My Mk2 MR2 [UKDM NA] in Sonic Shadow
Discussion
Hi chaps!
No idea how much interest there will be in my car, so I'll keep it short for now.
After driving a 2002 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 for a few years, I decided enough was enough and it was time to get something better. That, and the Corsa was on its way out, not worth much and I really needed shot of it before the head gasket finally gave up completely after two K-Seal 'repairs'
As I've talked about it, heres a picture of it (Silver one):
Glad its gone, but it did give me 50,000 miles motoring relatively trouble free, aside from a couple water pump failures. Which is probably why the head gasket was ruined.
Anyway.
In December 2010, I bought this MR2 with 90K on the clocks:
Excuse the dirt, this was after a ~200 mile drive from University to home. It had a fairly full service history, reciepts for recent clutch and cambelt, and drove well. It had a few modifications when I bought it - a JanSpeed exhaust (quite rare, and not stupidly loud or big like a JapSpeed for example), and my favourite bit, a nice Momo wheel:
Took a bit of getting used to as its a small wheel, but I wouldnt want to put a stock wheel back on now!
Obligatory clean pictures:
The next thing was sorting out the pretty woeful stock audio. So, I installed my existing Alpine iDA-X100, a Rainbow iPaul 300.4 and some rather lovely Rainbow SLX-265 Deluxe components:
So, sound was sorted! Much nicer than stock, well balanced and well defined. Due to the smallish cabin size, a sub wasnt really required.
So, the car is running well, sounds good inside and out. Then, all of a sudden:
Tree outta nowhere! My fault, live and learn. Luckily for me, the damage was just superficial:
And a visit to Jamie at Sharpe Concepts Auto Refinishing saw Mister Two back in roadworthy condition:
The MR2 has also proven itself as a practical car:
The only other addition I have made is a set of Advan SA3R's. A bit of man maths shows us that buying and fitting these wheels actually saves me money, as the tyre choice and availability in 225/50R15 for the rear is terrible, and expensive. on staggered 16's, tyres are cheaper and there is much more choice.
Much better, although I would imagine the 3 spokes will divide opinions here!
So, 25,000 miles later, thats where we are! Its taken me to all corners of the UK, been killed (in the eyes of insurance anyway) and revived, and as long as it doesnt throw too many big bills at me, it shall remain mine for years to come!
No idea how much interest there will be in my car, so I'll keep it short for now.
After driving a 2002 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 for a few years, I decided enough was enough and it was time to get something better. That, and the Corsa was on its way out, not worth much and I really needed shot of it before the head gasket finally gave up completely after two K-Seal 'repairs'
As I've talked about it, heres a picture of it (Silver one):
Glad its gone, but it did give me 50,000 miles motoring relatively trouble free, aside from a couple water pump failures. Which is probably why the head gasket was ruined.
Anyway.
In December 2010, I bought this MR2 with 90K on the clocks:
Excuse the dirt, this was after a ~200 mile drive from University to home. It had a fairly full service history, reciepts for recent clutch and cambelt, and drove well. It had a few modifications when I bought it - a JanSpeed exhaust (quite rare, and not stupidly loud or big like a JapSpeed for example), and my favourite bit, a nice Momo wheel:
Took a bit of getting used to as its a small wheel, but I wouldnt want to put a stock wheel back on now!
Obligatory clean pictures:
The next thing was sorting out the pretty woeful stock audio. So, I installed my existing Alpine iDA-X100, a Rainbow iPaul 300.4 and some rather lovely Rainbow SLX-265 Deluxe components:
So, sound was sorted! Much nicer than stock, well balanced and well defined. Due to the smallish cabin size, a sub wasnt really required.
So, the car is running well, sounds good inside and out. Then, all of a sudden:
Tree outta nowhere! My fault, live and learn. Luckily for me, the damage was just superficial:
And a visit to Jamie at Sharpe Concepts Auto Refinishing saw Mister Two back in roadworthy condition:
The MR2 has also proven itself as a practical car:
The only other addition I have made is a set of Advan SA3R's. A bit of man maths shows us that buying and fitting these wheels actually saves me money, as the tyre choice and availability in 225/50R15 for the rear is terrible, and expensive. on staggered 16's, tyres are cheaper and there is much more choice.
Much better, although I would imagine the 3 spokes will divide opinions here!
So, 25,000 miles later, thats where we are! Its taken me to all corners of the UK, been killed (in the eyes of insurance anyway) and revived, and as long as it doesnt throw too many big bills at me, it shall remain mine for years to come!
PaulGT3 said:
I took that car for a test drive in May/June 2010 by the owner before the one you bought it from! It was on 85k miles iirc. I ended up going for a 99 Rev 5 sonic shadow with 60k on for a little bit more cash instead. I've still got it now but am thinking about selling it!
When I got it, it was at a traders in Derby, apparently the previous owner chopped it in for a Mk3. Funnily enough, one of its previous owners (the one who installed the wheel and exhaust) found me on reddit of all places! Small world.Wizardskills said:
TheHeretic said:
I quite like the wheels.
+1, they look good! Nice car OP 
james_gt3rs said:
So what happened with the tree? Glad you kept the car on the road instead of scrapping it!
Soaking wet + adverse camber roundabout + inexperience... at that point I had only had the car for a few months. Lesson learnt though, not going to do that again 
If the repairs were expensive, then I would have had to take the insurance payout and scrap it, but all it cost me was a used wing, arch liner and a couple hundred quids worth of painting at Jamie's, where they resprayed the entire right hand side of the car. The suspension and everything else was fine!
Well I love it, and for obvious reasons!
MR2 Dales 2 by simonholehan, on Flickr
I love the Advans. I'm also considering 16" wheels for the exact same reason!
Just spotted your bumpstrips are silver, mine are black - as far as im aware mine are factory - do you know if yours are? I wonder if they were different?
Mines a Rev 5, maybe slightly different.
MR2 Dales 2 by simonholehan, on Flickr
I love the Advans. I'm also considering 16" wheels for the exact same reason!
Just spotted your bumpstrips are silver, mine are black - as far as im aware mine are factory - do you know if yours are? I wonder if they were different?
Mines a Rev 5, maybe slightly different.
Edited by snotrag on Sunday 6th January 19:15
Very nice!
There is a chap on IMOC selling a nice set of staggered 16's at the moment:
http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=16783...
His asking price is high though. These are also remarkably similar to a set that sold on eBay a couple weeks ago for half his asking price
There is a chap on IMOC selling a nice set of staggered 16's at the moment:
http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=16783...
His asking price is high though. These are also remarkably similar to a set that sold on eBay a couple weeks ago for half his asking price
Rears are 16x8J, offset is ET35 i think? Would have to check that. Front wheels are 16x7J ET32 or 35. Rear tyres are 225/45R16, but 225/50R16's do fit if you dont mind a slightly taller tyre. The 45 profile is closer to stock rolling radius. Fronts are 195/45R16, but 205's would be OK too. The MR2 measures speed from the gearbox, so the speedo will be affected by changing the rolling radius at the rear.
Makes a big difference to handling, especially with strut braces! Even the T1R is getting scarce in stock sizes, the only other alternative seems to be the Falken 912's.
Makes a big difference to handling, especially with strut braces! Even the T1R is getting scarce in stock sizes, the only other alternative seems to be the Falken 912's.
SonicShadow said:
Soaking wet + adverse camber roundabout + inexperience... at that point I had only had the car for a few months. Lesson learnt though, not going to do that again
If the repairs were expensive, then I would have had to take the insurance payout and scrap it, but all it cost me was a used wing, arch liner and a couple hundred quids worth of painting at Jamie's, where they resprayed the entire right hand side of the car. The suspension and everything else was fine!
I'm amazed that it was only the wing that was damaged, that was quite some dent!If the repairs were expensive, then I would have had to take the insurance payout and scrap it, but all it cost me was a used wing, arch liner and a couple hundred quids worth of painting at Jamie's, where they resprayed the entire right hand side of the car. The suspension and everything else was fine!
rowey200 said:
Well done for putting it back on the road after the tree incident, many would have given in and let it go. I have recently bought another MR2, a Mk 2 Rev 5 - it's great to be back behind the wheel
IT took me ages to find a Sonic Shadow with T-Bar and leather, I wasn't going to let it go easily!wackojacko said:
Nice. Love the colour.
Thanks james_gt3rs said:
I'm amazed that it was only the wing that was damaged, that was quite some dent!
Yeah, luckily it missed the wheels completely, and the chassis is very strong behind that part of the wing. The door needed a couple of small dents pulling, and all the scratches down that side were sorted when I got it repaired. I wouldnt have repaired it if the wheel was hit due to the inevitable suspension and steering damage.Nicko_12345 said:
The clean picture were taken at my house 
Who are you?
You must be Matt's brother? I know Matt through CCUK!Who are you?
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