Oh %£$% just bought an MR2 Turbo!

The Running Man said:
Very nice looks very clean Turbo-G. I like the wheels too. I take it you have had it lowered?

how does the underside at the back look, is it expected that some bits will be a bit rusty around the rear ARB for instance?
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Thanks, it's lowered on Tein Superstreet coilovers with pillow ball top mounts. Suspension geo courtesy of centre mavity also.

Underside is pretty good, bit of surface rust here and there as you would expect on a 17 year old car.

Wheels are staggered SSR Longchamps which I actually imported used from California and had them refurbished :)
That photo was taken last weekend after a clean :)
 
Very nice. do you have updated fans on the engine panel grill? Should there be one there as I've seen pics of doubles and singles!

Yea those wes are fitting the car tbh give it a great look.
 
The doubles are from an aftermarket fan kit originally made by Rogue Motorsport. They're a bit rubbish tbh as they apparently let water through onto the engine when it rains leading to ignition problems etc.

Mine just has the OEM single fan which is perfect for the job, they basically just come on when the ambient air temps under the engine lid reach a certain temp.

You also have a fan on the back of the Intercooler which drags the air through the core when things get a bit toasty in traffic etc. I have a Spal slim line fan on my aftermarket (Berk) intercooler which takes up less space and is more powerful than the OEM fan.
 
Picked her up yesterday!

It drives very well, boosts all the way and makes such an addictive TSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS induction noise when you boot it with the window down!



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It looks like its had a shopping troller ding on one side but apart from that, for the age the body and underneath is about as good as your going to get in this age without a full respray i think.

Issue now, it has the factory OE headunit only scans from 76fm to 80fm LOL and the cd player just spits the cd back out at me. But the saving grace is that it has a casette deck in it so i might get a lineout->casette adapter and run MP3s from my phone via it.

Other thing, it has a Toad 1 immobiliser..(fun with anti hi jacking option) i locked the immobiliser down somehow yesreday and couldnt get the key to turn the ignition on! Im thinking maybe one of the door sensors is a bit flakey as when i open the locks from outside with the fob, the door open warning light goes on on the dashboard before i open any doors. That wa sa bit annoying and i dont want to drive to work and get marooned there by locking down the ignition due to a faulty sensor or something.
 
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Fab.

I loved my rev 1 to bits and haven't had as much fun with a car since I don't know when. I got rid when little Von was on the way but would have another at the drop of a at.
 
The Running Man said:
Von i googled oil changes and found your thread from 2006, what oil did you use on your car? Did you go 15-50 or 10-40?

Thanks
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There's quite a few different types you can use, it's best to use fully synthetic, i used to use mobil 1 15-50 until a member on Imoc put me onto comma motorsport 5-50 which is half the price and I have been using since. You should use Toyota oem oil filters which are £7-8 from your local dealer, as I do very low mileage I change the oil at 6 months and oil and filter at 12 months.

As you have a rev 3 it's easy to get to the oil filter, it's behind the rear drivers wheel, you'll have to remove an undertray to get to it and removing that wheel makes it quick and easy.
 
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I quite like the oe wheels and apart from 1 they are in in very good condition, despite the age.

Dont want to throw any money at the wheels for the time being incase anything else crops up, so ill run it for a while first.

The apexi exhaust and filter were fitted in japan, and still have the original paperwork for them in the portfolio of stuff that came with the car. There is also a note tacked onto the back of the spare key that says it was imported by Newera originally. The japanese have some 98db resirction on their exhaust systems apparently and so when fitting a wide bore they insert a bung cap at the end to cut the noise a bit. Mine still has the bung cap in and it looks as though it was never touched or removed since it was installed.
 
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Instead of creating a new thread I'll post in here.

How are you finding the running costs so far mate?

I'm seriously considering an Mr2 turbo as my next car as insurance/performance is pretty good!

I'm thinking £3k so I think that get's a half decent rev3 which is the one to go for as it looks nice and has the 'fixed' handling with an LSD as standard(I think?).

I have http://www.the-garage.co.uk/ near me for any tricky stuff that needs done and from what I've read they are quite reliable.

I have a mate of a mate that had one before but I barely see him now so can't ask him. His exhause bung thing shot out and hit the car behind once....
 
I gave one of these a race the other day. I obviously lost, but they do shift quite well.
 
Jonny so far its a love hate thing going on. bought the car as per this thread ive had what id categorise 2 sets f bills:

Expected service items
unexpected set backs

expected ones are like oil changes, filters - no more expensive than any other reasonable performance car. the engine holds -4litrss of oil so standard stuff here.

Youll probably want to flush the coolant at 63 quid from toyota for 15 litres 3x more coolant than most cars use jacking up the price and bleed complexity.

Gearbox oil too with lsd its 3.8 litres or so. so thats another 30-40 quid.

Unexpected brucey bonus items:

Rubber elbow from intake to turbo cracked 35+vat from toyota- installed myself
new exedy clutch £122 + fitting 200 quid...
Front nearside brake binding - front and rear calipers have a tendency to sieze usually the lower piston or slider pins. Recon calipers available for 60-80 quid on ebay.or 90 from camskill/brakes international. give it a good test drive then feel the heat of each disc - if you have a hot disc compared to the others chances are its siezed.
Sump rusting through needs new sump pan...

Mpg so far is about 18 but id expect that to.increase when driving with an unblocked brake system.

My rear tyres are knackered - spent 200 on used but immaculate rims with new rear rubber. If its got aftermarket wheels make sure they are staggered rear as standard are 225/50 fronts are 195/55.

shes in the garage this friday for new brake lines do-luck stainless 66 quid and a caliper slider pin refresh job 20 from toyota.

I use the forum imoc.co.uk so helpful for a noob like me snd really cheap used car parts.

I removed my exhaust bung and it sounds amazing. ill do a video on friday for the exhaust thread on gere to show you. going under a bridge is amazing.

Had kids give me the thumbs up driving past and a trio in the park admiring it as i was washing it sunday ' wow that awesome, its a 16 twin cam turbo'. Got to love it.
 
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I like it. and as i say the sound is something else.

i plan to add an apexi bov so ill keep it all apexi for the intake, exhaust and atmos bov.

my issue is there are so many thing i want to buy like do-luck front strut, trd rear strut plus omp steering wheel, plus new ic pipes but due to the abovr unexpected costs ill have to delay.
 
I ever so nearly upgraded from my MR2 n/a rev 3 to a turbo rev 3 last week. The increased costs and reduced reliability put me off, but I really wish it hadn't now :(

I'm on IMOC too, everyone is really helpful and friendly. Members are always breaking cars so upgrades can be quite cheap if you get in there early.

How are you finding the handling? They can have a habit of snapping sideways if the turbo spools up mid corner. Does the traction control stop this? I've only experienced snap oversteer when I had ditchfinder rear tyres, but then again I don't have a turbo.
 
Haha the car is living drama on wheels mate. you put you foot down by a few degrees you are squeezed forward and a light whistle like a dentists drill as the turbo starts to spin up. put your foot fully down and its just pushing you in the back all the way to the redline. Release, repeat. Owning the na you already know how low and small the car is. it does make my hatchback feel like a bus!

lets not beat around the bush the engine gets very.hot but if you buy a decent one shouldnt be any less reliable than a non turbo. But if it does go wrong obviously its going to cost a ton more to diagnose and fix. the brakes are the same as is all the gear except the running gear and suspension which is firmer on the turbo.

I can honestly say i havent found the cajones to go full boost mid corner yet but i havent really drove it in a week due to the sticky brake. luckily my uber reliable corolla is doing the ferriyng about till it gets sorted.
 
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