Does the mk2 MR2 handle as badly as I've heard?

[horton]

I'm looking at getting a cheapish fun car in the next month or so.
It must be automatic/reliable/available in Japan.

Going round corners is more fun than 0-60, so I have been looking at Mazda MX-5s and old shape Impreza WRXs and am even considering a mk2 MR2 (late model) or a Prelude.

All I've read about MR2s, is that they handle like shit, and will be crashed at the slightest provocation - but I also read that from 1993 some changes were made, but I don't know if that made them significantly safer or not.

1. Does the MR2 turbo come in an automatic flavour?
2. Do the later model turbos, or the BEAMS handle as badly as when the MR2 mk2 was first made?

if they do handle nicely, and are both available in auto, then MR2 turbo VS MR2 BEAMS - what would people go for?

I like the power that the MR2 has, when compared to the MX5, but at the end of the day, I don't want to crash it, and the MX5 sounds reasonably idiot-proof

[horton]

I've been getting my info from probably the worst place possible - online.

MR2s seem like a total bargain for the performance they offer, they look great and it's easy to find a nice example for sale...Im just wondering where the catch is, and assumed (based on what I had read) that they were likely to bite the unexperienced driver (ie. me) on the ass.

By bad handling, I didn't mean lack of grip, I meant easy to spin.

[horton]

any idea if they ever made an automatic MR2 turbo?

The BEAMS version was available in automatic, but I don't seem to be able to find an Automatic version of the turbo.

anyone compared the two? I'm not convinced that the BEAMS engine would suit an automatic as well as the turbo would.