Discussion and technical advice the SW20 MR2. 3S-GTE, 3S-GE, 3S-FE etc
Anything and everything to do with maintenance, modifications and electrical is in here for the Mk2.
Hi folks,
Currently running a rev 3 na which has the following suspension upgrades:
Coilovers - need aligned as seem to have toe in and positive camber.
17inch wheels with 205\40 tyres all round
25mm hubcentric spacers on the rear
Near new budget tyres
The car handles great in the dry but grip is ABYSMAL in the wet!
Obviously a few of the above are contributing to this but what do people think is having the biggest effect?
Was going to start with either a 4 wheel.alignment or different wheels / tyres?
Thanks
You don't say what width the wheels are but you really want at least a 20mm difference in tyre width front to back (wider at the back of course)... start there. Then geo.
If you cant get the appropriate tyres on the wheels you'll have to change wheels... smaller is probably better.... 15s or 16s.
Check the wheel and tyre bible to see what fits what...
R.
You don't say what width the wheels are but you really want at least a 20mm difference in tyre width front to back (wider at the back of course)... start there. Then geo.
If you cant get the appropriate tyres on the wheels you'll have to change wheels... smaller is probably better.... 15s or 16s.
Check the wheel and tyre bible to see what fits what...
R.
You don't say what width the wheels are but you really want at least a 20mm difference in tyre width front to back (wider at the back of course)... start there. Then geo.
If you cant get the appropriate tyres on the wheels you'll have to change wheels... smaller is probably better.... 15s or 16s.
Check the wheel and tyre bible to see what fits what...
R.
Looks like I won't get 225's on the rear without them.hitting the arches, so I either remove the spacers or try a set of 16's. I know you are supposed to run staggered sizes but I'm very surprised at the difference it makes if this is the cause!
Don't be. Toyota increased the tyre width difference from 10mm to 30mm from rev1 to rev2 because many found the cars rear too easy to lose.... Then there were all the geo changes too...
Get the right width tyres and get the geo done.
R
sam1176uk wrote:Looks like I won't get 225's on the rear without them.hitting the arches, so I either remove the spacers or try a set of 16's. I know you are supposed to run staggered sizes but I'm very surprised at the difference it makes if this is the cause!
The stock rear tyres are 225, if you can't fit 225's on your wheels without them rubbing then the offsets are way out which will also have a negative effect on the handling. The MR2's handling is very sensitive to changes in wheel and tyre sizes. If you fitted a set of stock wheels/tyres you'd notice how much better the car handled in all conditions.
Get some decent staggered wheels with the correct offsets, or just buy a set of std wheels.
The suspension is designed around having staggered wheels/tyres so of course its going to handle wonky if you use a square setup without large changes in geometry.
budget tyres budget tyres budget tyres
205/40 on a 17
So you have stretched budgets on big wheels, and you're wondering why its twitchy?
The MR2 Turbo came with what amounted to semi-slick tyres out of the factory....
Get an alignment, spend some money on GOOD tyres and you'll be amazed at how much better it feels dry and wet.
Best setup I found was 16x7/8 with 205/50 and 225/45 performance tyres.
Handled amazing, could feel what the tyres were doing as the sidewalls were just tall enough to flex sufficiently to communicate the road fully and with AD08s it was amazing wet or dry, hot or cold.
If you are going to buy good tyres for the rear make sure as everyone else has said to stagger them, but also you will have to buy better than bufget for front aswell.. Reason being the front does not have much weight on them so you will get understeer if using budget.
I would say a little toe in is good to combat the understeer as that is what im running and it goes through corners pretty well.
Any pics of the way everything sits just now as that way gives everyone a better idea of how your wheels/tyres sit?
Marf wrote:budget tyres budget tyres budget tyres
205/40 on a 17
So you have stretched budgets on big wheels, and you're wondering why its twitchy?
The MR2 Turbo came with what amounted to semi-slick tyres out of the factory....
Get an alignment, spend some money on GOOD tyres and you'll be amazed at how much better it feels dry and wet.
^this
Marf wrote:
Draven wrote:
I've been told that changing to 16's makes a lot of difference.
In terms of feedback and feel, far better than 17s.
