MR2s...

Congrats on finding out cars are more than transportation! Your cars look great.

I had an MR2 in high school - I loved it - Wish I had some pics to post.

 

Don't be offended by a candid opinion, but I honestly think they're overrated, sorry. They're not fast in stock form (only the aftermarket turbo-ed ones are anything to write home about), and they don't handle well.

Agree they may be *fun* to drive, but that is just a euphemistic code for having "weird" handling characteristics. A precise handler will remain neutral through the corners right up to the limit then break away gradually and predictably. I have seen MR2s in action, and had friends who drove them describe their experience, and it wasn't stellar. To be honest, I've never driven one myself, so maybe I can't really judge, but my general impression hasn't been good so far.

Between the Miata and the MR2, I'd take the former in a heartbeat and turbo it. Of course, if I had my druthers, I'd go for an Elise, but that's in a different league altogether.

 

For the money he had to spend, there wasn't a lot of choices...

 

Fair enough. I'm not knocking his budget. It's just that he asked for an opinion on the car itself, and I gave mine.

I guess we each have our pet loves in the car world, I like AWD Rally machines like the WRX, STi and the Evo myself. I'm sure you'd disagree with that, and I'm fine with that.

 

The ONLY thing I don't like about mister two's is the fact that the bottom ends don't like much more boost than what they came with from the factory. Sure, there are some beefy parts to get around this, but they just aren't as easily tuned as some of the competition. That being said, they have a wonderfull chassis, and can clean up in SoloII.

Craig

 

I also bought a 85 MR2, Think that was it's first year. Had owned a couple of Toyotas and liked their reliability. Unfortunately I blew the engine up after only one year. Had let car run very low on oil and then one wintry night after drinking went by an ex girlfriends house and threw snow balls at her window. Then when trying to make my cool and quick getaway car got stuck in a snow bank, then while gunning it back and forth engine blew. I felt so stupid as her family sat at the window looking at my smoking car

 

I live in the land of tight twisties (no, not at work!), this car was a lot of fun:
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I posted something a while back on a track car, and several folks suggested a second generation MR2. With some careful mods, they can be a blast a the track (according to those same folks). I would imagine that in many ways a Miata is better--but I do agree that the MR2 has a cool look, and the mid-engine chassis appeals to me.

 

Tricky handling??? That's how a mid-engine/racing insipired car suppose to handle like. You want a truely tricky handling car, try a Porsche 911 Turbo, that thing will eat an unfamiliar driver and spit him back out within a blink of an eye without thinking twice.

The MKI MR2s were a joy to drive, I had one for 10 years before the MKII Turbo came into the stable. They helped me to learn the secret of driving, as they are perfectly balanced for any semi-competent average driver. They are a perfect plateform to teach about how a car behaves entering a corner, in the middle of the corner and exiting a corner. They are perfect for learning what understeer and oversteer are and how to correct them. It is true that the early MR2Ts are a little more tricky to handle, but just like the 348s, they are fantastic on the track and being driven at the limited when being handled correctly by an experienced driver. And no, I do not dare to say or proclaim myself to be an expert driver at all. And let's not forget, if it was not for the MKI MR2/Fiero/CRX, the Miata would have never been borned. They are the ones that brought affortable sports cars back into this world. So yes, for any true automotive enthuist, MR2s should rightfully have its own place in the Automobile Penteon.

 

Also, in case you are not aware of, part of the reason that MKI MR2s are such a great little sports car is that it actually started out as a Lotus. See the following link, and go to the MR2 section. http://www.midengine-motorsports.com/

My understanding was that Lotus had helped both Toyota and Honda out in suspension design back in the 70-80's until both company were able to stand on their own.

PS: Let's not forget, the jewel of an engine bolted in the back of the current day Lotus Elise is also a Toyota engine, which also can be traced back to the 4AGE engine that powers the MKIs. It was considered as one of the most technologically advance engine in its days, and I believe it is also the first ever mass production twin-cam, 4 valves/cylinder engine. It was actually designed by and may also have been build by Yamaha.

 

I have had a herd of MR2's

Enjoy the car but if you get a gen2 turbo hold onto your wallet. PARTS are roughly twice as expensive for the turbo models vs the NA.

They do tend to be reliable. Tranny is the weak link.

I have had several Turbo's and I have an na driver now. The second gen NA is just no where near as reliable as my turbo's.

The First gens were cheap to get parts for BUT still hefty on labor as things are hard to get at.

I love the performance and handling characteristics of the turbo and am looking for another right now. One will be in my garage for the rest of my days.

Lots of these cars are beaten to death. Pay the premium for a nice one.


A well kept turbo is plenty quick for most needs.

 

My bestfriend posts here sometimes and he is a MR2 addict. He has owned almost every model now has a fully built Turbo beast.

http://poorboytuners.stangnet.com/WarrensMR2.htm

He's 23 and has owned an MR2 since 16, starting with the first gen.

http://poorboytuners.stangnet.com/Carpage2.htm
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I own a 91 Turbo and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

As far as too much flex... Well, I don't know what's going on with your car because I get almost none in mine. If you're hearing your seats rubbing up against the center tunnel I'd say it's because you don't have the seat bolted down properly! If you do have rubbing from that much flex you need to stop driving the car and get it looked at. That is way too much flex and something is wrong with the chassis if that's the case.

I could go on and on about how much power you can get from the 3S-GTE engine but the best place to go is here:

http://www.mrcontrols.com/primers/power.htm

Short story is the block in stock form is good for just over 500hp. Turbo upgrades are easy I plan on installing this ct27 in the near future: (it utilizes the stock turbo)
http://www.atsracing.net/CT27.htm

Parts are expensive though as stated above. You have to remember that there were only about 15,000 MKIIs brought into the US. Less than half of those were turbos. I believe that's fewer cars than the Ferrari 360s currently in the U.S. I have 150,000 miles on my car (I'm the third owner) and have had no problems with the engine. I've had to replace almost all my hoses but you'd do that on any car this old. But, you wouldn't pay $70 for a hose as I've had to do, and yes it was one heck of a hose, installed heat shielding and all! Also as noted above the gearboxes are the weak point. They changed them to dual synchromesh in 93 but you can't rebuild those. I just purchased a rebuilt 91 for about $400. That's the average rebuild price on the tranny which, isn't bad at all.

Handling wise, I'll out corner just about anything out there. Tokiko adjustable shocks, Suspension techniques springs (1.5" drop) and 17x7 (215/40)fr 17x8 (235/40)rear wheels do the job.

The 93 brakes are a bit bigger than the 91. Both could stop a freight train. The 93 with slotted rotors and Portfield R4S pads have been tested to do 60-0 in 99 feet. The 91 brakes will do 115ft from that speed all day long. Average for the stock 93 brakes is about 108ft. Those are amazing numbers for any car much less one that’s that old.

There is also a huge community online to support these cars. www.mr2oc.com (MR2 Owners Club) They're a pain to work on because of the confined space so, the dealer mechanics hate to see them come in. And you get charged an arm and a leg if you do.

If you’re thinking about a mid engine car I’d say check it out. Good clean cars are getting harder to come by these days and prices are beginning to shore up for them.

Included is a pick of my car and the one with the tan interior is currently for sale (not by me) for about 12K. It has 70,000 on the odometer and can be found in the Turbos For Sale section of the Mr2oc above.
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I am very familiar with Bill Strong. You can not be on that board and not know of him. He's the one that keeps it running.

I think your squeaking is due to some things not being tightened down properly. There will always be a large number of people on the Mr2 board saying that the cars flex too much but I find most really don't know what they're talking about. Any car that you put a jack under the jacking point in front of the rear wheel and raises the corresponding front wheel when you start jacking is a STIFF car. The center tunnel that houses the gas tank does an awesome job of working to stiffen the chassis. I’ve seen cars have their entire rear wheel off the ground and the corresponding front wheel well gap hasn’t even increased. That’s a flex-y flyer.

I really don’t have a problem with rain on my car. Do you have the rain guard installed on the engine lid? If so, this should keep the rain away from any of the electrics. Also check your plug cylinders (that house the spark plugs) for water after it rains or you wash the engine. If water gets down in there the spark will short to the head and not reach the spark plug. You may be experiencing this. The same will happen if you get oil in there from a leaky valve cover gasket. Also always tighten the valve cover about every 3 months. The 3S-GTE tend to vibrate themselves loose and will leak onto the alternator at the back of the engine. A rebuilt alternator (I think it’s a 100amp) cost about $250. Oil will kill it after a while. Trust me I know.

Never really liked white but, as I say that I may be getting a white Porsche 944s Cabriolet. I will say white is easier to keep clean than black and doesn’t show swirl marks! It also doesn’t get as hot in the summer.

You’ve got a great pair of cars. Keep them running well and they’ll be good to you.

Oh, and I’m senna21 on MR2OC as well.

Always nice to see a fellow MKII guy around!

Thought you’d like these pic of an owner in Belgium.
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great fun for the buck....

 

I'm still kind of "new" to the whole MR2 scene as I have only been through 2 MR2s and have only been an owner for close to 3 1/2 years. Unfortunatly I have had very little time in the MKIIIs (although they do handle better than the MKII) and no time in the MKI I will be talking about the MKII NA and turbo cars.

The first MR2 I owned was a 1993 teal non-turbo. Yes it was underpowered but it everything on it just felt right. Handling felt right, shifting felt right, and even the overall design of the car felt right. I bought it with about 27,000-29,000 miles on the clock and had about 70,000 before I wrecked it due to black ice.

After loosing the N/A I decided to step up to a turbo and spent 6 months looking until I found a steel mist grey 1993 Turbo with 28,000 on the clock. The turbo is pure bliss no doubt about it. Its very fun to open up on the highway, very tight. The downfall is that it did not come with T-tops granted it does not leak but, on nice days or nights your kind of missing out. The other problem is finding a good MR2. MR2s (both na and the turbo) fall under two catagories they are either someone's baby or someone's beater. It takes lots of time and a ton of persistance to find a low milage stock example. While may not be a Ferrari they are very fun cars and definatly warrent a look.

 

I had a 1991 MR2 NA, it is still the best handling car I have ever owned, better than my 944, modified Miata, RX-7 Turbo, etc. I used to autocross and track it regularly. It would actually understeer at the limit on the track with the stock size tires, what I did was to use R compound tires of the same size on the front as was on the rear, 205/60-14 I think, then the car had ZERO understeer or oversteer, although I could still 4-wheel drift it on the downhill at Limerock. The car handled so well I never changed swaybars, springs, and when I had to change the front struts I replaced them with factory units.
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OOOhhhh! Hard tops! I'd love to have one as an addition to my T-Top car. EndymionMKII if you ever get tired of your's let me know. I'd love to have first shot at it. Do you have the sunroof option or is it solid?

 

No sunroof option just a flat out hardtop. I think I have a pic of it somewhere. As far as me getting tired of it that is probally going to be when I'm either dead or too old to drive it .

 

i like the look of the MKI's, once they lost their wedge shape i lost interest in the look but i still like the idea that there was at least an entry-level car out there in a mid-engine configuration.

of course, everytime i look at one i think it'd be cool to have, but i can't see a good reason to get one when an X1/9 can be had instead.