1993 Toyota MR-2 Turbo

Thursday, November 18. 1999

I had my '93 Toyota MR-2 Turbo since it was new, probably the last new '93 on the island. It's pretty obvious I'm hooked to the performance and and looks of a sports car, but I also liked the fact that there are very few out there! Total MR-2 U.S. sales for '93 was about 3800 units, and most were normally aspirated models. I recently started autocrossing our cars, check out the link above to see some pictures of our racing efforts. Although this car is now sold, I miss the "Red Car" and the looks it got.

The pictures I've got here were taken on a sunny day on a short drive around the leeward side of the island. I started high up overlooking Honolulu with Diamond Head Crater in the background. I took the H-1 freeway out towards Hanauma Bay and around the point towards the Blow Hole. It is another fun road to drive, with lot's of twists and turns, with the lava rock walls on one side and a sheer drop off into the ocean on the other!

Looking out over Sandy Beach, you'll see Rabbit Island and Black Island. These last few shots were taken at the Valley Of The Temples. It is actually a memorial park, but there are some very elegant Japanese temples at the back of the valley.
Hope you enjoyed my little trip around the island, for part two, I took the GS-R to the other side of the island.

No Trackbacks

Comments
Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)
I love Mr2s. When I got my First pet Mouse Buck then that is when i sawc my first mr2 mk1 and ever since to me thay are housemouse bucks the roadster puts me in mind of arty the dart full of fun and mischeif.


1994 Acura Integra GS-R

Thursday, November 18. 1999

We bought our '94 Integra GS-R almost immediately after the sedans became available in early '94. We couldn't believe the value and technology the car represented. I thought my '88 Supercharged MR-2 had a high redline at 7800 RPM, but the GS-R had it beat at 8100 and there was no doubt that the Integra was much smoother above 5000 RPM.

One of our projects for the new car was to build an audio system that would be representative of the years I'd spent in the consumer electronics business. With that in mind I had several goals for our system:

    * High output with as little strain as possible on the stock electrical system.
    * Excellent bass response, but most important, accuracy.
    * Imaging with a good front-center-stage and realistic rear-fill.
    * Stealth, as little equipment showing as possible.

A Nakamichi TD-500 cassette deck, Nakamichi CA-101 Pre-amplifier. The digital display / infrared receiver for the Alpine CD Changer is mounted where the ashtray used to be.The subwoofer array used 8 Audiophile 6" drivers mounted inverted in a custom enclosure under the rear shelf. A black grill cloth cover concealed the woofers (left) and the swivel halogen lights replaced the stock trunk light. The acoustic bass energy was channeled directly into the passenger compartment though the original rear speaker 6 x 9 grilles (the speaker removed of course).

The job of providing rear fill was handled by a unique speaker made by Imminent Technology. This bi-polar, planar-magnetic design radiates sound equally front and rear and that is what made the setup so effective. The rear wave reflected off the rear windshield and created the rear staging I was looking for. The front wave (which in this type of speaker is very directional) shot forward towards the center of the windshield enhancing my front imaging. The output was mono (L + R) so when it reflected off the glass it combined with the left and right front speakers to give me a wide soundstage (L + C + R)

The three pictures above show the left, center and right sides of the trunk. On the left I've got the dual Soundstream SX-2 electronic crossovers. One crossover handled the subwoofer to mid/high change with the output staggered to reduce the 70hz "boom". The second crossover ran from 300 hz up for just the rear speaker. The right side housed my custom built Monolithic amplifier (made by the owner of Monolithic himself). Rated for a modest 20 watts x 4 channels, this beauty was stable into .5 ohm. By careful wiring, the 8 6" subwoofers were getting about 160 watts and the front Audiophile 5 1/4" speakers about 80 watts.

The final result exceeded my wildest dreams. All the elements came together smoothly, my installer Roy Kuroda seamlessly integrated all the extra equipment into the Integra without making the audio system stand out (see two shots of the installation in progress). Definitely the finest system Fran and I had ever indulged ourselves with.

(below) The Kimber Cable I wanted to use for speaker wire, required removal of the doors.

Some of the components in the trunk prior to installation

1988 Toyota MR-2 Supercharged

In '88 Toyota debuted the Supercharged version of the MR-2. This utilized a small blower to pump the 1.6 liter engine up to 145 hp and 145 lb. ft. of torque! The engine redlined at 7800 RPM and could sprint through the 1/4 mile in about 15.5 seconds. I kept this car for over 7 years (a personal record) and before I sold it, I had made several important modifications. I used an HKS Overdrive pully to speed up the supercharger, HKS Power Flow air filter and Exhaust to improve engine breathing. 15" Fittipaldi Indy wheels and Bridgestone RE-71 tires worked in concert with Eibach springs and KYB shocks to improve the handling of the car.

When all was said and done, the car was good for a best of 14.9 in the quarter mile and quite a bit more grip in the turns. I sure miss that car!




1987 Toyota Celica GT-S

Our '87 Celica GT-S was considered one of the finest coupes of its time. It had a 2.0 liter twin-cam 16 valve engine that made 135hp. I realize that seems tame by today's standards, but if I remember correctly, a contemporary Prelude had about 110, the RX-7 had 100, and a Sciracco had 125. Not bad Toyota.