^They are famous for that because of the high inertia of the rear and not that long a wheelbase but once again setting the car up helps A LOT.
Which is why I suggest changing the standard suspension specs. It's much more manageable at the limit. I crashed my first one from this trait quite a few times. If you change it to a situation that avoids understeer but rather starts to oversteer and squirm at the limit it's much more manageable because you are no longer fighting the car for control.
I've rallied my mr2 for near 10 years. I've tried many combinations of things and smashed plenty of myths dead in my ownership.
tinkey,
Dec 3, 1:28am
Buy the MX5 if you are a female hairdresser. Otherwise by a man's car- the MR2. Always makes me cringe when I see a male driving an MX5. They may handle well, but they are a woman's car, full stop.
un_known,
Dec 3, 1:48am
LOL yeh cause the MR2 is sooo much more masculine, hell the new one is even called MRS.
klrider,
Dec 3, 2:06am
yours is a belief by woman who hate the truth.
n1smo_gtir,
Dec 3, 2:47am
At 50, you'd hope op grasp concept of car control at this age. If do MR2 is uber zippy, great drifter around sharp 25k hairpins and roundabouts. I've owned a turbo and non turbo. Not much diff in fuel consumption but turbo one was def more fun to drive. Both were manual though. Very quick off the mark and love the short shifting gear changes. I left my Targa off during summer. Piece of piss to put on.and remove. Even chucked in a custom made sub behind the seats:D
mike1345,
Dec 3, 1:06pm
Womens car/mans car, what a load of bollocks!
mm12345,
Dec 3, 2:17pm
+1. There are a few exceptions though - think "new" VW beetle, and trying to parallel park old tanks like the XD Falcon I had which did not have power steering.
johnf_456,
Dec 3, 6:36pm
Nothing wrong with no power steering, just builds those muscles
timmo1,
Dec 3, 6:39pm
NZ new NA MR2s didn't have power steering either (my first one was a 92 NZ new Targa Top)
doug207,
Dec 3, 9:59pm
Try both, buy which ever you want.
If you have trouble driving an MR2 in the wet, hand you have a few issues with car control. They're fine and no they won't try to kill you
The MX5 would be my pick, purely because the MR2s tend to give more problems (somebody mentioned 3SFE above, they never had them, they had the GE, which is gruntier but not as strong) And I think the MX5 is a little more fun
gypsyguy,
Dec 4, 7:53pm
Exactly, I've tried/owned both, the MX5 is more predictable and forgiving in it's handling. Mid-engine cars stick hugely well until.SNAP! Too late. Round and round you go.poo-trou stuff. Personally Ithink the fun factor is higher with a MX5, but that could be just me.
kcf,
Dec 4, 8:03pm
If you're not going to be driving it quickly the MR2 rear weight bias isn't going to effect you in the slightest, because you won't be anywhere near the adhesion limits of the car.
Sit in both cars and find out which one is most comfortable.
Being 6 foot 1, if you are "long in the body" you will find that the top of the MX5 screen is very much right in your vision zone and your head will be in turbulence.I'm a smidge under six foot, but am long in the body as compared to my legs, and although I've owned three MX5's, it is somewhat annoying.
MR2 targa top's are legend for leaking water in.Personally that would give me psychotic episodes.So I'd take an MX5 over a MR2 t-top for that reason alone.
Whichever one you buy, be nice and buy it good quality tyres (not cheap tyres) and get a wheel alignment done on it.Well worth the investment.
tazcsv,
Dec 4, 8:18pm
If my ttop started leaking i just gave the rubbers a spray with silicon and that was enuf to fix the problem. not hard to replace the rubber either and cheap. yes i think mr2s benefit alot having really good rubber on the road.
timmo1,
Dec 4, 8:37pm
Cheap! I seem to remember (and I could be wrong) it was actually a very expensive exercise getting replacement rubbers from Toyota for the T-tops!
timmo1,
Dec 4, 8:39pm
They sit behind the seats when off
pollymay,
Dec 4, 8:40pm
I'm on a one man mission to inform people about that silly "snap oversteer". A lot of it is alignment. The stock alignment is setup to push, it'll push until something unsettles it or the weight shifts a little and then you're in trouble. Make it more balanced and slide at the limit and you can control it by just throwing a little lock the other way.
At the extreme end of things I have a locked diff in my rally car and can biff it around from corner to corner. You must have good shocks and rubber though, or the car will bite you.
fordcrzy,
Dec 4, 10:41pm
i drive a turbo MX5 and it is great. the mx 5 responds HUGELY to good alignment and tyres. on a normal car the alignment might make 10%difference.on an mx5 it is over 50% difference. people who have driven bone stock mx5 with a rubbish alignment and cheap tyres just have no idea.The mx5 is much more fun to drive than an mr2. more feed back from the car makes it better.having said that if you are tall then an mr2 may be a better daily driver as they have a bit more leg room.
sw20,
Dec 4, 11:12pm
MR2s only spin easily in the rain if you drive like a total muppet, or skimp on tyres.
You MUST buy premium tyres for them. When I got my first turbo it was a total handful in the wet, had old crusty G Grids. Swapped them out for some sticky Dunlops and it was much better. Once I put some Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3s on there I could accelerate hard even in pouring rain without it letting go.
timmo1,
Dec 5, 1:59am
I had Toyo Proxes 4s on my MR2 turbo.great in the dry, pretty rubbish in the wet.
sw20,
Dec 5, 3:06am
Proxes 4 are pretty basic performance tyres. They were ok on my Clio Sport and that was more tail happy than the MR2 in the rain.
Probably wouldn't run Proxes 4 on a MR2, the T1R isn't much more expensive.
chebry,
Dec 5, 3:14am
Nothing does if you know HOW to drive spinouts do not happen
toysky,
Dec 5, 9:19am
Now whats your choice between a 1986 mk1 supercharger mr2 104ksand a 1990 mr2 auto !
pollymay,
Dec 5, 11:21am
I don't think the SC model came out till 87! Could be wrong, I forget.
MKIs rust, the 4a engines also runs bearings easily if uncared for. I've also had a gutsfull of mkI owners. However it's personally my favourite model. But I have tonnes of spares.
tazcsv,
Dec 5, 2:13pm
You got them from toyota, theres the problem.
timmo1,
Dec 5, 3:55pm
No I didn't, mine were fine. I just remember (or not!) the discussions on the MR2 forums at the time. Who else makes them!
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