2008 Co-Driver Wanted

[JamesWilson]

The Setup--

1988 Toyota MR2 hardtop, zero-option car (except cold A/C to get the oil cooler), white. Build for STS2, National-level preparation expected. Tires and racing wheels supplied, transportation, garaged with clean/lit workspace. Most Western US National Tours and ProSolos. Some of this is dependent of STS2 becoming a full National class in 2008, but it looks good so far.

Needed: reasonably experienced driver with consistent schedule and finances to share operating/travel costs and provide solid feedback.

Car is being prepared currently, and will undergo extensive testing and development after the 2007 Solo National Championships....my current car is too different, and I don't want to develop any bad habits by driving a faster car (STS2 vs HS).


email jamesnwilson AT hotmail.com

[woodrufj]

I think you can short belt it (stock allowance). Still have the weight, but you lose the drag.

Jay W
505/287 Dakota


1988 Toyota MR2 hardtop, zero-option car (except cold A/C to get the oil cooler), white.

[JamesWilson]

But it has cold air conditioning....why would I mess with that? I am getting old....I think a little driver comfort is worth the penalty. :D

Hell, the Suzuki was still 1733lbs with cold air!

[MX5bob]

But it has cold air conditioning....why would I mess with that? I am getting old....I think a little driver comfort is worth the penalty. :D

Hell, the Suzuki was still 1733lbs with cold air!

A/C is for tow vehicles! [says the man without either :mad:]

[JamesWilson]

A/C is for tow vehicles! [says the man without either :mad:]

Both the Subaru and the MR2 have tow hitches :D :D

[MX5bob]

Both the Subaru and the MR2 have tow hitches :D :D

My al fresco Miata will have a tow hitch soon, too. :D

[unless I win the lottery and make it a DPrep/EProd car and live happily everafter!:cool:]

[mpheinitz]

Great to have some more competition in STS2. I assume you'll be using the RS2 Hankook tires?

[JamesWilson]

Great to have some more competition in STS2. I assume you'll be using the RS2 Hankook tires?

Done and done, with SSR Comp's on loan from the Boling Collection.

[TrophyFodder]

AAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Darn orders to Germany!

[Tyson]

You have a PM, foo'

[JamesWilson]

A lot of people have asked me what sort of racing schedule is planned, as well as financial committments.

I will have attended 13 SCCA events this year, 2 PCA events, and a Lotus event...all in the first 5 months! I like to roam around between Regions, and do all Western US National Tour and ProSolos, as well as the Finale and National Championships in Kansas in September. We might see upwards of 24-30 events per season.

I am working out the financial side. While I want this car to be a National-caliber setup, I think more focus will be on development and setup rather than throwing expensive parts at it. I would ideally like to see at total cash output of no more than $3000.00 (including the purchase price of the car!!) and be realistically viable for a National trophy. For the record, I have about $1100.00 into it right now.

The car immediately needs the following--

Front brake rotors - $17.99 ea.
Rear brake rotors - $18.99 ea
Front brake pads - $37.99/set
Rear brake pads - $18.48/set
Brake fluid - $15/ltr.

Timing Belt - $25.99
T-belt tensioner - $50.00
A/C belt - $10.99
Alt belt - $13.99
Idler pulley + bearing - $18.99

At this time, I could also replace the pullies with lighter or underdriven versions, adding another $100-$200 to the mix, but I would like to weight the options versus just buying shiny bits.

We're up to $250.00 in regularly scheduled maintenance now.....cap/rotor/plugs/wires done already. Avoiding an O2 sensor because of the cost.


Prothane urethane suspension bushing kit - $90.00 parts.

Closer to $350.00 now. That's $1450.00 total when I am caught up.

Front wheel bearings ~$70.00 for the pair. A few more bucks for grease and a press, if necessary.

$1550.00


So that's now half of my expected budget....the rest is for SUSPENSION TUNING and development.

So now it's not a secret :)

Oh-- and about $500.00 for the Hankook graphics package through StickItStore.com, if required.



OR, I just sell the car for $2000.00 and walk away, putting much-needed money into my wife's car and the Subaru, which is already a proven winner.

Thoughts?

[mpheinitz]

If the car is drivable now and before you invest any more money, bring it out to the next SD or LA event and compare your times with the competition. I've got some good 15" Azenis/Volk you can borrow if you need rubber. I haven't seen an MR2 compete in quite a while. How much that thing weigh?

/Mike

PS. I believe the car to have is STS2 is the CRX.

[JamesWilson]

If the car is drivable now and before you invest any more money, bring it out to the next SD or LA event and compare your times with the competition. I've got some good 15" Azenis/Volk you can borrow if you need rubber. I haven't seen an MR2 compete in quite a while. How much that thing weigh?

/Mike

PS. I believe the car to have is STS2 is the CRX.

I'd rather not....original shocks and tired suspension bushings....so I would bring not even a poorly-prepared E-Stock car to compete against a "real" STS2 Miata? No thanks. I'd rather wait. I think history has shown that I can make any piece of crap win a few Tour/Pro trophies, even in Kansas :D

[j_rho]

James,
Mike's idea is not a bad one- I drove my red 240sx once when it was stock and in similarly worn out condition, but with some decent wheels and old Azenis on it. It was about 3.5 seconds slower than Leslie and Jeff in their Civics - based on that, I figured the car would be able to one day hang with them.

If your car is 6 seconds slower than STS in present trim (since you need to at least be beating STS), you might want to re-think 2008. If it's only 2 seconds slower, you might ant to re-think 2007...;)

[JamesWilson]

James,
Mike's idea is not a bad one- I drove my red 240sx once when it was stock and in similarly worn out condition, but with some decent wheels and old Azenis on it. It was about 3.5 seconds slower than Leslie and Jeff in their Civics - based on that, I figured the car would be able to one day hang with them.

If your car is 6 seconds slower than STS in present trim (since you need to at least be beating STS), you might want to re-think 2008. If it's only 2 seconds slower, you might ant to re-think 2007...;)


Snapped timing belt (non-interference) and excessive brake shimmy is keeping me out right now, I just plain don't have the $$$$ in the next two months to get to it...car will be out soon enough. I have never worried much about how far behind I might be, I'm not that kind of girl :)

Wanna loan me a couple hundred bucks? :D I have Hankook money coming...

[K-Mo]

What about the Subaru? What are you going to do with it after you win Nat's in HS? It seemed to be a good match to your gay nature.

(gay as in happy, of course)

:o

[JamesWilson]

What about the Subaru? What are you going to do with it after you win Nat's in HS? It seemed to be a good match to your gay nature.

(gay as in happy, of course)

:o

Don't you still live at home with your parents? ;)

[froggy47]

A lot of people have asked me what sort of racing schedule is planned, as well as financial committments.

I will have attended 13 SCCA events this year, 2 PCA events, and a Lotus event...all in the first 5 months! I like to roam around between Regions, and do all Western US National Tour and ProSolos, as well as the Finale and National Championships in Kansas in September. We might see upwards of 24-30 events per season.

I am working out the financial side. While I want this car to be a National-caliber setup, I think more focus will be on development and setup rather than throwing expensive parts at it. I would ideally like to see at total cash output of no more than $3000.00 (including the purchase price of the car!!) and be realistically viable for a National trophy. For the record, I have about $1100.00 into it right now.

The car immediately needs the following--

Front brake rotors - $17.99 ea.
Rear brake rotors - $18.99 ea
Front brake pads - $37.99/set
Rear brake pads - $18.48/set
Brake fluid - $15/ltr.

Timing Belt - $25.99
T-belt tensioner - $50.00
A/C belt - $10.99
Alt belt - $13.99
Idler pulley + bearing - $18.99

At this time, I could also replace the pullies with lighter or underdriven versions, adding another $100-$200 to the mix, but I would like to weight the options versus just buying shiny bits.

We're up to $250.00 in regularly scheduled maintenance now.....cap/rotor/plugs/wires done already. Avoiding an O2 sensor because of the cost.


Prothane urethane suspension bushing kit - $90.00 parts.

Closer to $350.00 now. That's $1450.00 total when I am caught up.

Front wheel bearings ~$70.00 for the pair. A few more bucks for grease and a press, if necessary.

$1550.00


So that's now half of my expected budget....the rest is for SUSPENSION TUNING and development.

So now it's not a secret :)

Oh-- and about $500.00 for the Hankook graphics package through StickItStore.com, if required.



OR, I just sell the car for $2000.00 and walk away, putting much-needed money into my wife's car and the Subaru, which is already a proven winner.

Thoughts?


James, sent you a pm.

[JamesWilson]

MR2 is fixed and up and running! Hurray! Just need to set the ignition timing.....

[JamesWilson]

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u265/jamesnwilson1982/MR21.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u265/jamesnwilson1982/MR22.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u265/jamesnwilson1982/MR23.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u265/jamesnwilson1982/MR24.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u265/jamesnwilson1982/MR25.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u265/jamesnwilson1982/MR26.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u265/jamesnwilson1982/MR27.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u265/jamesnwilson1982/MR28.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u265/jamesnwilson1982/MR29.jpg

[JamesWilson]

Here are the crossweights from this afternoon. Unfortunately I had over 3/4 tank of fuel in the car, but a starting point nonetheless.

1988 MR2 NA hardtop, 3/4 tank, removed spare/jack/tools.

LF: 509 RF: 512
LR: 665 RR: 656
Total weight-- 2342lbs
Crossweights off by 12lbs.


With my soggy behind, behind the wheel:

LF: 583 RF: 534
LR: 737 RR: 682
Total Weight: 2536lbs
Crossweights off by 6lbs.

A/C is still present and functional, not sure if I want to get rid of it. Otherwise, the car is all "stock" (steel wheels, orig battery, heavy exhaust, etc.).

I wonder what I could effectively get it down to. The SSR Comp's are ~9lbs each, exhaust can be lighter, not sure what the OEM seats weigh and whether the discomfort is worth the change, lightweight battery, racing steering wheel, etc.

Thank you again to Steve Coe and C2 Motorsports for the scale time, class act as always (despite what you have heard) :D

[JamesWilson]

Thanks again to Steve and Bill, got the timing issue sorted out (exhaust cam was a tooth off on the gear), car drives great! I will have it at Qualcomm this weekend.

[Steve35]

I'm glad we could help. Having owned 1st gen .MR2's Bill and I couldn't let you have a bad running one.
They are a little harder to work on than a Miata!:eek:

See ya Sunday in STS2 er STR?

Steve Coe

[Bill51SDR]

Glad to hear it is driving well James! Now the fun begins, see you Sunday.

[JamesWilson]

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u265/jamesnwilson1982/_MG_3087.jpg

[Bill51SDR]

Hey!!!! Steve and I wanna know, "Where's the BEER!!!":D

[JamesWilson]

Hey!!!! Steve and I wanna know, "Where's the BEER!!!":D

Hey, I've been out of a job for a month now, I just got paid hours ago! Gimme a break!

So it's beer AND pretzels now :D