MR2 Roadster

[Craikeybaby]

Toyota MR2 Roadset by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

This is my MR2 Roadster – it was bought to replace my mk3.5 MX-5, which is about to come to the end of its lease. The MX-5 has been a great car, far better than my old mk1 MX-5, so the MR2 has got a tough act to follow.

This time, because I knew that the MX-5 would be going back to the lease company at the end of August, I had plenty of time to save for a new car and to decide what to get. Earlier this year I bought a house walking distance from my office, meaning that my next car could be a fun car for weekend hooning and the odd trackday. An MR2 Roadster had been the first choice, up until my girlfriend and I decided that our main holiday in 2014 would be a European roadtrip, taking in the Monaco Historic Grand Prix. The luggage space on an MR2 Roadster was going to be too restrictive for that, so I started to look for other options, including posting a "What car thread".

After spending a lot of time looking at my options on the PH classified and Autotrader/eBay I kept coming back to MR2 Roadsters, all the other fun to drive cars within budget seemed to have potential for too many bills. At about this time my girlfriend suggested that she wasn’t too keen on the long drive to the south of France, which then made me think I’d be better off buying the car that would be best for me for 50 weeks of the year, rather than for one 2 week trip.
So that was me set on buying an MR2 Roadster, the next weekend I went to test drive one and liked it, but decided to look at a few more first. The next MR2 I saw seemed to have some dodgy modifications and I wasn’t convinced I wanted to do business with the dealer anyway. I then missed one locally but the next day went to view the one I bought, it was in much better condition than the others I’d seen, so a deal was struck.

I collected it 2 days later, having arranged 24 hours insurance (through Avviva) and spent the day getting used to it. The first trip out was to Tesco for the weekly shop, which we managed to fit into the storage bins behind the seat without any trouble – I think this was my girlfriend’s main concern! Then we went for a hoon around the Cotswolds, the car drove well, it wasn’t as refined as my MX-5, but for a fun car I can live with that. The steering felt lighter than the MX-5, but it felt like there was more grip. The hood mechanism is similar to the mk1 MX-5, with a clip on each side, it is possible to raise/lower it from the driver’s seat but it isn’t as good as the mk3+ MX-5s, which are by far the best I’ve used.

The car is currently stashed away off the road as I can’t justify running two cars, so I will insure it again when my MX-5 goes back, in the meantime I’m planning to replace the OEM headunit with an aftermarket one, which will do iPod control and possibly Bluetooth hands free, if I can find somewhere to mount the mic. I was thinking of going for a double DIN navigation unit, but I think the screen would be too low down to use safely, so I will save some cash and reuse my old single DIN unit.

After having had an initial taste, I can't wait to get it out of storage and drive it again!

Edited by Craikeybaby on Tuesday 25th March 12:00

Edited by Craikeybaby on Monday 12th December 21:51

Edited by Craikeybaby on Monday 12th December 21:51

Edited by Craikeybaby on Thursday 18th April 17:29

[Craikeybaby]

I got the paperwork back from the DVLA for getting my number plate on retention, so have sent it straight back with the paperwork to transfer it onto the MR2. Hopefully I get it back before I need to insure it as I'm sure insurance companies will charge an admin fee for updating the policy

[Craikeybaby]

Thanks. As far as I know it's standard, will investigate the pre-cats situation.

[Craikeybaby]

Rather stupidly I sold a boot rack last year which probably would have fitted.

The girlfriend seems keen on flying down, which should save some leave too. I'm planning a shorter euro trip to Spa, I think that should be doable in the MR2.

[Craikeybaby]

Nice! How are you getting on with it?

I doubt I'll bother getting a rack for it, we will travel lightly or take/hire a different car.

[Craikeybaby]

Bloody cars!

I just spent the last hour removing the OEM headunit from the MR2. What should have been a 5 minute, 10 screw job ended up with a broken screwdriver and needing to drill out the last screw. The drill also caught the trim piece, I'll need to refit it all to see if the marks will be visible.

I'd missed out this aspect of car ownership running a brand new car for the last 2 years!

In other news my PH stickers arrived this morning, so I've got to work out where to put them. On the MX-5s I'd gone for the quarter lights, but the MR2 doesn't have them.

[Craikeybaby]

The remains of the last stubborn screw have been removed! It seems like the only casualty was the stereo trim, which I believe I may need when I fit the aftermarket stereo. Fortunately I have already identified an MR2 breaker on eBay and asked about getting one of these.

[Craikeybaby]

Ooops. If you don't need the practicality they are brilliant. Fuel consumption seems to be working out much the same as my girlfriend's Fiat 500 too!

[Craikeybaby]

I was actually after a bright one, I looked at a red one, but the condition wasn't anywhere near as good as this one was.

I did an order from Polished Bliss earlier to get some leather cleaner, as this is the first car I've owned with leather seats. When I get it back to mine I should have it looking even better.

[Craikeybaby]

Thanks!

I got insurance sorted today - £540 with Adrian Flux, I'm happy with that!

[Craikeybaby]

I've confirmed that my old aftermarket stereo will work with my new iPhone, so I've ordered the fitting kit, so I should be able to get the stereo fitted next week.

[Craikeybaby]

The MX-5 was picked up earlier, so today is the day!

I've still got to fit my headunit, I've now got all the bits, so that is my job for this afternoon. I tested the ISO adapter the other day, and despite not using 2 of the connectors to the OEM headunit my Alpine headunit seemed to work fine. My concern was that the tweeters wouldn't be connected, because of not using all the OEM plugs, but dropping the bass & raising the treble showed they were working. The facia kit arrived today, so I can crack on with fitting it. I have managed to replace the screw I drilled out with some I found at work - result! I think now the only tricky bit of the install will be tidying the extra loose wires under the dash and routing the iPod lead to the cubby hole in the facia adapter.

I've also got some small PH smilies to fit I'm thinking one on the wind deflector and one on the rear window.

[Craikeybaby]

I got the stereo fitted yesterday afternoon and spent the rest of the day driving around - its a great little car.

Stereo fitted, the illumination isn't too far off the colour of the rest of the dash. (There's not enough room to transport crates of beer without using the passenger footwell though):

Alpine headunit fitted to the MR2 by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

PH smiley to complement the seats:

PH smiley by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

Sorry for crappy iPhone photos, it was nearly dark by the time I stopped!

[Craikeybaby]

Yes, but wind deflectors are for wusses

It's also not very well thought out as the seats need to be moved to fold it up/down and you can't fold the roof up/down from the drivers seat with the wind deflector folded up.

[Craikeybaby]

james_gt3rs said:

Wait till you go shopping... It's too much hassle to open the compartments, so everything gets piled in the seat!

See beer in footwell in my earlier post! I think when the novelty of the MR2 wears off we'll use the Fist 500 for shopping trips.

I think the rear storage would be much easier to use if the seat backs returned to their previous position after being folded forwards. Toyota must have had a suitable mechanism from their 3 door hatchbacks.

[Craikeybaby]

I had a good weekend driving the Mr2 - 170 miles locally running errands etc - it was great fun

Edited by Craikeybaby on Monday 2nd September 09:59

[Craikeybaby]

Didn't get out in the MR2 this weekend due to finding a screw in one of the rear tyres. It looks repairable though.

[Craikeybaby]

Puncture sorted! I'm looking forward to the drive home this evening.

I seem to remember picking up a pucture fairly soon after getting my last MX-5, hopefully an unlucky coincidence.

I realise I still need to get out and take some photos of the MR2

Edited by Craikeybaby on Monday 16th September 17:16

[Craikeybaby]

I cleaned and treated the leather with the Auto Finesse Hide products and the seats look even brighter than before:

MR2 interior detail by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

[Craikeybaby]

I too the MR2 to the Sunday Service at Silverstone at the weekend, it was good fun on the parade lap - I'm certainly going to be taking it on track properly next year!



Thanks to PHer Janesy B for the photo.