2005 MR2 Roadster

[SonicShadow]

My MR2 Turbo is off the road for a while with terminal engine issues, so needed something to get by with for a while. Something reasonably cheap, practical would be a sensible thing, fun entirely optional.

Well, I got it 50% right and took the optional, enter this 2005 MR2 Roadster:









Needs some bits sorting, but nothing major. Will see what reveals itself in the coming months!

Previous owner stated it doesn't burn oil as is common for 1ZZ's, but thats pretty much impossible to ascertain on a test drive. Need to run it for a while and see what its saying.

[stargazer30]

Very nice example.

I can see;
Alloys refurbished in shadow chrome
Aftermarket body kit
custom interior
TTE exhaust or similar aftermarket
Style bar
05 plate so less risk of oval bore.

Looks well cared for but I'd still check the common ones like blocked drains, steering knuckle, roof strap. Looks like the aerial internals are gone too, easy fix.

[Dave Hedgehog]

lovely colour, my OH put 120k on her one

i always felt it needed a tuned honda engine to get the best out of the chassis

[SonicShadow]

stargazer30 said:

Very nice example.

I can see;
Alloys refurbished in shadow chrome
Aftermarket splitter on the front bumper
custom interior
TTE exhaust or similar aftermarket
Style bar
05 plate so less risk of oval bore.

Looks well cared for but I'd still check the common ones like blocked drains, steering knuckle, roof strap

Is indeed a TTE exhaust. Seats and door cards are from an earlier model, looks nice, but I'm not too keen on the seats support-wise.

Yeah, it should have the revised piston rings, but there was another revision to the 1ZZ around 2005 which enlarged the oil drain holes on the pistons. I don't know exactly when this happened though or if this example has that.

Roof is well worn, but its expected with its age / 83k miles.. Still works / is functional, may look into replacements but unless it leaks (remains to be seen) I won't touch it for now.

My honest appraisal compared to an SW20:

It does feel more agile, and the stock brakes are better than the stock brakes on an SW20. This is expected, being 250KG lighter!
The steering feel isn't as good, it feels over-assisted. This could be the tyres its on though, which are some non sport spec Pirelli's. Despite this, it is overall the better handling car.
The driving position is nowhere near as good as an SW20. The seat isn't low enough, and I don't have enough room between my knees and the steering wheel. I'm not tall either, ~1.75m.
The engine is OK, but it doesn't feel as eager as the 3SGE did in an SW20, or a 4AGE does in an AW11. You can certainly tell that those two engines were built with performance in mind, whereas the 1ZZ is an "economy" engine. 3SGTE is a whole other thing, any comparison is unfair.

All in all, I think its a very good chassis, and with something like a 2ZZ in there it would be an entirely different (better) car.

[SonicShadow]

Dave Hedgehog said:

lovely colour, my OH put 120k on her one

i always felt it needed a tuned honda engine to get the best out of the chassis

For sure, ~200bhp would be ideal in this thing.

[stargazer30]

SonicShadow said:

Dave Hedgehog said:

lovely colour, my OH put 120k on her one

i always felt it needed a tuned honda engine to get the best out of the chassis

For sure, ~200bhp would be ideal in this thing.

I've been lucky enough to have owned an SP240, SP200 and TTE turbo mk3 MR2. The TTE was my favourite of the bunch at 170bhp. The 240bhp SP240 was a tad scary and I must admit it did end in me running out of talent.