| Toyota MR2 3SGE VVTi |
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The SW20 MR2s were discontinued in the U.S. in 1995. In Japan and the rest of the world, Toyota continued to upgrade and sell the MR2s until 1999. The 3rd Gen 3SGTE turbo engine continued to be available, and in 1997 the 4th Gen 3SGE VVTi Beams engine was introduced with 200HP, equal to the U.S. 3SGTE engine in the MR2s (although HP count in Japan is a measured a little bit different).
The 4th Gen VVTi is the latest and newest 3SGE, together with the Altezza Dual VVTi 3SGE. Since the Altezza was RWD it was a hard install on the MR2s and Celicas- but the single VVTi is a true drop-in, with the correct brackets.
We had just received 2 brand new engines from Toyota and wanted to see what it would be like. Naturally- we had to install one at first opportunity. Fortunately we did not have to wait too long, there came an MR2 NA with 180,000 miles whose owner was wary of turbo engines. For this install we used a header with built-in dual catalytic converters (for 1-4 and 2-3) to see if it will pass California’s strict emission standards; we have not done it yet- but- it has provisions casted in the head to fit in an EGR and meet the U.S> Federal emission requirement.
We ordered the engine harness from Japan for the VVTi engine and the only problem we encountered were the connectors to the chassis harness. No problem until we found out how difficult it was to identify and order the connectors. They are different- available Japan only. (We will supply these connectors if you decide you need this engine too.)
Power delivery and throttle response is unbelievable- reaffirming our belief that Toyota still is the leader on any Twin-Cam technology. Although a little late in offering the variable-timing cam technology- Toyota has delivered the best available in the market- thank you YAMAHA!! (We were losing faith there for a little while.)
Aside from the special exhaust manifold, we fabricated a connector to an HKS turbo muffler- a little bit loud, but we wanted absolutely no power restriction on this end. Naturally we upgraded the shocks and springs- Eibach and Tokico Illuminas, still the best all around suspension set-up.
A lot of our project cars are based on installing JDM specification engines in older Toyota models, and this proves to be one of the easier and most rewarding ones. You cannot beat the factory in tuning engines, you just have to wait when they become available in the HP range you want.
We plan further tuning of this engine combination with cams and other electrical gizmos…. maybe a 2200cc version too… So that the MR2 NA crowd will be able to run and play- “all engine”…… stay in tune
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