70KBHi all,
Ade has finally bullied me into writing an article around our Targa experience.
First some background, around 3 years ago Lloyd and I were running a TE71 Corolla in club events, hillclimbs etc. When that car grew old & died of general wear & tear we looked around for a new project. We both liked the look of the AW-11 MR2, low, wide & short and with good traction. We were a little nervous because we could find little info about competition use, especially on gravel. However we took heart from the early ’80s Lancia 037 rally car which was rear engine and was the best handling 2 wheel drive rally car ever made.
Having decided to have a go a slightly singed Auto AW-11 was purchased, stripped, fitted with supercharged gearbox & rear end and we had a go. After a couple of teething problems (flywheel coming loose etc.) we got it running right and decided it was worth keeping. So Lloyd tore it all apart again, this time to a completely bare shell, seam welded, strengthened, lightened, hand made roll cage, respray in BMW purple with silver trim etc.etc. to prepare for it’s desired 10 year life span.
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Targa NZ seemed like a neat event, I had absolutely no experience tarmac rallying but the 5 day adventure appealed. 4 weeks out from the start date the bare shell was painted and some serious late nights were put in by Lloyd, Dale, Gary, Deane and Ben to assemble the car in around 2½ weeks. We invested some money in good brakes and tyres but that involved even more last minute panics to get them set up right. At last we had the car all running so the Friday before Targa I put it on a dyno to get the carbs set up etc & found it was only making 75bhp at the wheels :-( . Headed out to Pukekohe to give it a run & bed in the brakes etc (neat to see Ade & Steve out there), did 4 laps warming the car up ran No 1 big end :-((.
More panic, engine from Dodsons Imports on Friday night, different port size, new manifold Saturday morning, car running again Sunday afternoon, Targa scrutineering Monday pretending everything was under control. Looking around the other cars I started to get seriously worried I was out of my depth, so many guys had put in so much effort to get us there. I reckon there were about 6 cars there with less power than us and probably no-one who had spent as little as us.
And so to the fun part, the event started on wet roads (not my favourite). We had all been told the event started slowly and we would have no trouble in cleaning the 1st few stages, anyone trying too hard on the 1st morning and falling off was a wanker because the target times were very relaxed. So off we went, pushing but being careful on the blind bits and yes we did clean the 1st stage, but only by ONE second. After stage 3 when we were already missing the target times by 10-30 sec’s per stage I was sure we were in the wrong league.
However we settled down to have our own fun and just got into the driving. As the day wore on we all got into our stride and started to really push the tyres in the wet, which was very very impressive. The Toyo’s are basically a dry tyre having a tread pattern reminiscent of a tractor tyre but they hung on in the wet better than any road tyre I have ever used manages on a dry road. Day one took us as far as Hamilton, we lost one stage (10 minute penalty) with a carb problem and finished the day 61st overall out of 83 runners. Spanner check found the rear suspension coming loose but no other problems.
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Day 2 headed south from Hamilton and was again on wet roads. By this time we were really having a ball, taking 45kph corners at over 110 on a wet road. Towards lunch time I started to have problems selecting 2nd gear. At the lunch break we found the clutch line was weeping and thought this was causing the problem, new flare was soon fashioned on the steel line, clutch bleed and all looked well. However when we went to leave the lunch break the real problem surfaced, the forward & back gear selector cable broke. 8 minutes late we were off again, would you believe it we had a spare in the van, still don’t know how come we ended up with a spare one but I was just grateful to the guys, yet again. The afternoon took us round past Tirau towards Tokoroa, a real mixture of roads from normal flowing back country stuff to some real goat tracks. Even had 1km of gravel & wet clay road works on one stage, fun at 135kph on tarmac tyres. I was starting to trust the brakes and tyres, braking routine went something like, full noise down a straight, corner coming up, looks sharp, is sharp, going to have to brake hard, keep going a bit further, eyes popping & knuckles white, Lloyd starting to fret, bit further yet, BRAKE, damn too early again. Day 2 ended in Rotorua, spanner check again found rear suspension working loose and play in a rear ball joint, we wondered what we were going to do to it when it dried out and we started putting some real load on it. Up to 45th as we kept it on the black stuff and away from the fences.
Day 3 dawned dry at last, however we had by then figured that in the wet our lack of power wasn’t such a disadvantage. Now we found out what these tyres & brakes could do in the dry, mind blowing. This was V8 day, super fast stages and we had plenty of time to notice that flat out for us was 6100 revs in 4th - 163kph, sat there for what seemed like hours, managed 185 down hill though. The top cars were averaging well over 200kph on these stages and we averaged over 130 on one stage, not bad on a 160 top speed. Lunch at Taupo and our most successful stage, 7½ laps at the circuit. We chased a Porshe Spyder replica the whole way & had a ball trying to find a way past, ran 31st overall for the stage. During the afternoon we suffered an increasingly serious misfire in the stages, changed plugs, checked all sorts of things & thought we had fixed it after each stage only for it to come back even worse on the next stage. Struggled through the last stage and stopped completely on the touring into Whakatane. We found that the fuel lines and filters were all empty, aha fuel blockage. Service that night was to remove the fuel tank and sort out the problem, thrash over the hill and the car seemed fine now. Finished the day in 37th place overall.
Day 4, magic roads around Whakatane and up to Tauranga. But unfortunately it was not for us as we finished the 1st stage in a cloud of oil smoke and steam. We diagnosed a blown head gasket, whistled up the service van & towed to Whakatane to try to find some bits. When we pulled the head off it turned out to be a melted piston, no doubt caused by the fuel starvation. About an hour on the phone trying to find bits located a couple of helpful guys in Tauranga so we tied a rag over the block, tied the MR2 back onto the tow rope and headed for the bigger smoke. Pretty pleased with 1 hour to Tauranga on a rope behind Lloyds HiAce. Found a Head gasket and 2nd hand piston around 2pm so we did a spot of rebuilding on the side of the road. All going again by 6pm, rejoined for the morning but it was all for nothing as we only lasted 2km before another piston let go. By the way the KOD on the front of the car stands for Kiss Of Death motorsport, these guys don’t seem to have the best of luck crewing.
All this left us with a great feeling of unfinished business and we have already started the rebuild for next year, 3S-GE 2 litre and close ratio ‘box. Targa is a brilliant event, plenty of time to service and socialise and over 500km of closed roads. It is a real adventure and a challenge to keep going hard for 5 days, staying on the road and keeping the car going.
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Next year there is a Marque Trophy, we need 4 MR2’s to enter, Bill Leckie & I are returning, I’m working on Steve & Ade to have a go, who else? Game for the challenge, got the loot, give me a shout if you want any info.
Don’t forget, keep the shiny side up.
Jeff Torkington
Jeff@aksoft.co.nz, (09) 837 1023
The specs so far:
1984 AW-11 N/A
The car has been built for use in a wide range of club motorsport
fromMotorkhanas to Rallies. We usually compete on gravel in the
Hibiscus Coast Motorsport Club but the MR2 has tempted us into Tarmac
Rallying as well.
Modifications
Chassis: Seam welded, gusseted & full roll cage, sound deadening, underseal etc. removed. Strut braces front & rear.
Engine: Standard late model 4AGE engine running twin 42mm webers, modified 5K distributor and extractors.
Transmission: Standard gearbox from ’87 supercharged AW-11, Kevlar paddle clutch.
Suspension: Standard front end, Supercharged rear end, all standard springs & shocks.
Tyres: 195x65x14 Toyo RA881 road legal Race tyres
Front Brakes: 10" vented rotors from supercharged AW11, 4pot calipers from Mazda RX7 series 4 turbo, Pagid pads.
Rear brakes: 10" vented rotors from front of supercharged AW11, SW20 rear calipers, Pagid pads.
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