Discussion
Hello one and all.
I thought I would just post up a quick thread on my new to me Mk2 Toyota Mr2. I appreciate it isn't the most exotic machine in the world, but since having one a good few years ago they really get under your skin and its a car that I genuinely missed when I sold it.
Here is the original car in question, I do believe that it is still going strong somewhere!
Fast forward about 8 years and watching some YouTube videos on the Mr2, it set the gears in my brain turning again and I started hunting the classifieds. By some divine miracle, I even got the blessing of my incredibly patient wife to plonk another 20+ year old hunk of Japanese metal on the driveway, and I'm happy to report that last weekend I became the proud owner of this:
The car is in really nice shape for its age, and had been really looked after by its previous owners (one of which I tracked down and he filled me in on a load of cool history of the car!). My original car, especially being Japanese import, had the dreaded rust problem, but I'm happy to report that this new car had a fairly extensive rust treatment & future prevention performed. Its something I'll stay on top of, but seeing as this is very much going to be a dry weather car that will remain under cover in the winter months, I'm hoping that will keep the tin worm at bay.
The car itself is a 2.0 3SGE naturally aspirated car, and from what I can tell its either a late rev 4 car or an early revision 5. The lines are a bit blurred somewhat, and the nuances between rev 4 and 5 are fairly minor from what I understand. This does have a Rev 5 spoiler but I believe this has been added on later and the previous owner did some other neat little touches like installing a Toyota Celica steering wheel.
One thing I didn't like about the car was the absolutely gash 18" alloys that it was running on. I'm very strongly opinionated that 18's are just too big for the Mr2, and I also hated the fact that the alloys were not staggered. Being the incredibly sensible person I am, I ordered brand new wheels and tyres for the car, before I'd even picked the car up! I felt especially vindicated when I picked the car up that new shoes was a good choice, because the car was running 'Sunew' branded tyres. Now, I'm all for saving a quid or two, but I've always felt that tyres being the only thing holding you to the road, its at least prudent to make sure that they actually hold you to the road. A cursory google of Sunew YS618 tyres yields this short and sweet review
An absolutely perfect choice for a car which is notorious for snap oversteer into the nearest ditch or tree
After gingerly driving the car the 80 or so miles home, before the car was even cold, I had my jack and tools out to fit the new shoes:
Rota Grids, 17x7.5j up front with 215/40/R17 tyres and 17x8j in the rear with 235/45/R17's. Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymetric 6's all round.
And here is some pictures of the car on my driveway, wearing its new wheels
During the course of the week, I've done a couple of little jobs. Firstly being pulling the gauge cluster out the car to replace the extremely dim backlight bulbs with LED's so I can actually see the gauges at night. Mission accomplished:
And, during my lunch break today, I gave the plucky little motor a quick oil change with Toyota 10W40 semi synth oil & a genuine oil filter.
As its a 25 year old car, there are a few jobs that need sorting. The handbrake cables appear to be stretched which is a common fault with these cars, luckily I already have a set of replacements in ready to be fitted. The cambelt is also overdue for a change so I'll want to get that done sooner rather than later. On the mods side of things, I'll be on the hunt for a mongoose exhaust system, and potentially some decent coil overs eventually. The car is actually running Mr2 Turbo Bilstein's & lowering springs currently, but the ride is VERY firm.
Anyway, I'll do my best to keep this up to date. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings!
Cheers
I thought I would just post up a quick thread on my new to me Mk2 Toyota Mr2. I appreciate it isn't the most exotic machine in the world, but since having one a good few years ago they really get under your skin and its a car that I genuinely missed when I sold it.
Here is the original car in question, I do believe that it is still going strong somewhere!
Fast forward about 8 years and watching some YouTube videos on the Mr2, it set the gears in my brain turning again and I started hunting the classifieds. By some divine miracle, I even got the blessing of my incredibly patient wife to plonk another 20+ year old hunk of Japanese metal on the driveway, and I'm happy to report that last weekend I became the proud owner of this:
The car is in really nice shape for its age, and had been really looked after by its previous owners (one of which I tracked down and he filled me in on a load of cool history of the car!). My original car, especially being Japanese import, had the dreaded rust problem, but I'm happy to report that this new car had a fairly extensive rust treatment & future prevention performed. Its something I'll stay on top of, but seeing as this is very much going to be a dry weather car that will remain under cover in the winter months, I'm hoping that will keep the tin worm at bay.
The car itself is a 2.0 3SGE naturally aspirated car, and from what I can tell its either a late rev 4 car or an early revision 5. The lines are a bit blurred somewhat, and the nuances between rev 4 and 5 are fairly minor from what I understand. This does have a Rev 5 spoiler but I believe this has been added on later and the previous owner did some other neat little touches like installing a Toyota Celica steering wheel.
One thing I didn't like about the car was the absolutely gash 18" alloys that it was running on. I'm very strongly opinionated that 18's are just too big for the Mr2, and I also hated the fact that the alloys were not staggered. Being the incredibly sensible person I am, I ordered brand new wheels and tyres for the car, before I'd even picked the car up! I felt especially vindicated when I picked the car up that new shoes was a good choice, because the car was running 'Sunew' branded tyres. Now, I'm all for saving a quid or two, but I've always felt that tyres being the only thing holding you to the road, its at least prudent to make sure that they actually hold you to the road. A cursory google of Sunew YS618 tyres yields this short and sweet review
An absolutely perfect choice for a car which is notorious for snap oversteer into the nearest ditch or tree
After gingerly driving the car the 80 or so miles home, before the car was even cold, I had my jack and tools out to fit the new shoes:
Rota Grids, 17x7.5j up front with 215/40/R17 tyres and 17x8j in the rear with 235/45/R17's. Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymetric 6's all round.
And here is some pictures of the car on my driveway, wearing its new wheels
During the course of the week, I've done a couple of little jobs. Firstly being pulling the gauge cluster out the car to replace the extremely dim backlight bulbs with LED's so I can actually see the gauges at night. Mission accomplished:
And, during my lunch break today, I gave the plucky little motor a quick oil change with Toyota 10W40 semi synth oil & a genuine oil filter.
As its a 25 year old car, there are a few jobs that need sorting. The handbrake cables appear to be stretched which is a common fault with these cars, luckily I already have a set of replacements in ready to be fitted. The cambelt is also overdue for a change so I'll want to get that done sooner rather than later. On the mods side of things, I'll be on the hunt for a mongoose exhaust system, and potentially some decent coil overs eventually. The car is actually running Mr2 Turbo Bilstein's & lowering springs currently, but the ride is VERY firm.
Anyway, I'll do my best to keep this up to date. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings!
Cheers
I totally agree with you about these getting under your skin! The light in the cabin with the shades off and looking up at the stars at night. And the view out the front with the flip up headlights! I've had two, both UK T-bars, the later was a rev4/5 'hybrid' like yours.
I often find myself checking the classifieds hoping to find my old ones (P866BDF where are you?!) and I noticed this seller often has good looking examples (I recognised the photo).
I thought the same as you regarding wheels and was hoping you were going to fit OEM Rev 5 wheels as they suit these best, IMO.
I look forward to further updates
I often find myself checking the classifieds hoping to find my old ones (P866BDF where are you?!) and I noticed this seller often has good looking examples (I recognised the photo).
I thought the same as you regarding wheels and was hoping you were going to fit OEM Rev 5 wheels as they suit these best, IMO.
I look forward to further updates
Great read, love an MR2 thread. I've had 6 myself; a mk1, 4x mk2s including two import Turbos and a mk3. Still in touch with the guy that I sold my last Turbo to. Would love it back some day.
Yours looks fantastic. The seller is local-ish to me and he always seems to have a flow of high quality MR2s. God knows where he gets them from!
Your handbrake comment made me chuckle. If I look at the MOT history for an MR2 and it DOESN'T have advisories for the hand brake I get very suspicious!
Enjoy the car!
Yours looks fantastic. The seller is local-ish to me and he always seems to have a flow of high quality MR2s. God knows where he gets them from!
Your handbrake comment made me chuckle. If I look at the MOT history for an MR2 and it DOESN'T have advisories for the hand brake I get very suspicious!
Enjoy the car!
As I was reading I was thinking to myself “no don’t change the wheels they look great” but the grids look fantastic so fair play. So rare to see these nowadays and i still can’t believe the more feeble looking mr2 which replaced it (although more aligned with the mk1 granted) so good luck to you
Mr Tidy said:
I definitely enjoyed your ramblings. 
I've always thought MK2 MR2s were fantastic looking cars, but the odd occasion I could have had one I got distracted by other things!
Thankyou kindly! Yeah they definitely have aged really nicely. I think values are starting to climb fairly sharpish now, hence why I wanted to jump into one again relatively sharpish!I've always thought MK2 MR2s were fantastic looking cars, but the odd occasion I could have had one I got distracted by other things!
greenarrow said:
The values of these have shot up in recent years - pretty car. Probably a canny purchase !!
Yeah, my original car cost £400 and supplies of N/A were reasonably plentiful in the sub-1k bracket back then. Even turbos were 5k or so. 3-4k for a reasonable N/A or 10k+ for a decent Turbo is the norm now! I think prices are only going one way...NDA said:
Many years ago, I had two of these, both from new, one after the other... both red.
Absolutely loved them.
Good choice! Red is the fastest colour Absolutely loved them.
Mark-t said:
I totally agree with you about these getting under your skin! The light in the cabin with the shades off and looking up at the stars at night. And the view out the front with the flip up headlights! I've had two, both UK T-bars, the later was a rev4/5 'hybrid' like yours.
I often find myself checking the classifieds hoping to find my old ones (P866BDF where are you?!) and I noticed this seller often has good looking examples (I recognised the photo).
I thought the same as you regarding wheels and was hoping you were going to fit OEM Rev 5 wheels as they suit these best, IMO.
I look forward to further updates
I hope one day you can find your previous car! Yeah the seller had quite a few nice Mr2's in stock. Regarding the wheels, trust me, I really deliberated on what to do. I like both the OEM Rev 3 and Rev 5 style wheels, I also like Enkei RPF1's, and I also like the Advan SA3R's on the Mk2. Ultimately, my much longer term plan with this car is to potentially look into a Woodsport conversion, which means I'll want to uprate the brakes. The Rota's are compatible with various BBK upgrades so its kind of a bit of future proofing in a way. I do also think they look great, although truth be told I wanted Bronze or Gunmetal wheels instead of satin black, but SB was the only staggered set in stock.I often find myself checking the classifieds hoping to find my old ones (P866BDF where are you?!) and I noticed this seller often has good looking examples (I recognised the photo).
I thought the same as you regarding wheels and was hoping you were going to fit OEM Rev 5 wheels as they suit these best, IMO.
I look forward to further updates
WhisperingWasp said:
Great read, love an MR2 thread. I've had 6 myself; a mk1, 4x mk2s including two import Turbos and a mk3. Still in touch with the guy that I sold my last Turbo to. Would love it back some day.
Yours looks fantastic. The seller is local-ish to me and he always seems to have a flow of high quality MR2s. God knows where he gets them from!
Your handbrake comment made me chuckle. If I look at the MOT history for an MR2 and it DOESN'T have advisories for the hand brake I get very suspicious!
Enjoy the car!
6! They've definitely got under your skin then haha. Thanks very much, it really is in great shape and I'm do my damndest to keep it that way! Yeah I do remember my previous car having a handbrake that only just met MOT requirements too lol.Yours looks fantastic. The seller is local-ish to me and he always seems to have a flow of high quality MR2s. God knows where he gets them from!
Your handbrake comment made me chuckle. If I look at the MOT history for an MR2 and it DOESN'T have advisories for the hand brake I get very suspicious!
Enjoy the car!
I also saw your other comment about the aerial grommet, if you do have one spare that would be absolutely amazing. I'd be more than happy to pay you for it, even if at least the postage cost! Many thanks for that
fantheman80 said:
As I was reading I was thinking to myself “no don’t change the wheels they look great” but the grids look fantastic so fair play. So rare to see these nowadays and i still can’t believe the more feeble looking mr2 which replaced it (although more aligned with the mk1 granted) so good luck to you
The style of the original wheels wasn't too bad, I've seen much worse on the Mr2. If they had been 17", staggered and with much better tyres, I might have been inclined to keep them 
Thanks all!
Congratulations on what looks like a fantastic car!
I have a huge soft spot for these. When I was still at school an older friend imported a Rev3 1994 Turbo. I thought it was the coolest car in the world and nothing else would come close. I have had two G-Limited T-Bar MK2s, both 1989 models and both in red.
I sold my last one to clear some space for when I bought my first house, however I sold it far too cheap and can’t get another one for fair money now.
Of to scour the classifieds we go.
I have a huge soft spot for these. When I was still at school an older friend imported a Rev3 1994 Turbo. I thought it was the coolest car in the world and nothing else would come close. I have had two G-Limited T-Bar MK2s, both 1989 models and both in red.
I sold my last one to clear some space for when I bought my first house, however I sold it far too cheap and can’t get another one for fair money now.
Of to scour the classifieds we go.
keo said:
Looks great and much better on the new wheels imo. I went in my mates old red turbo going to japshow a good few years ago. It got to 150 leptons surprisingly fast…
Yikes!I got mine (non turbo) to 137 in France - absolutely flat out. It generated a scary amount of lift at that speed... I still remember the feeling of not having a sense of much steering.
Spantney said:
Hello one and all.
I thought I would just post up a quick thread on my new to me Mk2 Toyota Mr2. I appreciate it isn't the most exotic machine in the world, but since having one a good few years ago they really get under your skin and its a car that I genuinely missed when I sold it.
Here is the original car in question, I do believe that it is still going strong somewhere!
Fast forward about 8 years and watching some YouTube videos on the Mr2, it set the gears in my brain turning again and I started hunting the classifieds. By some divine miracle, I even got the blessing of my incredibly patient wife to plonk another 20+ year old hunk of Japanese metal on the driveway, and I'm happy to report that last weekend I became the proud owner of this:
The car is in really nice shape for its age, and had been really looked after by its previous owners (one of which I tracked down and he filled me in on a load of cool history of the car!). My original car, especially being Japanese import, had the dreaded rust problem, but I'm happy to report that this new car had a fairly extensive rust treatment & future prevention performed. Its something I'll stay on top of, but seeing as this is very much going to be a dry weather car that will remain under cover in the winter months, I'm hoping that will keep the tin worm at bay.
The car itself is a 2.0 3SGE naturally aspirated car, and from what I can tell its either a late rev 4 car or an early revision 5. The lines are a bit blurred somewhat, and the nuances between rev 4 and 5 are fairly minor from what I understand. This does have a Rev 5 spoiler but I believe this has been added on later and the previous owner did some other neat little touches like installing a Toyota Celica steering wheel.
One thing I didn't like about the car was the absolutely gash 18" alloys that it was running on. I'm very strongly opinionated that 18's are just too big for the Mr2, and I also hated the fact that the alloys were not staggered. Being the incredibly sensible person I am, I ordered brand new wheels and tyres for the car, before I'd even picked the car up! I felt especially vindicated when I picked the car up that new shoes was a good choice, because the car was running 'Sunew' branded tyres. Now, I'm all for saving a quid or two, but I've always felt that tyres being the only thing holding you to the road, its at least prudent to make sure that they actually hold you to the road. A cursory google of Sunew YS618 tyres yields this short and sweet review
An absolutely perfect choice for a car which is notorious for snap oversteer into the nearest ditch or tree
After gingerly driving the car the 80 or so miles home, before the car was even cold, I had my jack and tools out to fit the new shoes:
Rota Grids, 17x7.5j up front with 215/40/R17 tyres and 17x8j in the rear with 235/45/R17's. Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymetric 6's all round.
And here is some pictures of the car on my driveway, wearing its new wheels
During the course of the week, I've done a couple of little jobs. Firstly being pulling the gauge cluster out the car to replace the extremely dim backlight bulbs with LED's so I can actually see the gauges at night. Mission accomplished:
And, during my lunch break today, I gave the plucky little motor a quick oil change with Toyota 10W40 semi synth oil & a genuine oil filter.
As its a 25 year old car, there are a few jobs that need sorting. The handbrake cables appear to be stretched which is a common fault with these cars, luckily I already have a set of replacements in ready to be fitted. The cambelt is also overdue for a change so I'll want to get that done sooner rather than later. On the mods side of things, I'll be on the hunt for a mongoose exhaust system, and potentially some decent coil overs eventually. The car is actually running Mr2 Turbo Bilstein's & lowering springs currently, but the ride is VERY firm.
Anyway, I'll do my best to keep this up to date. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings!
Cheers
Great comeback MR2. An interesting time to get back into SW20s prices are all over the place. I'll show my 2 next post. I've had mine since 2008I thought I would just post up a quick thread on my new to me Mk2 Toyota Mr2. I appreciate it isn't the most exotic machine in the world, but since having one a good few years ago they really get under your skin and its a car that I genuinely missed when I sold it.
Here is the original car in question, I do believe that it is still going strong somewhere!
Fast forward about 8 years and watching some YouTube videos on the Mr2, it set the gears in my brain turning again and I started hunting the classifieds. By some divine miracle, I even got the blessing of my incredibly patient wife to plonk another 20+ year old hunk of Japanese metal on the driveway, and I'm happy to report that last weekend I became the proud owner of this:
The car is in really nice shape for its age, and had been really looked after by its previous owners (one of which I tracked down and he filled me in on a load of cool history of the car!). My original car, especially being Japanese import, had the dreaded rust problem, but I'm happy to report that this new car had a fairly extensive rust treatment & future prevention performed. Its something I'll stay on top of, but seeing as this is very much going to be a dry weather car that will remain under cover in the winter months, I'm hoping that will keep the tin worm at bay.
The car itself is a 2.0 3SGE naturally aspirated car, and from what I can tell its either a late rev 4 car or an early revision 5. The lines are a bit blurred somewhat, and the nuances between rev 4 and 5 are fairly minor from what I understand. This does have a Rev 5 spoiler but I believe this has been added on later and the previous owner did some other neat little touches like installing a Toyota Celica steering wheel.
One thing I didn't like about the car was the absolutely gash 18" alloys that it was running on. I'm very strongly opinionated that 18's are just too big for the Mr2, and I also hated the fact that the alloys were not staggered. Being the incredibly sensible person I am, I ordered brand new wheels and tyres for the car, before I'd even picked the car up! I felt especially vindicated when I picked the car up that new shoes was a good choice, because the car was running 'Sunew' branded tyres. Now, I'm all for saving a quid or two, but I've always felt that tyres being the only thing holding you to the road, its at least prudent to make sure that they actually hold you to the road. A cursory google of Sunew YS618 tyres yields this short and sweet review
An absolutely perfect choice for a car which is notorious for snap oversteer into the nearest ditch or tree
After gingerly driving the car the 80 or so miles home, before the car was even cold, I had my jack and tools out to fit the new shoes:
Rota Grids, 17x7.5j up front with 215/40/R17 tyres and 17x8j in the rear with 235/45/R17's. Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymetric 6's all round.
And here is some pictures of the car on my driveway, wearing its new wheels
During the course of the week, I've done a couple of little jobs. Firstly being pulling the gauge cluster out the car to replace the extremely dim backlight bulbs with LED's so I can actually see the gauges at night. Mission accomplished:
And, during my lunch break today, I gave the plucky little motor a quick oil change with Toyota 10W40 semi synth oil & a genuine oil filter.
As its a 25 year old car, there are a few jobs that need sorting. The handbrake cables appear to be stretched which is a common fault with these cars, luckily I already have a set of replacements in ready to be fitted. The cambelt is also overdue for a change so I'll want to get that done sooner rather than later. On the mods side of things, I'll be on the hunt for a mongoose exhaust system, and potentially some decent coil overs eventually. The car is actually running Mr2 Turbo Bilstein's & lowering springs currently, but the ride is VERY firm.
Anyway, I'll do my best to keep this up to date. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings!
Cheers
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