An 86 GN I had was bone stock when I got it. It ran mid 14's @94-5 mph. Tired valve springs, stock everything. I did a spring cleaning, new valve springs, k&n cone filter, gutted the cat, put a race chip in and some race gas, bolted on some slicks and cranked the boost up and it ran 12.88 @108 with a 1.8ish 60', the car was a peg leg so no matter how hard I launched it was the same.
In factory trim these cars were fast for their day, not so much now. The beauty is how easy it is to make some serious power out of them.
If I were starting out with a stock TR again, I would do Alky, a small turbo (TA-49), pump with hotwire, injectors, gut the cat and run it as is. It would be a quick car and not cost a ton
I've really been debating on dialing back my car due to the lack of tracks here in CA. The problem is with the bigger cam and head work and converter the smaller turbo may not work...