Welcome to my world, my world of turbos, tyre smoke, and tuning...
Tuning cars, driving cars, testing parts, and complaining about everything. It's my job, and a the majority of my non-work life too...
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So, what's the story here? Go back a few years and if someone suggested to me to get a Mk3 MR2, AKA Toyota MR-S, AKA MR2 Roadster, AKA MR2 Spyder I'd have laughed at them, and no doubt said something along the lines of "No way, why would I want one of them slow cars for?". Yet here I am absolutely loving mine and realising how wrong I was about them! Let's face it though, as standard the looks aren't great, as standard they haven't exactly got any straight line performance, and most of all when you've never driven them so going by purely what you see, they have, especially in the UK, an absolutely awful reputation of just being some car older people own who want an open top "sports car" to potter about in, and 90% of modified ones are absolutely horrendously badly done. So yeah, all the above, plus my absolute hatred of working on the engines of other mid-engine cars which have been terrible to work on due to lack of access, made me have zero interest in them. So what changed? Well one day, my friend of over a decade, and owner of Zurawski Motorsport, Thomas Zurawski, pointed at a Mk3 MR2 that was parked outside the garage next door one day and said "I think I might get one of those, I think they'd be great with the right upgrades". I pretty much dismissed the idea as I was convinced they were crap, but thankfully he ignored me and bought a standard one a few months later. It all started with a Honda K-Series swap! His plans for the car meant, of course, more performance, and while his job for decades had been custom race car builds and engine swaps, he didn't want the hassle and just wanted to fit a bolt-in swap, and the internet tells the world a K-swap is king, so he bought a full K-swap kit from the states, and a K24 engine and Type-R gearbox, and set to work. Unfortunately this is where it soon became clear the swap kit was pretty terrible quality for the money spent and needed a lot of changes to be up to his standards, working on the engine once installed would be pretty horrible due to lack of space, and to get it ALL working, ie all the clocks etc etc to make a nice complete car, would be really, really, expensive. To make it worse, without a lot of work, it wouldn't be that fast, as while people on the internet will tell you a K series will do 500/700/1000/80000384832 horsepower on stock internals with a turbo, reality is different. Big power for a few seconds on a dyno or drag strip on race fuel or E85 is a whole different ball game to actually lasting any real road or track use on pump fuel, and even the K-series specialist tuners in the UK were all reluctant to tune it on stock internals past 375 horsepower or so on pump fuel. Fact is, while the heads flow incredibly so power potential is insane, stock internals, even stock block, is not very strong, and stock compression ratio is very high for boost and pump fuel, hence why so many people find their stock internal pump fuel turbo ones scattered all over the ground in no time, despite the amazing power they see people make on YouTube. The came the diesel... Thomas was constantly complaining about how badly the K-Swap stuff all fitted, how expensive it was getting, and so on, and kept saying "I should've just fitted that 1.9TDI on the floor there, I bet I could get it in in 10min and would fit much better" which to be fair was getting on my nerves, so I said "Go on then, prove it!" and he did lol. He pulled the K24 out and within literally 10min he had a VW 1.9TDI and 6 speed 02M gearbox in place in the MR2 engine bay on mock up mounts! As soon as we saw how well it fitted I think both our minds was instantly made up, he put the K-Swap stuff for sale, and he cracked on with the 1.9TDI swap! Everything fitted amazingly well and Thomas got the entire setup working so it worked like factory, including the factory clocks etc, and with some very basic upgrades it made 230 horsepower and a ton of torque and was mega fun to drive, video review of it here... I didn't want a TDI engine one, but driving this car made me realise these cars were AWESOME, and gave me an idea... After driving this car I was a changed man, from not understanding why someone would want one to wanting one instantly, so I was on the lookout for one straight away! Thing is, I'm not a diesel person, but I thought, if that engine will fit, and seeing as there was literally masses of room spare around it, a 1.8 20V Turbo engine might too... Well I was 100% sure the gearbox would fit as they are both the 6 speed 02M, and I was 95% sure the engine bolted up to the same mounts as the 1.9TDI as I knew the engines are closely related (a 1.9TDI crank can fit in a 1.8T block and it's also part the reason the 1.8Ts are so strong, much like 2.5 5cyl diesel Audis are very interchangeable with the 2.2 5cyl petrol blocks), and the way Thomas had made the mounts to put the engine in the CORRECT place (this is where most engine swaps go wrong- Whacking an engine in a bay is easy, getting it in the BEST place is the hard bit, and why so many engine swaps fit so badly and are horrible to work on!) it seemed like there would be plenty of room for the manifolds, so we had a go, and... It was AWESOME! The engine was an unopened stock engine, it made 265 horse and 300lbft on the dyno at 15psi (actuator was weak so that's all I could get) and it was a weapon, Dragy proven times of 0-60mph in 4.3seconds (with a 1.8sec 60ft on the street on 205 wide tyres), and 0-100 in 9.0seconds, faster than even what Evo magazine timed a £80,000 Porsche 997 GT3 at on massive semi-slicks back when it was new in 2007! It was CHEAP too! A mid-engine RWD car with the same acceleration as an £80k Porsche GT3 but the cost was, well, about £3500-4000! I cobbled loads of bits together such as the exhaust, intake, turbo setup, chargecooler, and so on from bits I already had lying around, and conversely spent good money on the parts that are indispensable for the swap, ie mounts, gear linkage, driveshafts, etc, and that, combined with the fact you can pick up 1.8Ts and 02M 6 speed boxes for pennies (I reckon I average £100 each over all the ones I've bought), it was a performance bargain. Even today, using the Zurawski Motorsport engine swap parts, I reckon £5000 is easily do-able, and £6000 without even trying. And nothing for that price is going to be as quick, especially when this is an all-rounder, not just straight line fast, but a proper awesome handling mid-engine weapon. The complete 1.8T engine and 6 speed box setup only weighs 5kg more than the factory 1ZZ engine and 5 speed gearbox. Absolutely no handling change, just a power transformation! And people seeing the awesome results of this conversion accidentally created a business out of it! These cars were built purely for fun, for me and Thomas to have the cars we wanted, had zero thought about making money for it, we built them how WE wanted them, but others saw them and wanted them too, and now because of that, Thomas makes and sells the entire kit for anyone who wants it! It's a bolt-in kit, no need to modify the subframe or bulkhead like on so many other swaps, everything works like factory, all the clocks, ABS, PAS, OBD2, even the check engine light, and its EASY to fit and work on- People have done the swaps on their driveway and with a lift it can be done in a weekend if you had all the parts and skills. The fact it's easy to live with an repair is the main thing for me personally. I don't care how fast a car is, if its expensive and hard work to fix, I don't want it. But with this swap the manifolds, turbo, alternator, starter, clutch, gearbox, cylinder head, sump, cambelt, water pump, literally EVERYTHING can be accessed and removed without removing the engine at all, unlike even the factory engine, never mind most swaps where servicing becomes a nightmare. Even the driveshafts can be removed without unbolting any suspension arms, unlike the factory ones. And as the 1.8T and 02M box is so incredibly common, genuine parts are cheap and usually in stock at your local motorfactors, complete used engines and boxes are super cheap, and there's no end of tuning options and parts, all for amazingly good prices. I didn't choose a 1.8T for no reason- I did as I know that for tuning, the prices, availability, and results, are better than anything for what you spend. SWAP KIT PRICES! These are the current prices for the kit bought directly from Zurawski Motorsport at the time I write this- MARCH 2024 Custom motorsport driveshafts- £800 These are made by a top UK motorsport driveshaft manufacturer to our specs, and uses OE VW/Audi inner CVs and Toyota (albeit not MR2) outer CVs. These also bolt on without unbolting suspension components, unlike the factory ones. Full engine and gearbox mount kit, plus gear linkage adaptors- £600 Made from TIG welded 316 stainless steel rather than painted mild steel like other swap kits, and fully CAD designed, these mounts have a lifetime warranty and fit directly to the original Toyota rubber mounts, meaning replacing or uprating the rubber section of the mounts is easy should you wish. The gear linkage adapters means you use your original Toyota shifter and shifter cables, unlike many other swaps that require you to change them for custom parts. Drive-by-wire throttle pedal adapter- £40 This swap replaces the factory Toyota cable throttle with a much more sophisticated DBW throttle from a VW/Audi, and this adapter plate allows it to bolt up directly to the MR2 chassis in place of the stock pedal. Coolant pipe mods- £150 While the factory MR2 cooling system is incredibly efficient, to make it work with a 1.8T needs a few clever changes, and that's what this kit allows to happen. Fuel system mods- £60 The factory Toyota fuel system is a non-return system, this allows you to convert it to a return system and includes the correct length fuel feed and return line to suit the factory 1.8T fuel rail. 3 inch (76mm) 316 stainless steel full turbo back exhaust system, inc sports cat and de-cat pipe- £800 Designed for the factory K04 turbo, this is proper 316 stainless steel unlike the poorer quality 304 of most aftermarket exhausts, and features a flex pipe, straight through silencer, and 400 cell sports cat and de-cat pipe. Air-water chargecooler kit inc mounting bracket and boost pipes- £800 Huge air-water chargecooler rated at 800bhp+, with a mounting bracket that fits to the OEM Toyota gearbox mount, complete with all boost pipes to fit from the factory K04 turbo and factory inlet manifold, and flange to bolt the factory MAP sensor to. This is a kit that genuinely works, unlike so many of the utterly useless intercoolers people attempt to use on K-swap and ZZ turbo setups! Custom 3in true cold air intake inc K&N filter- £400 Another massive failing of most turbocharged MR2s is them sucking huge amounts of hot air due to air filter position and the factory side ducts not actually forcing any air in to the bay at all (tested and proven!). One solution is this, which mounts the air filter and MAF sensor outside the engine bay for true ambient air, and has a 3in pipe going all the way to the turbocharger inlet. Trigger wheel kit inc new crankshaft damper- £200 A vital part of making the engine conversion work in the car like it was fitted to the MR2 from the factory is this trigger wheel kit. This consists of a 316 stainless steel sensor bracket, brand new crank damper with custom trigger wheel and alternator belt to suit. Custom hybrid wiring loom- £600 if supply donor looms, £700 without To make the conversion as easy as possible a loom is available that allows the factory 1.8T engine and ECU to plug in to the factory MR2 body loom and have all the sensors and clocks and so on working like a factory car would. The loom is a hybrid of a factory 1.8T and MR2 engine loom, and is almost completely plug-in, with just a few wires left to connect which are supplied fully labelled for easy fitment. ALL THE ABOVE IS INTENDED FOR FITMENT WITH THE '225 SPEC' 1.8T ENGINE WITH ITS FACTORY K04 TURBO ETC ETC AND THE 02M QUATTRO GEARBOX, IE THE MK1 TT OR MK1 S3 ENGINES, BUT UPON REQUEST CAN BE MODIFIED TO SUIT ANYTHING OR BUILT TO ANY SPEC AND/OR POWER YOU REQUIRE! BUT HOW DO YOU FIT IT? WELL IT'S EASIER THAN ANY OTHER SWAP, BUT I DON'T NEED TO EXPLAIN, AS I CAN SHOW YOU, HERE, IN THIS ULTRA DETAILED 4-PART SERIES! IN FACT, HERE'S A FULL PLAYLIST ON THE SUBJECT OF FITTING THESE ENGINES, HERE! SO... WHY a Mk3 MR2 anyhow rather than something else? And why a 1.8T engine? Well I'm glad you asked... Right, so first up, let's talk about the Mk3 MR2 itself. Why not a Mk1? Well, old and rusty for a start. Pretty cool, but aside from preferring the looks, zero advantage over these. Actually a bit heavier too. Why not a Mk2? Well, these are defo most peoples favourite, but they are also the ones that made me not really want a MR2, as I thought they were all like that. I've owned one and driven loads, inc well modified turbo ones, and they're by FAR the heaviest (1200-1300kg!), absolute bastards to work on due to the engine bay layout etc, and I don't like how they handle at all. How a Mk3 MR2 feels and handles vs a Mk2 is night and day, it feels like a proper lightweight great handling go-kart of a car, because it is. Weight is 975kg, and while it's mid-engine and RWD, its very progressive on the limit, not snappy at all like Mk2 MR2s and a lot of other mid-engine cars. It feels very much like a MX5 when on the limit, where you can transition from under to oversteer at will just with small changes to steering and throttle. I was pretty amazed, so much so I fancy taking one to a drift day. Anyone who uses the 'snap oversteer' excuse for crashing one in fairly normal driving like you see so often, is lying. Yeah you can oversteer and crash them like any other, but there's no sudden snap oversteer, they are not the most forgiving car, but don't feel any worse than a MX5 in my opinion. The amount of traction they have, which is another level to a front engine RWD car, and of course a FWD, and the way they handle massive power increases, are pretty incredible too. Even at 300+ they are insanely fast, scary to most people, but it doesn't make it an out of control beast, they handle power great. Stock brakes are great, stock stuff with good pads are plenty for even track use most the time. Stock suspension is awesome too if the geometry is decent, though uprated ARBs transform it. Even the stock cooling system is amazingly good- You won't overhead one unless something is very wrong. As they are popular track and race cars worldwide, there's every suspension and brake upgrade you could ever want available for these, as well as lightweight panels, cages, and more, so you are never going to struggle getting the bits you need. One pretty unique thing is EVERY body panel, even the rear quarters, unbolt! Almost no cars exist where the rear quarters unbolt, but these do, which can make working on them and fixing them much easier. Oh, and as cars go, they're amazingly un-rusty. Often look like crap underneath due to surface rust, but that's all it is. Pretty rare to have actual holes. What's the other options if you want a relatively modern lightweight (ie sub 1000kg) mid-engine car? Or even a lightweight front engine RWD car? Not much! Which is a big thing about these, they're pretty much in a class of their own. Lotus Elise and Exige of course, and they are super light, but also 10 times the price, and ridiculously small inside which can be a real ballache. But mostly, the price, the big big price. That money spent on a Mk3 MR2 would make it far faster than any Lotus. MGF? Shite. MX5, front engine so nowhere near as good for traction and power handling, and rusty too. But good. Just not as good as these. And I love tuned MX5s and have owned 6. Everything else? Crazy money or doesn't exist. So what is BAD about the Mk3 MR2 (aside from the engine)? I mean, nothing's perfect... Not that much to be fair, let's make a list for this one.
So! Why a use a 1.8 20V Turbo VW/Audi lump over pretty much everything else that could've been fitted? Well, sit back, and let me tell you a story... Chapter 1- Why NOT the other popular options there are kits for... 1ZZ Turbo- No, just no. Spend a lot of money trying to make a fairly mundane engine fast, and the results are the same. Disappointing performance for the money and a transmission that is too weak to handle it anyhow. 2ZZ swap- Without looking in to it, it sounds easy, like it would be a straight swap, hey presto, another 50 horsepower. But practically nothing fits, so it's a way bigger and more expensive job than it seems, with most companies charging the same or more to fit one of these than we would for a 1.8T swap! The 2ZZ makes a Honda engine feel like a V8 in comparison too due to it's insanely peaky powerband. It's as slow if not slower than a stock 1ZZ until 6500rpm, then wakes up a bit from then on, but still not that fast. So unless you're kicking the absolute shit out of it, it's as slow or slower than stock. 2ZZ turbos can make serious power, but never seem to be as good in power or reliability as other options for the money spent, and still have to deal with the weak Toyota transmission too. Not worth it IMO. K-Swap- Well, this whole thing started with a K-Swap remember! Don't get me wrong, they're amazing engines capable of ridiculous power. The cylinder head is a masterpiece. But for the money it costs to make any given amount of power, and with any given amount of reliability, a 1.8T is way cheaper, especially taking in to account a suitable transmission to handle the power. When fitted to a MR2 it is very cramped and hard to work on, even removing the alternator is a serious mission, making it not fun to live with, and they are very noticeably bigger and heavier than the 1.8T also. Honda fanboys won't agree, but feel free to prove to me your engine on pump fuel is making more power than mine for the money spent, or even better, show me your K-swapped MR2 that's faster than mine for the money spent. I'll wait. So far all the ones with similar or slower proven performance have had multiple times as much money spent on them than my 'inferior' 1.8T. What's better technically and what's better for the money is two different things, hence none of us are driving around in F1 engine swapped cars. 2AR swap- Only really seen these in the USA, but don't really see the appeal unless you really want to keep it Toyota powered for some odd reason. The fact it makes the exhaust side face the bulkhead makes turbocharged versions an absolute mess too. Various Toyota V6s- I know people like 'exotic' V6 noises (I think V6s sound like shit personally), but these are a massive pain to fit, insanely expensive if you pay someone to do it, and the end result is wildly mediocre power and a car that's one of the most horrendous things to even service you can think of unless you've made a removable rear bulkhead, which very few do. Not for me thanks. Chapter 2- Why I think the 1.8T is by far the best option. I think it's time for some more bulletpoint action...
Chapter 3- No engine is perfect, so let's talk about the BAD points... It's well known, but I'll mention it again- The weakest point is the factory rods. 300lbft of torque is about the safe limit, which is MORE than DOUBLE what the 1ZZ and 2ZZ engines make, and twice what a Honda K20 makes, so for a little Mk3 MR2, it's still lots, but it is a weak point. Problem is as well, thanks to the small standard turbo, it can make 300lbft+ at very low rpm too, and the lower the rpm any torque is made the harder it is on rods, and combine that with many engines being of unknown origin, age, and unknown condition, means running a stock 1.8T on a small turbo near the 300lbft limit is a risk. It really is a toss of a coin though, I've personally had a TT with a stock high mile 1.8T making 330lbft, way beyond the safe limits, that we constantly kicked the crap out of on track with zero issues. Yet if you're unlucky you could have an engine where the rods have already had a hard life and a much lower level of torque finally bends them. I've had 300lbft (deliberately capped at that level by the tuner) with a GOOD custom map done on the rollers by Badger5, and it was absolutely fine. But I've also broke rods by turning it up way beyond 300lbft. I've also seen people break them due to bad luck, a map that was a bit too spicy, or unexpected boost control issues etc causing overboost. You can never be sure. I know someone with a low boost K24 turbo setup that's broken 3 engines in a few thousand miles. It can happen to any stock engine. There's an argument to be said that as long as you use a relatively big turbo that doesn't spool too fast, and you have the engine mapped well so it doesn't exceed 300lbft if you can't help it, especially lower in the rpm range, you can get pretty big power levels with good reliability. I'd like to try, just to maybe 350 or so as I feel that could be safe if done right, but I've yet to try it. The stock rods dyno record is actually over 600 horsepower, but don't be under any illusions that is safe. Personally I think any build 300bhp or more is worth putting rods in, especially as they are so cheap. Exhaust valves- If you plan on refreshing or rebuilding a 1.8T, put new ones in. Either stock new ones or upgraded ones. Reason is they are a 2 piece design, and while perfectly strong from a power point of view, they weaken with old age and have very occasionally been known to break the head off, trashing the engine in the process, so risking 20+ year old exhaust valves on anything but a stock internal engine isn't worth the risk. Water pump- Not a bad point, but be aware. The factory water pump is good and reliable, but the plastic impeller wont last for ever, not 20 years for sure, so it's worth fitting a new one before you fit even a stock engine in your car. I didn't and then soon after had to in-situ, which wasn't hard, but would've been a lot easier before and wouldn't have left me calling the AA to recover me either! You can get aftermarket metal impeller ones, but if they ever failed they'd jam the cambelt, wrecking the engine, so sticking to plastic ones is a way safer move. Err, that's about it? If I think of anything more I'll add it! HOW DO I GET THIS KIT?! EASY! Either head over to the Zurawski Motorsport Facebook page- www.facebook.com/ZurawskiMotorsport1 and PM them there. OR drop an email to- [email protected] LET'S FINISH THIS MAMMOTH WRITE-UP WITH SOME PICS OF THE MR-S GT300 JGTC RACE CARS, WITH THEIR 4CYL TURBO ENGINES, FRONT MOUNT INTERCOOLERS, AND GENERAL AWESOMENESS... Comments are closed.
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Hi, I'm Stav...You may or may not have heard of me, but I've spent the last 20 years working full-time in the tuning scene, and the last decade or so writing for various car magazines. Archives
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