mr2 turbo - shall i?

[MMA4life]

Hi all,
Very tempted at getting a Toyota mr2 turbo and found this on flebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1995-TOYOTA-MR2-TURBO-3S...

Whats peoples opinions on them, what are they like to live with economy etc?
Cheers

[TheHeretic]

Economy was fine on mine. Mid 20's on average, but goes down quick when giggling like a schoolgirl. VERY comfortable, and has very good storage. Not a hooligans car, rather it will make you smile when you get your precise driving down to a tee. Lovely hunkering down grip on bends, and the noise from the engine, and turbo whistle behind your head is very nice.

[Lewtyper]

Only if you want to die.

[TheHeretic]

Lewtyper said:

Only if you want to die.

Ah... Someone with either little talent, or has tiny little hamster balls.

[MMA4life]

TheHeretic said:

Economy was fine on mine. Mid 20's on average, but goes down quick when giggling like a schoolgirl. VERY comfortable, and has very good storage. Not a hooligans car, rather it will make you smile when you get your precise driving down to a tee. Lovely hunkering down grip on bends, and the noise from the engine, and turbo whistle behind your head is very nice.

Hi bud, cheers for the reply Whats the cost on components if it goes wrong?

[TheHeretic]

MMA4life said:

Hi bud, cheers for the reply Whats the cost on components if it goes wrong?

I never found it to be overly expensive. No worse than any other car I have had. Saying that, it has been a while since I owned it, so maybe a current owner is ppbetter equipped to answer that.

The engines are very reliable, especially stock. Just keep them happy with the black stuff, etc, and it should do it's stuff quite nicely.

[Red Devil]

MMA4life said:

Hi all,
Very tempted at getting a Toyota mr2 turbo and found this on flebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1995-TOYOTA-MR2-TURBO-3S...

Whats peoples opinions on them, what are they like to live with economy etc?
Cheers

Great cars. I am on my fourth to date. Unbeatable power/££ ratio. If properly maintained (this is essential and the more history the better) they're pretty bullet proof. They date from a time when Toyota quality and reliability counted for something.

You don't buy a turbo for econonmy. Boost can be addictive and you need 99RON fuel which will add a few quid each time you fill the tank. That said, if you don't bury your right foot in the carpet the whole time, decent mpg is certainly possible. On a run from Kent to Lincolnshire and back at the beginning of March, making good progress (fast cruise - average 55mph) I did 401.5 miles on one tank @ 36.51mpg. Normal day-to-day driving varies between 28-32. The worst figure I have managed - early morning on deserted B roads - is 22. Mine is far from standard as well.

The only item which will cost you serious money if it blows is the turbo. Some OEM parts can be a bit pricey (e.g. ignition leads) but most service items are not too hard on the pocket. There are several specialist suppliers of s/h parts. The turbo has a particular appetite for distributor caps/rotor arms (particularly the former). Cheap to replace though. Other items on the watch list are the alternator, drop links, suspension top mounts, and arb bushes.

If you do decide to get one and you're not going to do your own maintenance/servicing I would use an MR2 specialist. A lot of Toyota dealers won't have technicians who have ever seen or worked on a JDM turbo. East Anglia is little off my radar so I would recommend you join the owners clubs MR2OC & IMOC. There is lots of advice and help to be had and it will save you a shedload of money.

That Rev3 looks tidy but, as I have found, pictures can sometimes be deceptive. I reckon £4k is a bit on the steep side. I bought my first MR2 - a red 1996 Rev 3 turbo - for less than that in 2006.

One final point. Do not under any circumstances skimp on tyres or you are likely to go agricultural quite quickly!

Edited by Red Devil on Tuesday 3rd April 15:21

[MMA4life]

@ Red Devil - Wow! great reply thanks good points raised there. I don`t usually give it the beans & also do not do a large amount of miles (back and forward to the gym and going to norwich sometimes, work offshore so 2 weeks on 2 weeks off)
Would a re-conditioned turbo be your choice if the turbo goes bang or would you buy a new turbo? I have noticed places like turbo dynamics before but prices are very high :S
I will plan to do some of my own maintenance work but I do intend to join a forum when bought lol.

[TheHeretic]

It's surprisingly easy to just drive it normally, without getting on boost, and get decent mileage. The trick is not getting to giggle mode.

[deeps]

Just sold mine, I averaged 23 mpg, never had any problems in 9 months of driving it every day. It was running at 1 bar of boost so was fairly quick and fun to drive, and handled like a go kart with uprated lowered suspension, but that's not for drivers that aren't seriously masochistic. Great little car overall.

[Lewtyper]

TheHeretic said:

Ah... Someone with either little talent, or has tiny little hamster balls.

Haha, that as may be but the one person I personally knew who owned one- killed himself in it

I had a n/a mk2 however and survived just fine.

Red one in the link above looks pretty clean

Edited by Lewtyper on Wednesday 4th April 13:24

[Sam1990]

You shall.

I'm in the market for one, well will be in near the near future. I haven't read many bad words about them and after a good few passanger rides I have to say I'm impressed with their turn of speed, comfy interior and apparently good handling, but I'd rather test that first hand!

There are a few nice examples for sale at the minute but seem to be less and less as the months pass. Patience will bag you a good one. Edit: Have to say, that one you posted is mintier than mint itself and would be a nice buy if all checks out!

[Lewtyper]

http://pistonheads.com/sales/3709533.htm

This one caught my eye a few weeks ago.

Pitty the seller was so reluctant to tell me anything about the car or the work done do it, I was seriously considering getting rid of the teg for it.

Something dodgy going on there I think.

[jt racing]

Great cars. Mental cars for the money. Plenty quick. A must is good tyres though, completely different and dangerous car when using linglongs!
Be careful in the wet, tiptoe almost.
In short, but one!

[Lewtyper]

TheHeretic said:

Ah... Someone with either little talent, or has tiny little hamster balls.

Oh, and- that ain't what your mum said

Wheeey!

(yes that did take me the best part of 3 hours to come up with that)

I'll get my coat.

[TheHeretic]

Lewtyper said:

Oh, and- that ain't what your mum said

Wheeey!

(yes that did take me the best part of 3 hours to come up with that)

I'll get my coat.

If you are 'doing' my mum, then I think you probably best get your coat, you poor, unfortunate, desperate little man!

[Red Devil]

MMA4life said:

@ Red Devil - Wow! great reply thanks good points raised there. I don`t usually give it the beans & also do not do a large amount of miles (back and forward to the gym and going to norwich sometimes, work offshore so 2 weeks on 2 weeks off)
Would a re-conditioned turbo be your choice if the turbo goes bang or would you buy a new turbo? I have noticed places like turbo dynamics before but prices are very high :S
I will plan to do some of my own maintenance work but I do intend to join a forum when bought lol.

You're welcome.

A turbo isn't cheap for reason. It's a precision instrument compared with most other car parts. The shaft spins at VERY high speed (up to 20x max engine revs).
When rebuilding, correct balancing of the shaft is essential. The equipment needed to do this isn't cheap and itself needs to properly maintained.

I would have no problem buying a reconditioned unit. Like everything else there are good and bad providers. I would be wary of anywhere that quotes a bargain basement price.

The most important things to remember with a turbo are
a)Never floot it from cold and let it cool down properly before switching off.
b)Don't skimp on oil changes. I do mine every 3000 miles.

£4o is a lot cheaper than a busted turbo!

[Sam1990]

Red Devil said:

You're welcome.

A turbo isn't cheap for reason. It's a precision instrument compared with most other car parts. The shaft spins at VERY high speed (up to 20x max engine revs).
When rebuilding, correct balancing of the shaft is essential. The equipment needed to do this isn't cheap and itself needs to properly maintained.

I would have no problem buying a reconditioned unit. Like everything else there are good and bad providers. I would be wary of anywhere that quotes a bargain basement price.

The most important things to remember with a turbo are
a)Never floot it from cold and let it cool down properly before switching off.
b)Don't skimp on oil changes. I do mine every 3000 miles.

£4o is a lot cheaper than a busted turbo!

When you say cool down, do you mean idle the car for 10-15 minutes after your journey? I've often heard people talk about cooling the car down before switching off but never the proper way to do it.

[gazchap]

Driving gently (i.e. not hooning it) for the last mile or two of your journey should be enough time for everything to cool down enough.

[TheHeretic]

You can buy a turbo timer, which runs the car for a predetermined amount of time after you turn off the ignition, etc, but that really is bordering on the anal.