Dyno TestingWe strapped the car on the Dynamic Autosports' Dynojet and made a few pulls for the baseline numbers. Horsepower checked in at 125.7, while torque came in at 113.9 lb-ft. We expected the horsepower to be a little less after figuring in the drivetrain transfer loss; the factory rated 138 hp should have checked in at about 115-117 hp. Apparently, our test car has a motor built by happy assembly-line workers.
Installation of the Injen intake was straightforward, as the instructions were clear and the mid-chassis-mounted engine was easy to access. After tightening all the nuts, bolts, and clamps, we made another pull on the dyno. Maximum power peaked at 128.7 hp in the 6000-6500 rpm range-this is excellent news considering the car's 7000-rpm redline. There was very little drop off in the upper regions, and this means that the car pulls evenly from the time you mash the pedal to the time you shift gears. Examining the graph shows that additional power begins to be realized around the 3000-rpm mark and continue to grow until power peaks around 5200. From there, the usable power increase stabilizes and continues until redline. Torque also increased to 116.5 lb-ft adding more off-the-line performance.
The TRD exhaust was a little bit trickier as several undercarriage elements hindered the installation process. First, the engine has quite a few plastic undercarriage protectors that need to be removed to access the exhaust system. Second, the available space for movement is hindered by the chassis configuration and the placement of the factory rear sway bar. Powered by his Radiohead CD collection, Aries "Dynamic" Dizon installed the TRD exhaust as quickly as time would allow and got the car back on the dyno. In the end, the exhaust netted an additional 3.3 hp and 2.9 lb-ft of torque. The graph showed power gains from the beginning sample at 2000rpm all the way to redline, again stabilizing at 5200 rpm and continuing to redline. Apparently, this is where the motor reaches its maximum operating efficiency and then continues this trend until it reaches maximum power output around 6300 rpm. Like the addition of the intake, power drop off was very minimal from this point until redline.
The A'PEXi AFC wundertool was, thankfully, easy to install. However, it was already late in the day and time was of the essence. Therefore, tuning of the AFC was limited to only one run based on Aries' prior tuning experience with Toyota's variably timed engines. This single pull tuning netted 1.3 peak hp, but caused a slight fallout in torque, which checked out at 116.8 lb-ft. The peak horsepower was gained in the upper region of the rpm band starting at 4600 rpm and continuing to redline. Torque numbers followed a similar trend, but it is noteworthy to say that the drop in torque was not evenly distributed throughout the torque graph but rather centered around a peak/valley combination that was evident when overlaying the graphs. The rest of the torque curve ostensibly stayed the same.
ConclusionThe demise of the MR2 platform did not necessarily spell doom for those seeking ultra-performance from a small Toyota package. The MR Spyder seems to be a motivated go-getter, designed as a convertible from the ground up, that needs a little bit of inspiration to live up to the legacy of its older brother.
The FactsEngine Tested: 1ZZFEApplication: '01 MR2 SpyderCommon Swaps: NoneReplacements: None
| THE PARTS |
| Injen Intake | $250 |
| TRD Exhaust | $752 |
| A’PEXi S-AFC Digital | $419 |
Msrp Package Price$1421
Performance Chart
| | | HP Level | HP + | TQ Level | TQ + |
| B | Baseline Power | 125.7 | x | 113.9 | x |
| 1 | Intake | 128.7 | 3.0 | 116.5 | 2.6 |
| 2 | Exhaust | 132.0 | 3.3 | 119.4 | 2.9 |
| 3 | S-AFC | 133.3 | 1.3 | 116.8 | -2.6 |
| F | Final | 133.3 | 7.6 | 116.8 | 2.9 |