A friend of mine and I have been discussing the aspects of road/ rally racing as far as rx-7s and mr2s go.
He thinks the mr2 would be the better choice and I (having owned a GSL-se and a 90 GTU) of course side with mazda.
What would be the up/ downsides of each for either A)rally or B) SCCA-type road race?

 

there is a guy running a 1st gen in a few that really surprised people. i've seen 1st gens and 2nd gens but not really any mr2's. with the exception of pike's peak, i never really see any mid/rear engine cars minus the 911 in rallying. (yes i know the rx7 is front-mid).

 

Would this an NA MR2 (4A-GE) or the supercharged version (4A-GZE) and would this be compared to a 12A or 13B RX-7?

 

i am a big fan of both types of cars, my friend has a 91 mr2, i know thats not the first gen ,but its still a sweet *** car, but i think the rex would be a better rally car, they have a slightly better weight distrabution, and i know if you ever get an mr2 to start sliding you better know what you are doing, cuz they are a bitch to get giong strait again. as far as road racing goes, im not sure, i think it would be a great race between the 2.

 

I ran my 85 gsl-se on some amatuer rally events and got second place in stock class (yes even against stock subies) but the course was tight so the subarus couldnt get to their full potential. I lost to a cavelier so a lot has to do with driving but the rx-7 proved to be well balanced and pretty quick even with the tires spinning all the way til 4th
heres some pics
http://photo.bluedotracing.com/21701.../21701-3-7.jpg
http://photo.bluedotracing.com/21701...21701-3-34.jpg
http://photo.bluedotracing.com/21701.../21701-3-8.jpg
http://photo.bluedotracing.com/21701...21701-3-9.jpg\
http://www.dcrally.com/gallery/rally..._DSCF0011.html
http://www.dcrally.com/gallery/rally..._DSCF0015.html
theres also 3 other first gens running in these rallies

 

the mr2 would be N/a, rx-7, either, probably 13b, though

 

would the short wheel base of the mr2 have a negative effect on dirt?

 

Well I haven't seen any MR-2 in amateur rally or any other type of rally, but there may be a few, I've definitely seen quite a few first gen's though.

Both engines can take a beating well, the 4A-GE is one of the strongest and most reliable 4-cylinder I've seen. But for power potential, the rotary beats it easily for 1/4 the price. I mean to make a 200+hp 4-AGE, you'd pretty much have to replace every component of it and run some really big cams (like 288 or even 302 intake and exhaust) to get it there if you stick with NA, which will cost mucho dinero senor. But swapping in the 4A-GZE, getting the Cusco pulley to run higher boost, some mild cams and a few other little items with it could get you to 200hp easy, with a lot of torque along with it.

As for the short wheelbase mid-engine design of the MR-2, I don't think that'd be very well suited for sliding around turns, since they tend to get sideways a bit then just whip around completely. You might want to consider a Corolla GT-S (yeah the AE86 for all you Initial D freaks), it has the same engine except it's front engine rear wheel drive, I've seen a couple of those do quite well in rally, including this crazy guy (Edgar Barrero):



And with this car you could do a 4A-GZE swap as well, which I think would be a very nice set-up for an amateur rally car because it's nice and light and RWD, plus it has tons of bottom end power to get through rough terrain.

But anyways I'm getting off topic here, I'd pick the first gen myself just because they're cheap to modify and maintain and they're handling characteristics are more suited for rally conditions in my opinion, but you could argue either way, it mostly comes down to personal preference and expierience.

 

thanks for the info

 

I've wanted to rally a first gen for quite a while now

MR cars can be rallied, I've seen an MR2 and a few fiero rally cars... but remember with all that weight back there they like to understeer and then suddenly snap oversteer....
I'd pick an FB for one reason: I haven't seen a single junkyard without an FB. I don't think I've seen any MR2s in any junkyards. The key to being able to rally is being able to fix it NOW and CHEAP... where are you going to find a front a-arm and strut for an MR2 in joe-bobsville, GA at 8PM on a friday night?

 

Excellent information, thank you. I am the schmuck that wanted to run an MR2. Like was said above, a lot of my initial thoughts were due to personal familiarity and comfort level rather than knowledge of the technical merits of the 1st gen RX7.

I appreciate the well-informed and objective opinions... I am going to pick up a repair manual and spend some time in the archives to get more of a background on this car.

About the MR2's tendency to go sideways abruptly and spin around, eljefe will testify to that fact as he was my passenger four out of the five times that happened to me when we were in highschool.

Thanks again!

-jacob

 

welcome to the board.

that would be my biggest concern. snap oversteer at 60 around a bend between rows of trees would be a big "oh, i just **** my pants" moment. the 911's seem to get away with a bit more since the awd helps lull the rear engines want to spin.

 

not to mention how much better looking first gen rx7s are compared to boxy mr2s

that said, i think that tiny little supercharger is just soooo cute!

 

my friend has a 87 n/a mr2 and he swears to got it would smoek an rx7 i told him to shut up and suck on rotary nuts

what do you guys think?

say a 1st gem mr2 vs an 85 gsl-se

 

race him and find out, silly!

 

cant race yet
he is waiting for a new clutch and i an waiting to swap my gsl-se motor into my 81 automatic
man my automatic is a SNAIL! i dont know if its supposed to be that slow but its is veeery slow of the line
pretty fast on the freeway but hardy any low end torque

-greg