Question about MR2-AW111/1st generation chassis

Okay, one of my teammates recently had his MX6 racked up by some yuppie bimbo in a Range Rover. After I smacked him for not demanding her engine as partial compensation for destroying his car (I need a Rover V-8 in the worst way) I learned that he'd already bought a new car with the money and was ready to start drifting with me and the other 2 guys.

Thing is, he bought an AW111 Mister Two and we're not too sure that's a good drift platform. It is the supercharged model, and we know the 4AG is a plenty tunable engine, but it seems to me that the wheelbase is too short and the center of gravity is too low to get a proper pendulum effect for drifting weight transfer. Besides that, it seems like there's too much grip in the chassis to begin with and the steering isn't really that quick.

Is there any hope at all for my teammate and his MR2? He's not going to change cars because he loves its handling and he always wanted a mid-engined car. Even a setup suggestion would be appreciated.

Considering that the engine is mounted well behind the front axel, and just ahead of the rear axel, there should be a rear weight bias, though it'll only be slight - very close to 50/50. So at low speeds it should have a very neutral feel, and oversteer should come in to effect at higher speeds. But as I don't know what the weight distribution is, or axel loading, or anything about the suspension - let alone never even driven an MR-2, I can't really say anything for sure. I really know nothing about Toyota's MR-2 (I have no idea what AW111 is, and therefore can't look through my resources to find more information about this model)

AW111 is the code for the first generation MR2 chassis. SW20 is the second generation.

The rearward weight bias is slight in the MR2 because of the transverse engine. It's about the same as the 49/51 weight split in my BGT (the steel fastback roof puts much more weight over the rear wheels than the 1800cc iron four puts over the front wheels) and I'd think that would help but the car just seems too square and balanced to be driftable.

It seems to me that the longer the wheelbase in relation to the track equals the better drift car. S13's have long wheelbases when compared to their tracks. 300ZX's have shorter wheelbases and wider tracks. This seems, to me, to be a big factor in the "driftability" of a car.

A good idea would be for him to go out and play around with the handling characteristics, I think that it'd be perfectly possible.

AN MR2 is probably good for controlling the car, but you prob. wont get huge D1 style drifts.

Try and locate the supercharged 4AGZE and youll have plenty of power

he did say it was blown, so maybe power's not an issue?

Slight corrections:

1. the chassis code is AW-11. I think octagon the 111 your thinking of is the AE111 corolla that the blacktop 20V 4AGE comes from.

2. If it's supercharged it's already got the 4AGZE. As for upgrades theres the basic boltons, a higher boost pulley, or I'd suggest a basic rebuild and a junkyard turbo setup.

3. As for drifting them, sure it can be done but it's not gonna slide like a corolla or an S13. The handling is a little more like a go kart, very flawless and neutral to a certain point, then totally uncontrollable.

Go to club4ag and search the forums for "AW11 drift" I know there was a good discussion on this topic not to long ago but unfortunately I can't remember which forum it was. Also check out the tech reference section for the AW11 suspension tuning guide.

never mind, I found it:
http://forums.club4ag.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=25758

Thanks a lot, Captyn. That's the sort of info I needed for my friend.

I'll have to print him out most of that tuning section (don't want him to get to be faster than Layla, I have enough problems with my one teammate's 280Z)

If you want a good track/auto-x car, the AW111 is good too

i have had the privledge of riding in a few 1st gen MR2s in some auto-x events. just from riding shotgun, i would say that it is very possible to drift one effectively. but i think that the assupmtion that you would have to carry more speed and not "hang it out" as far is correct. so your friend is just going to have to practice more than the rest of you.