Nothing has gone wrong. I also own a 1993 MR2 normally aspirated. It has much more instant torque. If I fault the turbo anywhere it's in its turbo lag. But when it kicks, you know it.
I think MR2's are the best cars available for the money today. I highly reccommend buying used MR2's. There is no acceptable replacement yet. Best bang for the buck.
I aquired my 93 with 123K on it, and it's a monster. Perhaps the previous owner didn't know how to maintain a turbo. Oil changes should be at 2000 MAX, and regardless of weather conditions, you can never get in a turbo and take off, or shut it down immediately. They must me gradually warmed up and cooled down to prevent damage to the turbo. At that mileage, if the car wasn't operated properly, this would describe the type of sub-par performance your turbo had. Try one in perfect working order, you'll sell that VW tomorrow!
Sorry, I just had to add this information so noone is lead into believing some erroneous information. Turbo's positively do not need a special warm up time, who ever told you this was wrong or you interpreted it incorrectly. Turbo cars should be driven off boost (low throttle) for the last few minutes or idled several minutes, both preferably before stopping the engine. The reason simply is to avoid oil coking in the oil feed lines and on the shaft of the turbo, the exhaust housings get very hot (~1200-1600 deg F) after hard driving and will boil or "coke" the oil if shutdown immediately.
FYI- If a stock MR2 is a "monster" to you try a K&N air filter, a 2.5" turboback exhaust, and increase the boost presure to ~13-14psi with a simple bleeder valve on the waste gate actuator. Your new found ~50hp will hopefully be to your liking? Also try looking at DSM's (talon/eclipse/laser), they are 2.0L turbo and are available with AWD, you won't find a faster stop light car around for the money. Cheers!
My 93 MR2 Turbo is great! I've never had any major problems with it. How about a custom downpipe, no catalytic convertor, cold air intake, Greddy exhaust, ported throttle body, HKS intercooler, TRD plug wires, NGK plugs, a built bottom end, custom 2.2L stroker kit, T-88 turbo, HKS GTII wastegate, HKS SSBOV, JUN intake manifold, OS Gieken twin plate race clutch, Unorthodox Racing ultra light flywheel and crank pulley, HKS cam gears, custom 288 intake/exhaust cams, 2mm oversized valves with titanium rings/retainers and 32 pounds of boost? I know, it's a monster, but in a different sense. Dynoed with 596 rwhp and 520 ft-lbs. How's that for "monster"? Haha! See ya.
The Mr2 Turbos also have a memory system built in which means the car won't boost up unless temperature within the engine is correct. E. g on a cold winter morning or when starting the car from car.
Note: A Comments RSS Feed is available. New comments appear in the Members Area before the main site