mx5, mr2 or mgf

[adolf hamster]

seeing as i'm kind of undecided on this figured i'd do the sensible thing and get the judgement of random internet strangers to see if it shifts me.

basically, i'm looking to swap my 325i auto for a "proper" sports car for some general back road fun, so 2 seater with good handling is the goal.

thing is, my budget is only what the bm is worth, so we're talking about 2.5k to dabble with which sadly in northern ireland doesn't stretch so far.

so i've found 3 potential candidates:

1. an mgf, specifically one in a horrible baby blue colour with ~80k on the clock, plus points is the one i've looked at has an immaculate fabric roof (looks like it's been re-skinned recently) a nice exhaust and sounds like thor and odin having a farting contest. downside is it's an mg, and some plonker has put some stupid bonnet pins on it which'll need removing, and it has the mushiest gear change i've ever experienced in a car, and i never thought i'd say i'd found worse than peugeot.

however it's cheap, £1500, and comes with a custom plate which could hopefully be flipped for a few bob to someone who cares enough about that sort of thing to want one.

2. an mr2, in black with 130k on the clock. plus points is it's in fantastic condition for the age/milage, and comes with a removable hard top which will be handy for winter. price wise it's equivalent to the mgf but i feel like i'd have a bit more faith in it continuing to work with minimal interferance.

3. an mx5, with 58k on the clock. which tbh would be my go to pick, except this specific example the roof isn't the greatest, and the idle seems to be way to low (like 500rpm unless you leave it long enough to stall), it's slightly over budget at 3k but man that gear shift is incredible, plus it's an mx5 and you can't argue with that.

so, thoughts? apart from they're all **** heaps that i shouldn't even be thinking about given i have an immaculate 325 at the minute.

these aren't going to be daily cars, i have the grand vitara for that, so any practicality is irrelevant.

so far i'm leaning towards the mr2, which i didn't think would happen, although i'm trying to keep an open mind so any suggestions would be most welcome.

 

[adolf hamster]

yeah, the mgf has the k series engine and it's accompanying head gasket failure potential which worries me, i'm handy enough with a spanner but i don't really have the facilities to do any proper heavy maintenance.

i'm not really worried about the mr2's lack of boot space given this is purely a fun car, any shopping loads will be the job of the grand vitara. i was the same on the looks although in the flesh it's not that bad, and the driving position/visibility seemed better than the mx5 to me.

the mx5 would be my go to, i found a dream buy at a local dealer which started this whole business off, an immaculate '99 with 50k and not even a hint of rust with the full old man jag spec (british racing green with cream leather interios and wooden wheel/gearknob/handbrake), but some bugger bought it on me before i had to chance to have a proper look.

not worried about fast, it's all about feeling fast. the problem with the bm is opening it up properly would end in some penalty points quicker than you could say third gear. same goes for fuel economy.

 

[adolf hamster]

mr2 mk2 turbo

there is one mk2 mr2 going, but not a turbo version. might have a gander next week as i much preferr the looks of the mk2 compared to the mk3.

 

[adolf hamster]

If you are set on a mk2 then don't get the na otherwise you would be always wanting the turbo.Lovely cars and easily able to up the power if needed.

can't say i'm massively set on anything in particular, but i'll bear that in mind if i see a turbo come up.

well, tell a lie, what i really want is a 3.0 z4 with folding hard top, but then reality has this terrible habit of getting in the way lol.

 

[adolf hamster]

hmm interesting, to clarify the mr2 is a 2001 1.8vvt so pre-facelift by the sounds of it. it does have the most miles on it but it seems to start and drive just fine.

the mx5's engine problem is just the idle, it revs out perfectly fine it seems to just be set to idle really low, i'd wager if you could adjust the idle up a few hundred rpm it'd be fine although i'm not sure how easy a task that'd be. rust wise it does have a little round the rear sills, which is standard fare for most of them round here.

atm the minimum work option seems to be the mr2, as it has a hard top and no obvious issues, the mx5 would be second needing the idle sorted and the mg would be the most with stupid bonnet pins to remove, the gear shift to fix and potentially head gasket/temperature sensor modification needed.

i don't have a garage and i'm in northern ireland, so as handy as i am with spanners i'm limited to things that can be acheived within a few hours on the driveway in the gap between rainclouds.

edit: some more searching has found an mg tf with 36k popped up and another mr2 with less miles and a nicer interior spec

 

[adolf hamster]

Fabric roofs can be sorted by Jack Smith in Swansea for a fraction of OEM costs. I was very happy with the job he did on my S2000 and I know he does a load of MX5’s too, so don’t let it put you off an otherwise sorted car.

i'm 50/50 on the fabric roof thing, i imagine i'd need to either go for a cover or get a hard top for the winter. it's more for when it's sitting than being driven.

 

[adolf hamster]

You need to do some reading on the 1zz-fe oil burning issue, I assume if its made it to that miles it has either had the pre-cats removed early in its life or its had another late engine swapped into it.

righto, thanks for the heads up i'll have a look at that. i'll confess the mr2 is a car i don't know much about.

Get a decent cover for it. Very little upset me more than a crisp bright sunny winter’s day and not being able to take the hard top off my TF. The soft top was more waterproof anyway as it had a better fit round the window seals!

Good luck with your search whatever you end up with. You’ll need to be very attached emontionally to whatever you buy as you’ll be finding rust and niggles all the time at this age. Shop around lots and try to buy privately from an enthusiast.

by hard top i'm meaning the removable kind with the fabric roof beneath, means come winter i can not worry so much about the weather but still take the top off when i feel like it.

but if it's soft top only then it'll need some kind of more substantial cover.

 

[adolf hamster]

It’s much more of a faff to take the hard top off and store it somewhere for the odd drive than having an outdoor cover. You can also get half covers which protect the roof and glasshouse.

i do have a shed for the hard top, mostly it'd be for winter with it living in the shed over summer.

 

[adolf hamster]

Your inner monologue clearly has never driven a decent MGF.

i'll hold judgement on that until i take a look at this tf tomorrow, might just bring me over to the british way of thinking.

 

[adolf hamster]

I wouldn’t go out of your way to find a car with one supplied. Especially at the expense of buying a decent one without.

You can’t really take the hard tops off single handedly either. In my experience once the hard top was on, it was on for a few months regardless of the weather. Once it was off, it didn’t get put back on for a while.

true, although if i was getting without i'd need to factor in the cost of getting it/a cover to the total budget. definately it's a feature i'd consider favourably.

@inflames i see we have a fellow pop-up aficionado

 

[adolf hamster]

Well, i pulled the trigger on the mr2, i'm sure most would consider it a bit of a mess as it sits now, but the mechanics feel solid enough and i reckon a bit of a clean up it'll be grand.

I think the bonnet catch is broken, or at least the one in the drivers side is i've yet to check if theres another hidden somewhere. The aerial sounds rough as hell when it extends, but i never listen to normal radio anyway.

Gonna give it a good solid clean, change the gear knob out (not something i normally do but the original has seen better days) and maybe give the oil a change. Dont know if it's had the oil issue fixed so i'll keep an eye on it but this thing isnt going to be asked to do any big milage.

 

[adolf hamster]

just checked the bonnet catch, the one in the glovebox works fine, i guess the one by the drivers seat is just to lock it rather than open it.

 

[adolf hamster]

The one in the glove box does the front bonnet.

The one to the right of the driver seat does the rear one, the lock that you use the keys to turn locks the fuel filler cap so no one can nick your petrol if you leave the car with the roof down!

ahh, makes sense, now i just need to give it a good cleaning

 

[adolf hamster]

The MR2 forums are a good place for info and a good bunch of lads, well they use to be when i was frequently visited it. Twobrutal is another forum if you want to see people shoe horn in 3L V6's into an MR2

i'll have to check it out, atm it's the usual business of new car figuring out what it has and wether or not that feature works.

 

[adolf hamster]

funny i was looking for an mx5 and got an mr2

took her a wee blast up the hills today, i think some new tyres are definately needed but man it drive like a go kart.

for me the mx5 just owns the debate on looks, but then it looks kinda like an e type so, y'know.....

funny i went to get new tyres and already had someone try to buy it off me

 

[adolf hamster]

Its quite telling from the couple of dozen trackdays I've done that I've never seen an MGF there at all, most are either Clios or MX5s and sometimes MR2s (at this price point). There must be a reason for that..

Funny i'd have thought thats where most of them went, given how few there are on the roads.

Had a randomer offer me the same money i paid today for the mr2 so he could use it lane rallying, i guess at least i'll have someone to flog it to if i decide to sell at the end of the summer. Seriously i was just in to get tyres and he was getting his quad sprayer fixed.

 

[adolf hamster]

I don't think there were any tweaks until they eventually sorted it in late '55 and '06 cars.

2ZZ is a great swap and easy enough to do.

the one i bought will need more than an engine swap to save it

 

[adolf hamster]

You won't find a good S2000 for less than about 9k now.

sad but true, great car though, i'd love one but that's a bit rich for my blood.