RE: PH Carpool: Toyota MR2 Roadster
Discussion
Fantastic little cars. Very close to Colin Chapman's design philosophy of "just add lightness", and possibly the most democratised mid-engined sports car ever. Two things, in my opinion, would have perfected it. Firstly, as already mentioned, in an eight year production run, Toyota could and should have moved the exhaust manifold further away from the rusty rear crossmember. ISTR some OC members reckon it rots through completely once every 30,000 miles. Obscured by a plastic shroud, MOT testers can't see it, and it goes unnoticed for years, and becomes seriously dangerous. Most non-enthusiast owners don't know about this. Secondly, real roll hoops instead of just optional style bars. Then I think it would have been an absolute cracker. Of course, many people will say it should have more power. But cars keep on getting faster. In 1976, a VW Golf GTi did 0-60 in 9.0 secs, and customers were thrilled. There comes a time, when enough's got to be enough, and I'm not trying to start a whole new discussion there, honest!
Craikeybaby said:
That is interesting - one of my criteria when it comes to sports cars is "would I want to drive it to Monaco?", this rules out 7s etc, but the MR2 is fine.
I don't want to put you off! I'm desperate to drive my Elise round the alps, and I've done 1200 miles in a long weekend in it (NC500) as well as a couple of 500-miles-in-a-day trips.As TartanPaint says there are plenty of people and couples who tour in Elise's. However for me it's a car that is just amazing being driven quite hard but isn't very satisfying at 8 tenths. My Smart bizarrely made a better tourer by far and was the limit of what my OH would put up with. A mate who loved his S2 Elise had a similar experience.
Loved your carpool by the way and followed your Readers Car thread.
Edited by giveitfish on Monday 19th December 22:03
Always wondered if I should try one of these. Love the idea of cheap roofless mid engined fun for under £5k! I saw an S1 Elise mentioned, they are shooting up in value so buy now or not at all I would say. The S2s are a 'better' car in terms of engineering and now cheaper than many S1s for base models. That said, smart money would be thrown at a VX220. They run on an S2 chassis and have a relatively solid Vauxhall engine in the back with readily available parts at low prices - great grip and great performance even from the NA variant.
dinkel said:
Not much of a macho looking thingy but tons of fun. Toyota reliability helps.
coldel said:
Always wondered if I should try one of these. Love the idea of cheap roofless mid engined fun for under £5k! I saw an S1 Elise mentioned, they are shooting up in value so buy now or not at all I would say. The S2s are a 'better' car in terms of engineering and now cheaper than many S1s for base models. That said, smart money would be thrown at a VX220. They run on an S2 chassis and have a relatively solid Vauxhall engine in the back with readily available parts at low prices - great grip and great performance even from the NA variant.
An Elise owning mate tells me the main problem with the VX220 now is getting parts for them. The Lotus is much easier to get parts for apparently.I owned a VX only 2 years back, loads of parts out there, plenty can be sourced from Vauxhall for regular money. Clearly if you want to go aftermarket for exhausts/suspension then you pay for it, but that's like most performance cars.
The only thing I can think your mate is referring to is the body panels which yes if damaged effectively write off the car - mechanically though VXs are fine for parts.
The only thing I can think your mate is referring to is the body panels which yes if damaged effectively write off the car - mechanically though VXs are fine for parts.
TameRacingDriver said:
An Elise owning mate tells me the main problem with the VX220 now is getting parts for them. The Lotus is much easier to get parts for apparently.
Main issue is the rear clam - you get rear ended and that's it, total write off. Most mechanical parts are shared with teh Elise.I was in JCT Porsche in Leeds on Saturday and they have this parked in the showroom.
http://locator.porsche.com/ipl-customer/ipl/detail...
At first glance on those wheels, and with the flatter/more upright headlights, it reminded me a lot of the Mk 3 MR2.
http://locator.porsche.com/ipl-customer/ipl/detail...
At first glance on those wheels, and with the flatter/more upright headlights, it reminded me a lot of the Mk 3 MR2.
I have had two MR2s...having had my current one for 9 years. So much can be done to make them more interesting including as mentioned 1zz turbo, 2zz, V6 and i think someone did a V8 Audi.
i will have mine well beyond my ownership of other performance cars because they provide so much fun for the running costs.
you have open top in the summer, and have the hard top which changes the feel of the car for the winter - outstanding.
i have tried various road / track tyres on mine (v70r / R1R / 888) and the current tyres i have fitted are unbelievable and one i would recommend to anyone with an Mr2 - Yokohama Advan Neova AD08R - they are amazing as a fast road tyre. not been on the track with them though.
cannot recommend these cars highly enough.
i will have mine well beyond my ownership of other performance cars because they provide so much fun for the running costs.
you have open top in the summer, and have the hard top which changes the feel of the car for the winter - outstanding.
i have tried various road / track tyres on mine (v70r / R1R / 888) and the current tyres i have fitted are unbelievable and one i would recommend to anyone with an Mr2 - Yokohama Advan Neova AD08R - they are amazing as a fast road tyre. not been on the track with them though.
cannot recommend these cars highly enough.
Interesting to read the magazine article posted earlier that says the Mr2 actually weighed closer to 1100kg and that was a pre facelift which are meant to be lighter. Might explain why I found mine a bit flat. I came from many MX5's so am not to bothered by power, I prefer decent handeling which the Mr2 has but I found the engine really dull. Interestingly I now have a Celica with the same engine and it feels much more exciting and better suited. I also previously had the 189bhp celica and that engine would have been brilliant in the MR2.
Toyota did offer a TTE Turbo conversion which was meant to be very good. I remember the Evo review.
Toyota did offer a TTE Turbo conversion which was meant to be very good. I remember the Evo review.
Subjectively I'd say mine didn't feel anything like nearly 1100kg. Obviously that is just a subjective view, but mine is standard, and even coming from a 288 bhp Z4 Coupe, it doesn't feel THAT slow particularly up to about 90. Decently fast I would say, and the handling is very direct. I've had stuff like Clio 182s, ITRs, Pumas, MX5s and this feels lighter on its feet than all of them. That figure doesn't sound right to me, maybe someone will confirm though.
That said I did drive a pre-facelift one many years ago and that one did feel rubbish, but it was smoking.
Edit:
http://www.mr2roc.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=9&...
One of the guys on there weighed an 03 model with turbo and bracing and it was 1000 kg.
That said I did drive a pre-facelift one many years ago and that one did feel rubbish, but it was smoking.
Edit:
http://www.mr2roc.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=9&...
One of the guys on there weighed an 03 model with turbo and bracing and it was 1000 kg.
TroubledSoul said:
TameRacingDriver said:
dinkel said:
Not much of a macho looking thingy but tons of fun. Toyota reliability helps.
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