Hanslow

Anyone got opinions/experiences of an MR2 Roadster?

Don't bother replying with the pants replies of slower than a scoob, will be beaten in the twisties, etc. Not interested in that sort of drivel.

Interested in real life ownership, costs, driveability, etc.

Done the Scoob thing, sold it, been messing around in the Missus Puma again for a bit, but quite like the look of the newer MR2s.

All decent info appreciated

16vmarc

Have you thought about the mk2 mr-2?

16vmarc

MR-2 Roadster:

1794cc 4 cylinder
138bhp
131mph
0-60 7.7
38mpg
c02 178
IG 13

Hanslow

Yeah I did fancy the MkII but have slowly drifted towards the newer MkIII. I have the specs and things but wondered what they were like to live with as opposed to paper specs.

I know EVO Magazine liked theirs and they do generally get a good write up, was just looking for some more varied opinions. Will probably canvas the MR2 boards, but was hoping for a less biased view towards them and a more realistic one

Boot space isn't much of an issue (fortunately) as that is what the missus has a car for Want something fun, low seating, can be used everyday, cheap(ish) to run, decent(ish) residuals, quite fancy the open top malarky.

...and yes, if I could afford a Porsche Boxster I would get one MR2 looks the next best thing (at the mo). Tried MX-5 and cabin was too cramped for me and line of sight was about half an inch below the sunvisor when the visor was up MR2 offered better visibility when I was sat in one.

16vmarc

I got the stats off Parkers, their review may be of some use to you.

Hanslow

Yep, got and read that, and the EVO writeup, and the 4car and whatcar info Gonna book me a test drive over chrimbo hopefully and see what they are like around country roads, motorway, roof up/down, etc.

Want some slower motoring fun Still like the missus Puma, but had one of them already and fancy something different

Jon H

Hi All,
I used to have a uk 2000 turbo, (which i miss more than words could say!!) and got an mr2 roadster last march. Fabulous little car - handling is incredible and requires much more skill to drive than the scoob. Lacking a bit of power at the moment but toyota are bringing out a dealer fit turbo kit shortly with a bit of luck; that'll make it a lot more interesting!
Saying that, even as standard its got enough poke to provoke oversteer and have some fun with.

Get one, you wouldn't regret it!
Jon

Hanslow

Jon, thanks, you are obviously in a good position to give a realistic view on the car.

What is it like to live with day to day (assuming it is your day to day car)? What's the hood like? Do you have a hard top with it? What spec do you have and why did you pick what you did as far as spec goes?

Any problems/niggles that you have had? What's dealer service like?

Cheers

Steve

IwantAscoob

bit of a womans car no ?, not slating it great little car im sure, but not really a mans sportscar if you ask me, i had a mk1 mr2 a while back and in terms of reliability you cant go wrong, just seems the kind of car your get bored with easily.

Hanslow

Why a woman's car? Women drive Scoobs....does that make it a woman's car?

What defines a man's sportscar? More power than you can really use safely on a road (if you want to stay on the right side of the law)?

My driving style has changed greatly over the years. I no longer hanker after power and speed. I want enjoyable cruising with enjoyable country rides. People that knew me when I drove the Scoob often laughed at my old bloke style

The car looks nice to me, I like the seating position in the car (MX-5 was too cramped, Westfield was too mental , not even considering MGFs!) and I want a small-ish car that has the fun of the Puma.

I could get bored with it easily, but then I will sell it on to the missus like I did with the Puma when I bought the Scoob

Interested to know how easy these cars are to provoke. I have already stated I don't drive like a loon on the road, and to be honest, would prefer a car that wouldn't swap ends easily. Having said that, Toyota wouldn't put the car on the road if it wasn't safe, and I should really get myself booked in for some decent driver training.....

Not slating your reply just makes me laugh sometimes at people considering soft tops a birds car. You must know how much they spend on hair styling.....surely they wouldn't mess it up in a soft top People like different things I guess which is what makes the world such an interesting place


[Edited by Hanslow - 12/25/2003 11:50:54 PM]

IwantAscoob

you wanted an opinion i gave you one, as you say different strokes for different folks, if youve got your heart set on one go for it.

every car you buy has + and - sides to it, the same with peoples opinions.

what you will get is a good fun car with good mpg, and decent performance, just i would not get one

Hanslow

LOL sorry if my post sounded a bit ****

Haven't got heart set on one yet, just after more info before taking any plunge. Every car I look at has pros and cons like you say, it's just finding the right balance for the money which is proving the biggest problem

subevo

had a drag race with one when i had my ukmy99 wagon at a proper drag strip my time 14.7 secs .mr2roadster time 15.1 only a length and a half in it.the mr2 was completely standard and brand new.only group 13 insurance.very underated i.m.o.

Jon H

Right!
it is my day to day car - can be a bit of a struggle if i want to carry any luggage whatsoever! You can get a couple of small bags behind the seats, which is enough for a weekend away or what have you...
The hood is a great bit of design, you can lower or raise it from drivers seat with a bit of effort. Didn't go for the hard top as it was too much money and you have to get air con with it aswell which i didn't see the need for.
My spec is standard apart from leather interior - one toyota mod i'd definately recommend is their lowering springs, lowers over an inch, looks miles better and handles superbly.
Only niggles i've had are various rattles in the car - which my local dealer fixed (well, most of the them!) and the steering pump whining, which they changed the whole rack to cure.

Some people call it a womans car or such like but its usually the people who don't know much about cars who come out with such tripe! I mean a mid engined, rear drive car that weighs less than 1000kgs and no luggage space doesn't sound like a womans car to me...
As EVO magazine said "probably the best drivers car currently on sale for under £20k"
Jon

tiggers

Had an extended test drive in one when I had my Elise. Was given the car for a weekend in the hope they could prise me away from the Lotus.

Was prepared to me massively underwhelmed by the MR2, but got a bit of a shock - what a great car!!! Not quite as focused as the Elise, but better to live with day in day out and handles/goes nearly as well as the Elise.

Since then my sister in law has got one and loves it - she finds the only drawback is the lack of luggage space, but aisde from that she's loving it - ultra reliable and well built.

tiggers.

Hanslow

Thanks all. Will get on the blower and get a test drive booked then. Hopefully I can have one for the day/weekend and get as much use out of it as I can.

Luggage space ain't much of an issue, neither is having more than 2 seats

def

Im not saying this to **** people of but there a resone they changed the name from MR to MRS

Hanslow

LOL @ def Took me a while to get that

PeterPerfect

Yep, hurry up and get one Steve..then I can have a go!
If I like it I will sell my turbo charged, 155bhp/litre, rear engined, rear wheel drive, 6 speed sequential, 800kg girly roadster

Hanslow

Test drive ordered via website....can't be arsed to ring up, and it's cold outside

Time to start thinking about colours...just in case

The Zohan

Drove on, liked it. We had a mk1 MR2 at the time as well as the Scoob.

Could do with more power but i can say that about every car i have every had.

Al in all a good package and a bteer buy than an MGF or MX5 IMHO. With the Turbo kit coming out it will be a beastie!!!

Like all Toyotas it is well built and pretty bulletproff.

towzer

My wife had hers for about 18 months and swapped it for a Mini Cooper S. The MR2 Roadster handled well but there was hardly any torque from the engine and the lack of luggage space was it's final downfall. I think we would have kept it longer if it had been a third car, but she couldn't get her gym kit and laptop bag into the MR2 that easily. She used to just leave her bags in the passenger footwell.

Positives - trouble free running, relatively cheap to service, easy to sell on during summer (sold it for more than it booked at).

In hindsight, we should have tried the MR 2 for a day and taken it to Tesco's to load up with shopping bags... but we didn't!!

Go buy a Cooper S instead, it's every bit as good as my Scoob but without the noise and power.

Phil

Hanslow

Hmmmm, might give one a go. The look has been growing on me

Lack of torque ain't a major issue, satisfied with the level of power of the 1.7 Puma, and that isn't particularly powerful, but still offers good levels of fun

Keeping a relatively open mind about choices so anything is possible

def

RX8
Or import something a bit diffarent
are you going to buy the car new?
If so you feed the greedy car companys pockets i,e
Nissan 350z
UK £28.000
USA $18.000
This madness has got to stop volvo even admited to charging over the odds and do so to this day.

Hanslow

Def, want to ideally get something a year old, or nearly new. Not intending to buy new unless I can get a serious wedge off the price.

Unfortunately the RX8 is a bit out of my price range

scooby_jim

Hanslow,

I think I can give you a pretty good review of the MR2 vs Scoob. I owned one for over a year before getting the WRX.

DON'T buy a one year old one! Get one from a car supermarket such as Trade Sales. Can get them for about 15k IIRC. Bought mines from there for 15.5k and traded it in over a year (to a subaru dealer) later for 13.5k. Bear in mind this was an EU import and I lost less than the UK equivalent VAT! Toyota will give you a full 3 year warrenty since it is EU wide. All you have to do is register it at your local Mr T. Servicing is much cheaper than the Scoob with average MPG of around 35 during day to day driving.

I reckon it's quicker than the book says because a mate and I timed it (very crudely) to 60 and it was touching 7 secs (may have been less due to time between him saying go and me flooring it. It is a much more fun car than the scoob, you really feel like you are in a race car with your legs stretched out in front of you and your **** only inches from the road! You can have some great fun letting it go tail out as well since it is really easy to control, feedback is excellent also.

It's more practical than you think (if a little awkward) when you utilise all the space, I regularly managed a weekly shop in it with 5 bags behind the seats in the cubby holes and 2 - 3 bags under the bonnet.

I sometimes miss the little car and IMHO I reckon it had more of a "soul" than my current MY02 WRX, I certainly cleaned it more often!

So if it was so great why did I sell it!?!?

Financial reasons believe it or not:

We were running a brand new Focus and a brand new MR2 at the same time. The total insurance, finance and running costs for the two were a good bit higher so we opted for the Scoob (best of both worlds, up to a point).

So I reckon you should go for it, I doubt you will regret it. Even if you don't get on with it you won't lose that much money over a year anyway, certainly a lot less than you would on a Scoob.

As for being a "womans car", well pretty much every two-seater roadster in the MR2s class has that tag. You will notice that the majority of MR2 drivers are blokes. Even so the MR2 is by far the best of the bunch since I tested the MX-5, MGTF etc. before buying.

Visit here for more info.

Cheers

Jim

wilf

Would have got one instead of my clio cup if the luggage space wasnt so miniscule.

I've previously done a run with a couple of new shape MR2s in tow and they were certainly quick across country and were not embarrassed at all by the assembled scoobs. 2003 model with twin exhausts is supposed to be better still.

Hanslow

Thanks all for the info. Still waiting for Mr T to get back to me re the test drive, but the website did say it takes at least 5 days. No rush at the mo though

Was gonna be looking for one with Hardtop and Air Con package, would prefer leather but not essential as can get it aftermarket.

From what I've read on the board (thanks for the link Jim), you can fit the hardtops retrospectively, but it's sourcing the hardtop that's the problem. They obviously don't come up for sale 2nd hand very often. The fitting kit I believe is ~300 quid. So, would probably have to pay the premium to a dealer or so.

Jim, any idea if supermarkets would do hard top and air con specced cars and how much for if they do? Not seen any previously, and with not having a garage (at the mo) means I would prefer the security and protection of the hard top over winter

Just checked Trade Sales and they only have the SMT in stock and no hard tops Might give them a bell about a hard topped manual after a test drive to see what sort of price they could do though.

[Edited by Hanslow - 12/29/2003 6:42:26 PM]

gareth123

We have an 02 WRX wagon and an 01 MR2 Spyder. The Spyder is the much nicer car to drive, sure it's slower but it's a blast to scream around in with the roof down. If you pack carefully there's enough room for a long weekend's worth of luggage. Has about 35K miles on it and hasn't missed a beat - only problem I can remember is a popper coming undone in the roof - 5 min fix. Great little cars *if* you have a more sensible car too for snow and hauling etc...

Going for a weekend in Vegas from San Francisco which car do you think we rocketed across the Mojave in? Plenty of sunscreen, A/C on max...

scooby_jim

Hanslow,

Keep an eye on trade sales they sometimes have the A/C and H/T in stock. The one I had came with A/C which is handy during winter and summer. You can't beat blast about with the top down on a scorcher with cold A/C blowing down onto you...

Good luck

Cheers

Jim