School Me on MK2 MR2's

[glucklich21]

A local guy wants to trade me a turbo T top MR2 for my E30 and curious about what common problems they have. I've always had a soft spot for them. :)

[Pac1373]

might be a worthy trade, I had a Mk1 and loved it, the Mk2 Turbo would no doubt be a pretty sweeet machine as long as it is in good repair.

[e30jake]

The only thing I know about them is they were apparently a huge improvement over the 1st gens in terms of reliability.

[OniKyan]

SW20's are pretty cool cars. Kind of like a 1990's Lotus Exige. I'd hold out for one that has a real roof though.

[pandaboo911]

They are not fun to work on :P

[andrewm]

I've done a few, and personally have owned a few. They really arent that bad to work on once you get the hang of it. They are torqueless below 3k though. The trick to them is without an EMS they are limited for modifications. You really peak at about 250whp reliably without an EMS.

Parts are expensive. Easy to get, but not cheap. The car is fun, gets looks everwhere. Not many people like them for exnteded road trips, and they are known for weak AC's. The cooling system is amazing, and the T-tops leak. If they dont now, they will at some point.

[Aleman]

I owned a '93 turbo for a few years back around the turn of the century. If you can help it, don't get a 91 or 92 as they have a serious toe-out issue that results in easier tailspins. The toe-out issue was remedied in 93 by a change to the rear suspension and wider tires. My 93 was very squirelly, so I can only imagine how bad a 91/92 is. They can have issues with the steering rack. Mine locked up as I was going around the corners to exit a parking garage. They had to bring a special low-height tow truck to get me out. All said, I spent about $1000 for that repair (new steering rack). I also vaguely remember paying over a grand for a new timing belt - at the Toyota dealer. I sold the car after that one. I had about 125k miles on it, and I was getting paranoid about the turbo breaking. Watch for a leaking T-top & check the rear tires for tread. Even when I babied mine, the rears needed replacing every 12k miles or so.

That said, I really really loved that car, and I miss it. Especially driving it with the T-Tops out on a nice day. The leather seats were very comfortable, the steering very precise - just point and it will go where you want it to. The stubby shifter with fat knob is very nice. Feels heavy in the hand. The interior is like a jetfighter cockpit. You definitely sit 'in' the car. As mentioned earlier - not much torque below 3k RPM, but over that, hang on! The gearing is setup, so if you want the power, you easily stay above 3k as you upshift.

[herbivor]

89 Mk1 supercharged FTW. Mk2's are prettier but Mk1 are more fun I think. The turbo 91' &92 are more diffiicult to drive than E30s but mid-engines are fun in general. definitely more difficult to work on I think. Check out www.mr2oc.com for more info.

[Aleman]

Had an mk1 also. Agreed. Definitely more bang for the buck if you like good handling over all-out speed. It's very difficult to make the back-end of a mk1 break loose.

[irish44j]

They have a convenient place to put your rally tires...

[glucklich21]

I like this^^^

[CrusherCurtis]

The engine is in the middle!
Seriously tho anyone ever driven a v6 swap one? Whats that like?

[andrewm]

People do solara swaps in them yea, they are pretty beastly. Just a lot of work...

[Deathtoll]

Dude snap oversteer. If yet your rear tires wet it will slide out if u tap the gas at all. Remember this after u pull away from the car wash.

It's a great car I had a 1991 na version

[euroshark]

Who drives like that big of a douche leaving the car wash?