Tom, I would upgrade the brakes to those off a 560SL. 4 piston calipers up front, and bigger rotors for more agressive braking should be on your list of stuff to do....



Do you have it lowered? Stiffer springs? Chassis braces?

If you do go for the MR2 i think you would like it. I'm 6ft and 280Lbs, it practically took a shoe horn to get my @$$ in an MR2. but once i was in there i was in love.

my best friend has an 85 non turbo or super charged, and that thing screams even with me in it. LOL

I can tell you the worst part of owning it is any transmission work. they made then engine such that you can do almost all maintenance via the engine cover. but it is a bear to get the transmission out.

the positives of the car is that its made with a lot of off the shelf parts from Toyota. I own an 83 Tercel 4x4 wagon, and i can't tell you how many parts are common with the MR2.

A very fun car to drive and not a bad car to own.

I've done almost everything you can do to one, so if you get one feel free to pick my brain.

-Nik

Ha! Brakes? I never touch those mothers!

Just kidding. I may upgrade the brakes but so far they seem adequate.

Its a euro 280e five speed with 369 diff. It has lowering h and r springs and konis on the back and bilstein hd on the front. I have pulled most of the interior out of it but will be putting most of it back in as I am illegal at present. The motor is bone stock euro but with the 14" wheels and 225/50 slicks it will spin both of them at will without dumping the clutch. It presently has a welded diff but that caused too much push on tight turns so its coming out and the limited slip that we built up last winter is going in.

I weighed it wheel by wheel last winter and found its near 50 50 front to rear but about 200# heavier on the left with me in it (go figure). Moving the battery to the right rear should help that some, and now that I know it I will adjust the air pressure in the tires accordingly.

Actually I noticed the tires on the left seemed to often be hotter but I attributed it to the course layout. I will try to keep a couple of more pounds on the left to compensate for the extra weight.

Then I am going to mount the mongo wheel spacers I bought last winter and go ponycar hunting.

The next two weeks it looks like I'll be preparing the old Ferrari for shipping to the UK so I will have some of the work done by my favorite Indy.

Tom W

I bought a 1986 MR2 new in 86. I loved it. It was a great car. I drove for about 5 years and 100k miles, it never failed to get me where I wanted to go. I was pretty strict with the maintence, by the book, as it was the first, last and only new car I'll ever buy for myself. It handled like it was on rails. A buddy of mine owned a Lotus Europa at the same time and I could keep up with him over any stretch of road. All in all it was very good little car, wish I still had it. If you do buy one try and get ahold of a factory manual. In the factory manual it shows how to read error codes using the LED lights on the cruise control stalk, I kid you not.
Youmight want to consider the Corolla FX10, I think that was what it was called. It was basically a small hatch back with upgraded suspension and the same engine that was in the MR2 (4AGE). Although I never owned one I hear they were a blast to drive to.

Thanks for all the comments.

Tom W