MR2 advice?

The car in the OP's post is a REV1. 3K for a rev 1 is way to much. I have a rev 1 in exactly the same colour and i have had to upgrade things like the wheels and the brakes as they run 14's as standard and the brakes are smaller than the rev2 onwards. Also they are run a higher ride height than the later models. I really need to lower mine.

Look at getting a rev 3 or at least a late rev 2 for that price. Check for over heating as it could be something as small as a sticky theromstat to a cracked block.

Rev1/2 run on a AFM so if its got an aftermarket dumpvalve it will run pig rich and will run sluggish and hold back when shifting while booting it. Rev 3 don't suffer from this.

They are great cars though. I love mine to bits and it always makes me smile. A few choice mods like a nice exhaust, Air filter and intercooler and up removal of the T-VIS and fitting a boost controller allows you to get boost through all the gears, although in your situation a standard car will be more than enough.

Treat it with good tyres and respect and it will give you lots of fun.

Heres mine

IMG_3003.jpg
 
You can tell its rev 1, 14" alloys and old style steering wheel. Also the inlet port is the tapered cone type which indicates a rev one.
 
L0rdMike said:
What makes you say that?

I have not been in the MR2 scene for a while now but...

It has Rev1 Wheels
Rev1 splitter
Rev1 wheel?
Rev1 colour?
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I just skim read the title rather than looking through the ad. Saw 92 and thought Rev 2. My bad :o.
 
I don't think I am going to get a turbo any more after spending best part of an hour on bell, admrial, elephant the cheapest I can insure a turbo is £2100 on a 10 month policy. A normal GT tbar rev 3 is £1700. I am just going to get one of those just need to wait for the mint one to come along!
 
Looks pretty good, although I really would hold out for a rev3 (although 3k won't get you a mint example). They look better, and have a much better engine spec... (easier to extract more power also). MR2 Turbo's are great cars though :)

Spending £2-3000 on insurance is just madness though.... As said above, make sure your insurance company know it's a turbo, some don't list it correctly on their inventory as it is an import only model. Also, many companies won't want to know you until you're 21 too...


... Modified Rev3 GT-S (Turbo) owner here of 4 years :)
 
Jesus... It's at times like this, when I hear of peoples car quotes, that I appreciate being older and with some no claims! Next month I'm going to be buying my MR2 turbo back off my friend to whom I sold it. My insurance is going to be £570 through 'Sky Insurance' although I believe you have to be >20 with them. When I first bought it at the age of 22 with 3 years no claims it cost me ~£900. All fully comprehensive!

If you are happy paying that much for insurance then go for it. I love my MR2 to bits, hence me buying it back, but if I were getting quotes like that then I'd have to seriously reconsider.

As has been mentioned, a revision 3+ is what you are after. Both the NA and turbo had upgraded engines with approximately 20-25 bhp gains on each and with the turbo getting a smaller turbocharger that produces boost throughout the whole rev range. Not only that but the suspension was tweaked a bit more from the enhancements made on the revision 2 and the styling is better (revisions 3 and 4 are the best looking of the bunch in my eyes).

Get yourself onto IMOC and MR2OC. There are a lot of badly modified cars on them but the odd well modified one pops up for sale every now and again.
 
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phi1 said:
Yeah I phoned them up to confirm and they said it was correct. I was confused a normal GT 2L is the same price.
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I had exactly the same experience when I got my MR2, only the insurance was with Norwich Union. Despite clarifying that the car was an import Turbo model several times they insisted the quote was correct, so I payed for it. When the documents arrived I wasn't overly surprised to see they referred to a UK GT model. Rang them up and they insisted that since they did not cover imports then I must have given the wrong info. Fortunately they recorded my telephone call and after listening to it agreed that it was their problem, and agreed to cover me, albeit with a hefty excess.

I would clarify with them that the car is an import and a higher performance car than the UK model, ideally get this in writing. If they are still happy then fill your boots, otherwise it's pointless paying £1400 for a policy that doesn't cover you.
 
if you thought the audi a3's you looked at were a bit ruff what do you expect from a mid 90s MR2? i would expect them all to be a bit rough around the edges. or require some work, unless you are willing to pay through the nose for a minter.
 
As the Turbo is an import, so insurance WILL be higher a lot higher.

Also in wet weather, do not boot it, as the back end likes to wobble big time
18 year olds and skill dont mix in powerful cars.
 
I used to have a REV 1 Turbo and loved it, I found cheapest insurance with direct line, but this was some time ago.

register with www.imoc.co.uk very usefull MR2 Owners club, always helpfull, plus some nice cars on there, and a very comprehensive buyers guide. also post about insurance on there forum and you'll more than likely get some helpfull advice.

Some advice from driving one, is forget previous RWD cars you've driven the Mk2 is obviously MR setup but has quite a tall engine and for this reason puts the centre of mavity quiet high, so snap oversteer is a bigger problem than oversteer (due to a pendulum type effect) the initial slide will feel quite agressive but controllable, when catching it, it will snap back a lot harder so you end up spinning the other way!! be warned this has caught out many people including a load of motoring journalists when the MR2 was first released. definatly worth finding somewhere with a big run off and nothing to hit to get used to this, ideally a track day.
 
turbo ones with LSD are a lot more civilised imo though

bono1976 said:
I used to have a REV 1 Turbo and loved it, I found cheapest insurance with direct line, but this was some time ago.

register with www.imoc.co.uk very usefull MR2 Owners club, always helpfull, plus some nice cars on there, and a very comprehensive buyers guide. also post about insurance on there forum and you'll more than likely get some helpfull advice.

Some advice from driving one, is forget previous RWD cars you've driven the Mk2 is obviously MR setup but has quite a tall engine and for this reason puts the centre of mavity quiet high, so snap oversteer is a bigger problem than oversteer (due to a pendulum type effect) the initial slide will feel quite agressive but controllable, when catching it, it will snap back a lot harder so you end up spinning the other way!! be warned this has caught out many people including a load of motoring journalists when the MR2 was first released. definatly worth finding somewhere with a big run off and nothing to hit to get used to this, ideally a track day.
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