Dipping my toe back in car waters: Ex-PHer MR2

[RobbieKB]

I spent the ages of 17-24 immediately redirecting every penny I had (and didn't have) to cars. At 24 I decided I wanted to go to university, then do a Master's, then start my own business, and I had to put cars on hold. It hurt and I had to drive cars that were not only boring, but that I truly hated. I had to stop visiting PH 80 times per day too as that was a serious trigger.

Roll forward 7 years and my resistance to cars was bottoming out and so I decided to look in to a car I could enjoy, but would be very cheap to buy and run as I'm still investing in myself and a house. I did some research and a lot of boring my girlfriend, when I got chatting with a fellow PHer. He was advising me on MR2s as the possible solution to my problem and then eventually mentioned he might sell his. Myriad emails and 5 hours of driving later, I picked up one of the cleanest examples of a 15 year old car I have ever seen. Not only that, he gave me a very generous price and so I couldn't be happier.

I recently gave her a good polish and took her for a stroll with the camera.









After a good 5 months of driving (albeit almost all winter) I'm really impressed. I've had the clutch and brakes improved, but everything's remaining as standard for now. There are a few things I'm tempted to do, but we'll see. Primarily the exhaust note; it's really the only disappointment.

As many people have observed, the handling is phenomenal. You stick to the road and the weight distribution is fantastic, as you'd expect with a light weight mid-engine 2 seater. The rev counter seems to go on for ever and that little boost you get towards the business end is good fun. All in all, looking forward to the summer and I fully fear for my finances once again.

[FIREBIRDC9]

As a MK2 MR2 owner.
That is a fantastic looking MK3 you have there! The red seats work with the black interior so well.

Welcome to MR2 land!

[Sycamore]

I'm a serial hairdressers car owner - Smart Roadster, MGTF, MR2, Z4
The MR2 was the best handling by a fair way, although when it did snap it was a near death experience

Mine also ended up in the hands of a PHer eventually. Take one of these over an MX5 any day.

[DannyScene]

I've been trying to decide between jumping back into another MK1 MX5 or one of these and these are starting to look more and more appealing, especially in that spec!

[RobbieKB]

FIREBIRDC9 said:

As a MK2 MR2 owner.
That is a fantastic looking MK3 you have there! The red seats work with the black interior so well.

Welcome to MR2 land!

Thank you. Always had a soft spot for mk2 MR2s but getting one that hasn't been thrashed to death, revived, and thrashed again is almost impossible!

Sycamore said:

I'm a serial hairdressers car owner - Smart Roadster, MGTF, MR2, Z4
The MR2 was the best handling by a fair way, although when it did snap it was a near death experience

Mine also ended up in the hands of a PHer eventually. Take one of these over an MX5 any day.

Love that! If I were to ever respray this I'd probably go for a dark grey. The contrast soft top looks lovely. What exhaust is that?

DannyScene said:

I've been trying to decide between jumping back into another MK1 MX5 or one of these and these are starting to look more and more appealing, especially in that spec!

One of the big draws for me was that statistically, the MR2 is so impressive. But what really pushed me over was rust. MR2s seem almost impervious to it, while MX5s are ravaged.

[FIREBIRDC9]

RobbieKB said:

One of the big draws for me was that statistically, the MR2 is so impressive. But what really pushed me over was rust. MR2s seem almost impervious to it, while MX5s are ravaged.

My friend who is rebuilding his MK3 due to rust may disagree

[Ilovejapcrap]

The mk3 mr2 does not seem to suffer rust like the others.

This is my project, new brakes engine etc

https://www.mr2roc.org/forum/index.php?topic=62697...


I can’t get over how little you can pick these up for. Such great fun to drive !

[Sycamore]

RobbieKB said:

What exhaust is that?

It was the TTE - Toyota Team Europe exhaust. Not too common and it sounded fantastic - Much better than the standard.
My car was the Red Edition, which as far as I can tell gave it a red mohair roof and red leather seats and trim. Mechanically all the same I believe.