New here, new to tuning, want to buy MR2 and here's why...

[spark2033]

Hello.

I chose you guys because I love vBulletin communities. I belong to an excellent vBulletin community for drummers at www.pearldrummersforum.com and am glad to be here.

I'd like some advice in this decision, if you please. I'm going to college next year, and I want to spend summer at a job in the morning, and tuning in the afternoon (eventually just driving... really fast). I live in a mountainous region of Central New York. There's a lot of empty roads here to have fun because I live almost in the middle of nowhere.

The amount of tuning knowledge I have consists of tips from my friends and a few sleepless nights in front of GT3 for PS2.

Here are my considerations:

At first I wanted an Impreza STi or a Lancer EVO
Why I wanted an all wheel drive vehicle:

Handling
Winter driving

Here is why, after research, I NOW do not want an Impreza or Evo:

Price
2.0 Liter limit
Turbo

Now here is why I decided upon the MR2:

I do not like the idea of turbo, namely for the lag, and the compression it might cause in the exhaust system: If I get an Mr2 it'll be N/A or Supercharged.

From what I can gather, the mid positioned engine will translate into more of the bhp ending up on the pavement (less loss in engine/wheel distance apart)

I own a '95 toyota camry with 200k+ miles on it and it still runs great - in other words I beleive toyota to be quite reliable.

It is a smaller car - I assume it will have better handling.


NOW here are my questions:

How much trouble will I run into driving this in winter?

How horrible is the gas mileage?

Is a mid-positioned engine easy to tune? easy to upgrade?

What kind of insurance bill can I look forward to (seeing as I do not beleive this car would fair well in a front side crash)

Can I install anything to make it handle better (i.e. closer to AWD performance) such as a bar to tighten up the body of the vehicle?

I DO know the differences in performance between FR, MR, and AWD. I really have no preference, I'm looking for a fun, fast ride, but handling is probably important in the mountains of CNY.

I want this car to be a learning experience. Will the MR engine be too much for me to handle as a newbie?

I plan to buy an Mk.I - which year of this gen has the best performance?

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO READ THIS!

PLEASE DO NOT HATE ON ME IF I MESSED UP SOMEWHERE!

[mr2rider91]

dont by mI buy a mII

[Gairloch]

How much trouble will I run into driving this in winter?

Supposedly MR2s are not too bad on good WINTER tires but on all seasons of any kind let alone summer tires they're just scarey in the snow. I can get my '91 NA to whip 360s just by pressing on the throttle a little bit.

How horrible is the gas mileage?

I have a MkII not MkI so I can't tell you for sure about them. I get fantastic milage with my NA MkII though, 30+ miles/gallon hwy.

Is a mid-positioned engine easy to tune? easy to upgrade?

Easy is not the term I would pick. Doable with some sweat is more accurate.

What kind of insurance bill can I look forward to (seeing as I do not beleive this car would fair well in a front side crash)

With a clean record I pay $56/mo for comprehensive insurance on my NA, so not too bad. Check out http://www.jekylhyderacing.com/ for stories of how MR2s have handled accidents.

Can I install anything to make it handle better (i.e. closer to AWD performance) such as a bar to tighten up the body of the vehicle?

There are strut tower bars available. Reportedly the rear bar makes the most difference.

I DO know the differences in performance between FR, MR, and AWD. I really have no preference, I'm looking for a fun, fast ride, but handling is probably important in the mountains of CNY.

I want this car to be a learning experience. Will the MR engine be too much for me to handle as a newbie?

Not if you're safe about how you go about learning to drive the car. If you want to learn about performance driving getting involved in an auto cross or road racing club is an excellent way to go.

I plan to buy an Mk.I - which year of this gen has the best performance?

Check out the MkI forum on www.mr2oc.com for more info.

[spark2033]

Originally Posted by Gairloch

How much trouble will I run into driving this in winter?

Supposedly MR2s are not too bad on good WINTER tires but on all seasons of any kind let alone summer tires they're just scarey in the snow. I can get my '91 NA to whip 360s just by pressing on the throttle a little bit.

How horrible is the gas mileage?

I have a MkII not MkI so I can't tell you for sure about them. I get fantastic milage with my NA MkII though, 30+ miles/gallon hwy.

Is a mid-positioned engine easy to tune? easy to upgrade?

Easy is not the term I would pick. Doable with some sweat is more accurate.

What kind of insurance bill can I look forward to (seeing as I do not beleive this car would fair well in a front side crash)

With a clean record I pay $56/mo for comprehensive insurance on my NA, so not too bad. Check out http://www.jekylhyderacing.com/ for stories of how MR2s have handled accidents.

Can I install anything to make it handle better (i.e. closer to AWD performance) such as a bar to tighten up the body of the vehicle?

There are strut tower bars available. Reportedly the rear bar makes the most difference.

I DO know the differences in performance between FR, MR, and AWD. I really have no preference, I'm looking for a fun, fast ride, but handling is probably important in the mountains of CNY.

I want this car to be a learning experience. Will the MR engine be too much for me to handle as a newbie?

Not if you're safe about how you go about learning to drive the car. If you want to learn about performance driving getting involved in an auto cross or road racing club is an excellent way to go.

I plan to buy an Mk.I - which year of this gen has the best performance?

Check out the MkI forum on www.mr2oc.com for more info.

thank you for the great response - hoping for more from others!

[keck03]

How much trouble will I run into driving this in winter?

I have driven my mk2 turbo in the snow and lets just say I am glad I have a FWD car for bad weather.

How horrible is the gas mileage?

After getting it tuned, i am seeing upper 20's, which is better than many turbo 4cyl.

Is a mid-positioned engine easy to tune? easy to upgrade?

I have spun it on several occaisons until I learned how to drive it. Go to an autox to learn the limit. Upgrading is easy as long as you have the $$. Also remember the more you "upgrade" the more stress you put on other parts which tends to break.

What kind of insurance bill can I look forward to (seeing as I do not beleive this car would fair well in a front side crash)

I pay around $300 a year but its a 2nd car driven under 7500 miles annually and I am over 25 with a clean driving record.

Can I install anything to make it handle better (i.e. closer to AWD performance) such as a bar to tighten up the body of the vehicle?

Sway bars make a night-and-day difference.

I DO know the differences in performance between FR, MR, and AWD. I really have no preference, I'm looking for a fun, fast ride, but handling is probably important in the mountains of CNY.

I want this car to be a learning experience. Will the MR engine be too much for me to handle as a newbie?

Go to as many autox as possible. PS2 does not count.

I plan to buy an Mk.I - which year of this gen has the best performance?

No idea. Be certain to check the rear fenders for rust. Quite common on mk1, especially in the northeast. I like mk1's personally. I would buy one but good condition examples are getting harder to find and consequently more $$ than I would want to spend on another toy.

[JekylandHyde]

AWD does not handle better than RWD on weather-free road surfaces which is where a huge majoirty of the people are when they are "testing" handling.

AWD is just easier to drive. It's like the misnomer that AWD launches better than RWD.
That is not neccesarily true, but is frequently true especially with inexperienced drivers.

Fuel mileage is wonderful. Insurance is what a rational person would expect for a 2-seat mid-engien sports car. Driving in the snow can be safe and fun IF you have snow tires. I think snow tires are a must for the MR2 in the snow.

[RePete]

I agree with most of what's posted here except I don't believe that an MR2 is a good 'learning' car. It's a driver's car that can be tricky and rewarding at the same time, experience is key with this car. Newbies driving them tend to wrap them around poles doing 180 degree spins, and then there's one less MR2 on the road.

[iowamr2]

i would have to agree with repete on the whole not the best car to learn on. i was lucky enough to get a second gen N/A as a first car, and it was one of the best and worst things that could have happened. on one end, i fell in love with it and plan on owning at least one 2nd gen at any given time for the rest of my life. on the other hand i was one of the many who fell victim to its at the limit handling mixed with my inexperience as a driver. they are notorious for understeer up to the limit followed by snap oversteer, you really have to watch yourself until you get comfortable with the car (which means pushing it on a sanctioned course, not in the back hills around town) and i am by no means there yet myself, so dont get the wrong idea, i just dont want you to make the same mistake i did. good luck with finding something.