 VW Super Beetle - Olive
2009 Nissan Pathfinder

rich.
Posts: 6804
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 9:18 pm

Re: Bnicho's 1985 AW11 Toyota MR2

#7 Post by rich. » Wed Jun 01, 2011 10:20 am

do the bodykits etc make them any faster?, ive been wondering this for a while after seeing several cars with more plastic than pam anderson..

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TerryG
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Re: Bnicho's 1985 AW11 Toyota MR2

#8 Post by TerryG » Wed Jun 01, 2011 8:37 pm

If you are 17 and have a corsa then a bodykit will add "150bhp" and mean you can keep up with a porsche however in reality it probably makes no difference ;)
Understeer: when you hit the wall with the front of the car.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.

Aar0sc
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Re: Bnicho's 1985 AW11 Toyota MR2

#9 Post by Aar0sc » Wed Jun 01, 2011 8:42 pm

TerryG wrote:If you are 17 and have a corsa then a bodykit will add "150bhp" and mean you can keep up with a porsche however in reality it probably makes no difference ;)
Will it?

Brilliant; does anyone make them for Spitfires?
1977 Triumph Spitfire 1500; 1974 Jaguar E-Type OTS V12

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TerryG
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Re: Bnicho's 1985 AW11 Toyota MR2

#10 Post by TerryG » Wed Jun 01, 2011 8:53 pm

you only get the magic horsepower boost on corsas (saxos, 106s, etc) i'm afraid. also known to double horse power are painted drums on the rear or fake discs, M3 style door mirrors, chicken wire, electronic superchargers and "chipping" by putting a resistor in-line on the MAF sensor.
Gotta love teenagers ;)
Understeer: when you hit the wall with the front of the car.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.

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