Filed under: Aftermarket, Gadgets, Etc., Tech, Toyota
Forum Find: Custom MR2 with the Ultimate Car-Puter
Click above for a massive gallery of the MR2 Carputer
Upon first inspection, MR2forum.de member LaroCroft's second-generation (SW20) Toyota MR2 is simply a tastefully modded example of a cult favorite. However, peer inside and all preconceived notions are immediately thrown out the targa top.
Any "For Sale" thread that requires "Knowledge in electronics, skills in PC technology and knowledge of programming (especially Visual Basic)" is a clear indication that things inside have gotten thoroughly out of hand. Just check out the gallery and you'll see what we're talking about.
The entire instrument cluster and center console have been replaced with three screens displaying every conceivable function and parameter of the MR2's systems. The trio of displays are controlled by either a touch screen interface or a center console-mounted knob (ala iDrive), and allows the drive to manipulate everything from fuel consumption to engine temp; climate control to GPS functions; mirrors, radar/laser, the wireless transfer of music from a home computer, lights, fog lights, and on and on and on.
It's pure insanity and incredibly cool. And the best part: it's for sale in Germany – assuming you've got the programming chops to actually leave your driveway.
Gallery: Toyota MR2 Carputer
[Source: MR2Forum.de]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Ian 8:06PM (9/11/2008)
star trek called...
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Zeus.:God 9:11PM (9/11/2008)
... They said "nice job".
andrew 11:58AM (9/13/2008)
Thanks for nice posting.....
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Andrew
Used Cars
AndrewWiliam 9:57AM (9/25/2008)
Thanks for posting impressing topic.
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Andrew William
Car Reviews
dinnercoat 8:08PM (9/11/2008)
I've had this fantasy before, but it was for my 1990 Mazda RX-7 and not nearly elaborate. I was just envisioning a small touch-screen/voice-activated display that would go in the equalizer bay under the stereo that would measure things like boost, various temperatures and pressures, etc, nothing nearly to this scale. Though programmable thresholds for voice warnings (e.g. "Warning, oil temperature has exceeded x celsius.") that would be recorded by Majel Barret Roddenberry.
Also love the LCARS-style display on this thing.
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Farris 8:09PM (9/11/2008)
One word:
Damn!
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I-man 8:10PM (9/11/2008)
star trek called...
Reply
blotto 8:12PM (9/11/2008)
Three (?) words: Glare-o-vision.
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jeff 8:15PM (9/11/2008)
This is what the new KITT should be...not that mustang...nuff said
geo.stewart 8:55AM (9/12/2008)
jeff,'
exactly- even has t-tops for an ejector seat
ImportCarSite.com 1:18PM (9/12/2008)
Well the germans do like their Hasselhoff!
James_P 8:17PM (9/11/2008)
Very smooth & good looking. But ...
As good as it looks, I would not trust a consumer grade computer OS, in this case Windows XP, to display important driving data such as " temperature with acoustic warning + overheating warning of speed on 5000/min when engine cold ".
A general purpose or consumer grade OS has no guarantees as to how it will operate when faced with failures or system stress. This is why the industrial & manufacturing world uses Real Time OS or embedded OS. They may not look as cool and do all the things we would love for them to do, but they are engineered & tested to behave with expected results.
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jjpg2000 8:22PM (9/11/2008)
I agree, they should have at least used Server 2003.
Ford Wannup 11:24PM (9/11/2008)
@James P:
well....he got it done!... using easily accessible resources. Sometime, pragmatism, simplicity, got the job done, and that's what matters in this case.
Like they said, those who can...do, those who can't...comment.
another_one 8:31PM (9/17/2008)
If the instrumentation depends on an OBD-2 port (and not an aftermarket ecu) the response time for a an RPM/boost/"A/F" would be unacceptable especially for "knight rideresque" operations (read racing).
My Saturn VUE (read no racing) has a touchscreen windows based system + centrafuse front end. Works great for entertainment. The 3DNavigator controller (used here) is perfect for advanced CarPC installs.
I hope he kept the original gauges... that WAS a really nice car...
Xeen
2004m3driver 8:19PM (9/11/2008)
Nice, except those hideous rims. He shoulda went with something with less spokes to complete the clean look.
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Reader 11:11PM (9/11/2008)
Yeah, the rims make it look like a hotwheel car.
Quan 8:28PM (9/11/2008)
That's awesome. If I was in Germany I'd buy it.
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Marc-O 8:29PM (9/11/2008)
Holy crap that's a lot of work there... from UI graphic design to the whole interfacing with the car's systems... Whoah. Kudos.
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majortom1981 7:14AM (9/12/2008)
Jim windows xp is perfectly scalable. There are so many things you can disable on it to get it lean and small.