Thinking about buying....

Level 8 User Joined: 07 Sep 2005 Posts: 315

A MR2 Turbo. Going to test drive a couple tomorrow. Has anyone any experience with them?

I was also considering a 200sx until I drove one at the weekend, not impressed at all. Felt very sluggish.

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

what 200 was it? s13 or 14?

as standard especially auto ones are very jelly sluggish, they have mofo heavy flywheels

they can be made into impressive cars

mr2 turbos the same, personnaly a mk1 mr2 is a great car, bang the turbo lump into one of them and you have a winning combo. the later mr2 has a nicer interior and feel to it though.

Level 8 User Joined: 07 Sep 2005 Posts: 315

It was a s14a, manual. It just seemed so sluggish, no pull in 4th gear at all.

I'm looking for a mk2 gen3, so 94 on. Looking at a turbo and a non turbo tomorrow to compare the two of them. They both look good on paper so I'll see tomorrow what they are like to drive.

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

was it boosting?

I think stephen the fellow irishman has a mr2 turbo, late one, I think 95 for some reason might be wrong.

He might be worth pm'ing for an owners view on it.

Level 8 User Joined: 07 Sep 2005 Posts: 315

No boost gauge in it but I could hear the turbo spooling. He said the manifold gasket was blowing so maybe it wasn't boosting to its potential. It was way overpriced anyway.

Found a good detailed buyers guide on here... http://www.btinternet.com/~netsurf/mr2t/index.html has alot of common problems listed too.

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

the 200's are good at doing the gaskets on the manifold and cracking em.

I quite like them myself, they can produce a lot of power.

I'd choose one over a pulsar any day of the week tbh

Level 8 User Joined: 07 Sep 2005 Posts: 315

They are lovely, much nice looking than a Skyline imo. They are overpriced over here tho' The one I looked at was a 99 UK import on 99,000miles and he wanted â‚¬11500 for it. Thats the lowest milage one I have found aswell.

Any advice on what to look out for on a turbo car apart from boosting fully/quickly and not smoking under acceleration?

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

might not smoke much but the induction system can be full of oil. If you can pull a breather or if it has an atmo dump valve see if theres traces of oil around it.

partially siezed wastegates can prevent them boostign fully as can a simple vacuum line split.

let the owner start and turn the car off, some muppet that revs it just after it starts or just as he turns it off, chances are the turbos not got long left and it'll have been thrashed.

have a look through vents and grilles at the intercooler, small leaks here can mean crap performance and nasty noises.

if you can get it into high gears and get a load on it, this loads the turbo, if it overboosts then ask why, it will also highlight any leaks with a fair bit of noise. The lower gears you ramp through pretty quick so don't load the engine. When doing this keep an eye ont eh coolant gauge as well.

obviously the more power the engines making the mor eheat it has to dump, if the gauge rockets up up when giving it some then it could be an expensive issue.

Level 8 User Joined: 07 Sep 2005 Posts: 315

Cheers Chris, I'll keep an eye out for those. I might end up chickening out and getting a non turbo GT Embarassed

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

MK1 MR2s are fantastic fun! My mate had one, just a 1.6 na but it was so much fun!! Plus I think much cooler than the MK2...MK2s everywhere!

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

Those Mk1 MR2s rot worse than any 19!

Retroholic Joined: 12 Feb 2004 Posts: 5685

They do rot...but worse than a 19?

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

on the mr's its normally bolt onm panels, the engine cover, boot lid and especially the lower front corners.

Doc and I were at a scrappy in darlington, there was a nice mk1 in there scrapped, was pretty solid as well.

Retroholic Joined: 23 Dec 2005 Posts: 3315

Colm";p="110290 wrote:

A MR2 Turbo. Going to test drive a couple tomorrow. Has anyone any experience with them?

I was also considering a 200sx until I drove one at the weekend, not impressed at all. Felt very sluggish.

my mates s13 beat my other mates mister2 Turbo all day long

bout wernt standard but givin a few choice mods that 1.8 s13 will pull 150mph all day long.. dono bout the Mister2 though never really liked them

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

True, it was a rusty heap, but it was a fun rusty heap.....sounds familiar.

Level 8 User Joined: 07 Sep 2005 Posts: 315

Only had time to drive the non turbo this morning on my way to work, great fun to drive. Feels like your sitting on the road and I love the gearstick at chest level.

The one I looked at was nice on the outside and the engine seemed sweet but the interior was a mess. Clock said 78000km but the interior said much higher or else it just wasn't looked after.

Gonna go look at another one tomorrow. Really need to sell the 206 now tho'

Retroholic Joined: 23 Dec 2005 Posts: 3315

try a s13 then for comfort

Level 8 User Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 278

Hmmmm! A prospective MR2 owner?

Definitely get a Rev 3 94-on, they are better finished, both cosmetically and mechanically.
I have a '94 UK GT version (174 bhp), the turbo version kicks out 240 bhp.

GT 32mpg Top speed 140mph
Turbo 26ish mpg Top speed 150+mph

The driving position is excellent, really comfortable too. You also need to ask yourself can you work with only two seats?

There is extensive material about what to look for when buying one on IMOC so take a spin over there and go through the site.

BTW - We did an LPG conversion to it this weekend, so I'm seeing how that works out.

The imports (all turbos) also have air-con, steering fog lights, and other extra odds and ends.

Sure PM me if you want, and I'll send you my number and talk you though it.

Level 8 User Joined: 07 Sep 2005 Posts: 315

Cheers for all the advice, after driving the non turbo today I think I might just get a Jap spec gt. They have plenty of power for me and are probably less hassle in the long run.

I'm gonna go look at this one in the morning, looks quite tidy from the pictures...

http://carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=462788

Retroholic Joined: 12 Feb 2004 Posts: 5685

Theres a chap round here selling his turbo. I know the chap that put a clutch in it for him recently and he said it was a very clean/straight one

White and a bit chavvy tho

Level 8 User Joined: 07 Sep 2005 Posts: 315

Very chavvy one on carzone out in Wicklow too Chet, its a blcak one tho' Must be somethin in the water out there Wink

If you can find out a price for me I might be interested. Gonna stick the 206 up for sale tomorrow, it'll be a slow seller tho' I think Sad