1989 Toyota MR2 S/C- Mrs. And Mr.Two

Pull up a seat, we've got a story or two. Before this MR2 was singularly purpose-built to slog it out in the dirt, it was the supercharged daily driver of a young woman who purchased the car with only 12,000 miles. One day in 1997, the woman, Julie, met William Yates, a long-time car fanatic. The two got married, and Julie was soon competing with the MR2 for Yates' affection. The sportster had the unfortunate luck of becoming intimate with the back end of a Subaru. The bodywork was replaced, but soon afterward, the hood flew up and whacked the windshield, forcing Yates to drive the car in reverse all the way home. Yates did not replace the mangled hood, but hammered it out to a reasonable facsimile of the original.

After racking up 115,000 miles, Yates got the itch to massage the engine and turn the carinto a purpose-built rally racer. His friends discouraged the plan, saying the MR2 was not designed for the rigors of rallying and that there was a scarcity of rally parts available for the car. He was willing to take a gamble.

Because there were few parts available for the car, Yates created his own company, Forefront Racing, drawing upon his years of working at a company specializing in limited-slip differential technology and his expertise with computer-aided design, for the sole purpose of R&D-ing rally parts for the MR2.

As is the case with many long-term project cars, the vehicle was at one point stored in a barn. Once again it fell prey to bad karma when a pipe burst and flooded the engine and supercharger. Yates was planning to rebuild the engine anyway, though the mishap made the process a little less organized.

The balance and blueprint job included new forged ART pistons, Reiken rings and a match-ported head. While he was at it, Yates splurged and threw in a new alternator, water pump, exhaust manifold, timing belt and Toysport 12 psi blower pulley. Needing space to put the Earl's remote oil filter, the factory battery wasreplaced with an Interstate deep cycle tractor battery.

Surprisingly, this utilitarian unit was significantly smaller and lighter than the OE powerpack. Not one to overlook the details, Yates dressed up the engine bay with Hose Techniques silicone hoses. Following Pro Rally rules, a custom Magnaflow performance exhaust system, including a catalytic converter, scrubs the spent gases. Harnessing the added power of the boosted engine is a Centerforce Dual-Friction clutch.

Through the course of rallying, Yates found that, true to his friend's advice, the MR2 was ill-suited for rallying in a couple respects. At his first rally event, Yates cracked the stock fiberglass side skirts badly. Instead of being replaced with the stock units, a steel ladder structure was installed to prevent permanent damage during lateral slides into immovable objects. Ever the innovator, he also custom-fabricated a skid plate subframe to protect the drivetrain and fuel tank.

The stock suspension also did not fare well during the race, prompting a call to Ground Control for a custom coil-over conversion kit. The kit was fitted to Tokico adjustable shocks and the stock rear anti-roll bar was also deep-sixed to reduce the car's tendency to oversteer during racing.

Another weak link discovered during racing were the rear brakes. After installing a Tilton bias adjuster, the rears were overheating under proportionally heavier use. Though the front caliper assembly transferred to the rear, the front rotors had too much offset. Not one to be dismayed by engineering challenges, Yates chose to cut off the stock rotor hub and have some custom hats CNC-machined to correctly center the rotors on the rear. For rolling stock, Silverstone S55 tires mounted on Team Dynamics 15x6.5-inch Phantom wheels take the punishment dished out in rallying.

Following the no-nonsense philosophy of building the car, the interior was gutted and rebuilt to race specifications. The air conditioning and related hardware were removed, the ventilation duties now being handled by a cabin blower filtered by a section of a home furnace filter, which Yates claimed is quite effective in keeping the interior livable during the dusty races. Corbeau one-piece race seats with Simpson five-point harnesses keep Yates and his co-driver, Julie, snug.

While many imports are home to mobile electronics geared toward entertainment of the audio/video sort, the silicon and circuits on this machine are strictly business. A Sigtronics aircraft intercom system keeps the voice volume civil, and allows Julie to accurately communicate with Yates.

This story would not be complete without recounting the racing history of the car. After competing successfully in 1999 and 2000, the Yates' crowning achievement came a few short months ago at the Rim of the World Rally on May 4-5. Finishing second in the Group 5 class, the car finished 19th out of a total field of 43 cars, and 10th out of 42 entries in the 2WD Open Class. For a team that just started competing in 1999, that's an impressive record. Yates and his co-driver plan on being an active part of rally events this upcoming season and for many years to come. For the Yates, this scrappy little car has given a whole new meaning to their "weekend drive."