Mission accomplished
By
Jeffrey Fazio
a.k.a. JekylandHyde
Three
and a half years ago I bought a 1991 turbocharged MR2. It has since
come to be known as "Hyde." With the purchase of this MR2, I
embarked on a mission. The mission was simple: To build a turbo MR2
that is competitive in drag racing, auto crossing and road racing all
while still being able to be comfortably street driven.
These
venues are obviously very different from each other, so there was
going to have to be some compromise and flexibility in the buildup of
the car. It would b e impossible to build a car that is absolutely
ideal for any one of these events and still remain competitive in the
others. So there needed to be a balance in the modification process.
There were important choices to be made.
The
stiff suspension that would be desirable for the twists and turns is
quite unwelcome on the drag strip. Likewise, a massive turbocharger
capable of 600 HP would be great for drag racing, but the lag of that
sort of beast would be painful on a tight autocross course. These
choices , and many more, had to be made on my budget, which is slimmer
than Olsen twins on a diet.
The
result of my efforts was a 308 RWHP MR2 with a mildly adjustable
suspension, a good medium-sized turbocharger and several sets of rims
with different tires for the different venues. The turbo, a custom
T3/T4 setup, was chosen because of its 400 RWHP potential coupled with
mild lag.
I
find a lot of irony in the fact that my first serious dyno tuning
session in Hyde resulted in 300 RWHP. The irony comes from the fact
that 300 RWHP was not my goal (in fact, I had no specific HP goal),
but for whatever reason, 300 RWHP seems to be the Holy Grail to the
many MR2 drivers.
In
the MR2 world you will often hear people inquiring: What's the best
turbo for 300 RWHP? What's the best clutch for 300 RWHP?
What's the best intercooler for 300 RWHP? And my all-time
favorite: What's the best blow-off valve for 300 RWHP?
I
have searched high and low, but I have yet to learn why the 300 RWHP
is so coveted. When I reached that Mecca of power and looked down from
that awesome height, I did have one sudden, very insightful
realization. I prefer to drive my MR2 on low boost.
As
wonderful as 300 RWHP is in a street car, it is entirely unnecessary,
even for those of us who love pushing our ca rs every chance we get.
On the low boost setting, 15 PSI, Hyde is making just about 260 RWHP,
which is more than enough power to force your lips into a smile.
As
stated, my goal was not to make 300 RWHP, it was to build an
all-around performance vehicle. In order to do that, I was going to
need the racing skills and experience in order to drive the car
competitively.
My
history of racing turbo MR2s before the purchase of Hyde made it
painfully obvious to me that I would have to work on the driver as
much as the car if I was going to meet my goals. My prior experience
proved me to be a slightly better than average autocrosser. Since we
all know that thousands of people participate in auto crossing, saying
I am slightly above average in that venue is like saying I have
slightly better than average breath. It's just not the same as saying
it's good.
My
drag racing ability was significantly worse. My launching was not
perfect, my shifts were far from ideal and my reaction times redefined
falling asleep at the wheel. The only part I felt pretty confident
about was the part about holding the throttle all the way to the
floor.
Before
the purchase of Hyde, my best 1/4 mile was 13.8 @ 107 mph with a
GReddy TD06 turbo at 15 PSI. That car should have been sniffing 12s,
not poking into the 13s. Granted I had a horrible transmission on that
car, but my driving was still very weak.
So
over the first two years of racing Hyde, my concentration was in drag
racing since that was my weakest leak. I still did an occasional
autocross or two to keep up my skills, but nothing serious.
The
transformation from being an autocrosser to drag racer was more
natural than you might think. They are very similar on the most
integral of levels. It doesn't matter if the 1/4 mile is straight or
has a slalom followed by 10 turns, the goal is the same. Traverse the
distance in the shortest possible time.
One
of the nice things about drag racing is that the "course" is
the same every week with slight fluctuations in the actual surface.
This little detail of the sport makes comparing times from week to
week much easier, unlike autocrossing where it changes every week like
my boss's moods. I have found the only way to track improvement while
autocrossing is to compare your times with other drivers, but who's to
say they are not improving as well?
All
of this led to me becoming addicted. That's right. I was addicted and
I still am.
I
am addicted to the numbers -- drag racing numbers. I'm completely lost
in a sea of E.T.s (elapsed times), 60' times, reaction times and
1/8 mile mphs. Making subtle changes in the car or my driving resulted
in changes to the numbers. It has been captivating to watch. There is
so much more to drag racing than I, and a lot of other people, ever
thought.
The
number that most intrigues me is the ratio between E.T. and H.P. That
relationship is the measure of the driver. Hence, it was the measure
of my improvement as a driver. After putting over 70 1/4-mile passes
on Hyde, I managed to claim my first 11-second time slip with just
over 300 RWHP. It is my understanding that I made that 11-second pass
with the least amount of horsepower of anyone in the turbo MR2 world.
I
guess the two years I put into learning how to launch and shift Hyde
really paid off. You can see the history of Hyde's progress on the
drag strip here:
http://www.jekylhyderacing.com/hyde/drag_race.htm.
It
took many trips to the drag strip to finally get my launch down to
where it is good and consistent. And it has only been since this year
that I have become more aggressive with my shifting. Staying full
throttle while shifting from 3rd to 4th is now standard fare on my
menu.
The
11-second run in 2003 was my last pass of the season and I was left
with the winter to decide what direction this project was going to
take. That is when I decided that the simplest route to improving all
of Hyde's performance would be to significantly reduce the weight of
the car. Lightening a vehicle not only improves its acceleration, but
also its handling and braking ability. So Hyde went on a winter diet.
Hyde
was already down well over 100 lbs. from his original state, which was
close to 3,000 lbs. The previous weight loss was accomplished by
losing the A/C compressor, OEM muffler, the OEM steering wheel w/air
bag, the OEM muffler and a number of other smaller things.
This
past winter, weight loss became a huge goal. I managed to take off
close to 200 lbs. from Hyde, but added 40 lbs. back with the addition
of a roll bar. The weight loss came from all sorts of places --
fiberglass hood, 15 LB Odyssey battery, lightweight racing seats,
swapped over to manual steering, got rid of the ABS and the full A/C
system and many other items.
Hyde
is down to 2,675 lbs. and the results have been wonderful. The
1/4-mile times have dropped and the handling of the car is out of this
world.
I was really concerned about how the weight loss would affect the
handling since most of the weight I lost was forward of the driver,
but I am really pleased with the end result. Hyde's the best
handling MR2 I've driven. The handling is perfectly neutral with a very
predictable throttle-induced oversteer.
So
I approached the 2004 racing season in my lightweight 300 RWHP sports
car to see what I could do against the competition.
As
of this writing, I am halfway through my first real season of racing.
I've completed six races of my scheduled 12. So far this year I have
entered two national NHRA Sport Compact Events; Summer Slam, an annual
drag event at Englishtown, two local SCCA Solo 2 autocross events and
my first SCCA Solo 1 Hill Climb event. I finished in the top five for
all races and I've earned one first-place finish and two second
places.
The
highlight of my season was a 30-day period where I took first in a
Solo 2 event, second in the Solo 1 event and runner-up (second place)
the following weekend at Summer Slam. This was incredibly exciting
considering I had never raced a Solo 1 event before and I had never
before made it past the first round of a national drag event, much
less into the finals.
Out
of 69 entries in the Solo 1 Hill Climb, I was the fastest person there
on regular street tires and I beat the previous hill record for my
class by nearly three seconds. Unfortunately for me, my good friend
and fellow MR2 enthusiast, Fabio Vlacci, beat the hill record by more
than me and took a well-deserved first place. He was the only driver
there who was faster than me in an inspected and registered
street-driven car.
At
the Summer Slam drag event I netted my new personal best 60' time of
1.676 seconds and a new best reaction time of .17 seconds. A
regrettable missed second-gear shift caused me to miss the chance for
a new personal best E.T.
So
I have arrived at my goal. Hyde has been track tested and dyno proven
to be what I intended him to be: a street-legal sports car that can
compete in a variety of automotive racing venues from road racing to
drag racing. Surprisingly, he has done all of this with 198,000 miles
on the original engine. I am extremely amazed at what Hyde and I have
accomplished.
Reaching
goals is a lot like making a new scientific discovery. Instead of
enjoying the new plateau, it becomes a new height to look forward to,
ask new questions and push the envelope farther. That being said the
completion of my mission has merely laid the groundwork for the next
step.
The
next step is to make a 10-second 1/4-mile pass with less RWHP than
anyone else in a turbo MR2 and take first place or set a record in an
SCCA Solo 1 event. I have already taken steps toward this new goal.
Since Summer Slam, Hyde has gotten a new intake manifold from Ross
Machine Racing which resulted in a gain of over 43 RWHP, and I am
looking at further weight reduction. Over this winter I am looking at
other engine mods to push the 400 RWHP limit, which I aim to prove is
enough for an MR2 to make a 10-second pass.
|