A Midship Approach: The Time Attack MR2

I’ve been hearing about a mysterious time attack SW20 Toyota MR2 for a while now.

I was first told about it by the guys at Pit Road M down in Hyogo-ken just south of the Kansai region, who are famous for creating the wildest Mitsubishi GTO I’ve ever had the pleasure of shooting.

Pit Road M were called in to help with the engine setup in a customer project put together by &G Corporation, specifically an MR2 built for grip. Like many projects, this one started as a bit of fun and progressively got more serious as the build came together.

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The owner and driver, ‘Samohan’ Nakajima has managed to create one of the coolest takes on an SW20 that I’ve ever seen, and it was getting a lot of attention at Attack Tsukuba this past Saturday.

The car has a one-off box fender conversion, molded in and faded into the bumper at the front, with an extended splitter/diffuser section mated up to pair of canards at each corner of the nose.

It also runs extremely tall and sharp corner extensions that run out to the outermost surface of the fender, curling upwards in Super GT racer fashion.

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The rear fender extensions are bolted onto the underlying cut quarter panels, matching up with the substantial widening and skirt sections along its profile.

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There are massive openings to feed the turbocharged engine and smaller openings which are possibly used to direct air towards the rear brakes.

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Much like the &G Samuhan Nakajima Racing logo, the black, white and red livery is a nod to Toyota’s GRMN motorsport subsidiary. Because of this, the MR2 has a very modern feel to it, a contemporary take on an old and favorite modern-classic.

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Handling is courtesy of Öhlins dampers at each corner, while the deep-dish RAYS Volk Racing TE37Vs are shod in the time attack favorite – Yokohama Advan A050s. The tires measure 265/35R18 up front and 295/30R18 out the back.

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The aero treatment is wrapped up at the rear with a massive flat and finned carbon diffuser which acts as an additional mounting point for the tall stays that hold up the single-plane wing. Check out those menacing twin exhausts.

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So what’s been done to the mid-mounted 3S-GTE that came factory-fitted in the GT-S versions of the SW20?

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Quite a lot, as it turns out. The fully-tuned four-banger generates around 450hp depending on boost level, and maybe a little more once the nitrous oxide fogger you see in front of the throttle body is called upon.

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Given that this was the car’s first outing at Tsukuba, the 1:01.047 best lap it recorded was not a bad result.

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While Japan’s top time attack cars are about 10 seconds faster, people seem to forget just how quick a 1-minute lap around Tsukuba actually is.

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I’d love to see this car evolve and the team nail a decent setup for this demanding track.

I have no doubt there is a lot of potential in this cool little time attacker.

Dino Dalle Carbonare
Instagram: speedhunters_dino
dino@speedhunters.com

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1

Nice to see a new platform arrive at Time Attack. Great car. I guess more power and evolving aero must enable them to scrape of some seconds of their laptime.

Can we see more of the Moty’s/T-one’s FD3S, please?

2

Dino - a half feature on the Canadian team running and now an MR2.... your after my heart sir.

Nice to see the MR2 platform still going into battle, however as an MR2 owner (AW11) and former racer of one, I know working on them can be character building at best. Looking at the size of the fenders and rear defuser..... I feel the pain for who ever has to wrench on this thing.

Author3
Dino Dalle Carbonare

haha glad I'm keeping you happy :) Yeah things get pretty cramped in and around that engine!

4

Bruh, that MR2 is sweeeeeeet

5

Haha "big chungus" the best

6

That’s a cool looking car but what type is it

7
Mark Joseph I. Argoso

FRONT. FENDER. FINS.

Icing on an already gangbusters piece of kit. Thank god for Time Attack and Japanese tuners.

8
Jay Soh Tsu Chung

The livery really caught my attention when you first posted it on your Instagram, Dino. Glad you did a spotlight on this.

9

Now that's one mean looking SW20 there.
BTW, is that "Gazoo Racing"-styled livery?
Nice!

10

"the black, white and red livery is a nod to Toyota’s GRMN motorsport subsidiary. Because of this, the MR2 has a very modern feel to it"

11

Always love a Properly modifed Toyota MR-2. And of course a Toyota Supra.Thanks for your interesting stories Mr. Dino. Always find out a balance info/input related to Toyota & Nissan things. Especially your project story on your GT-R. Keep up the good job Mr. Dino.

12

LOVE IT! Just once I would like to drive that down a normal street :D

13

Dino your coverage is single handledly carrying speedhunters!!!

14

It's hard not to love this thing! Here are some shots of the car without the livery:

https://thenaritadogfight.com/2018/02/20/encounter-g-corporation-time-attack-sw20/

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