The new mk4 mr2?

[vashy]

lots of trouble usually serious

[Andy F]

Well that was a long interesting read

The MK1ers are talking about the MK11 like its a barge....the MK11 is still a very small car, now GTOs are a tub of lard HUGE!!

Oh ..... the reason you dont see MK1s with body kits is..............
nothing left to fasten it to :

[Kieron]

Haha

[Tony jinxy froude]

I had a mk1 before i had my mk2 and i think Ammon agrees with me here sayin we both miss our mk1, not that i would swap it for my mk2 but theres something about the mk1 that just makes you feel special on the road. Don't know if n e of you remember Steve Mimms but he bought my mk1 and he had a modified mk2 turbo which he sold to buy my mk1. I personally think that if you havent owned a mk1 you have no say in this discussion as the mk1 was an incredible sports car! and you have to experience the car on a day to day basis for its individuality. I love my mk2 for the modern look and modern accessories eg power steering and air con, but the mk1 was one of those cars that everyone would just turn thier heads as it is a retro sports car and its completly different to the other cars on the road today. Also i got a hell of a lot more flashes from mk1 owners then i have mk2.

Expertly said Alex, and the opposite applies too, ive never driven a MK2, maybe someday i can comment what that feels like to drive , i have driven a Lotus Elan recently and was shocked at how unimpressed i was with the performance ! but thats a story for another day, Jinxy

[Lauren]

How about we say:

MK1 = drivers car for those who really like to drive
MK2= posers car for those who are happier going in straight lines

Sound fair?

Nope!

If the Mk1 is such a drivers' car, why are these 'drivers' driving them and not something purer and lighter? Lotus Seven replica or Elise, etc?

I'll try and help here. There are lots of reasons:

An Elise is great, the steering feel is simply incredible and the handling is excellent but they are not much use as a day to day car. In the summer they are boiling hot and in the winter cold, draughty and leaky.

A Caterham (as no other 7 lookalike is really worth talking about) is fantastic fun on a track, but not anywhere else.

I have driven a Caterham Superlight up the M6, it had no screen and i had to wear a full face helmet or eat flies. So its not really very practical is it?

Add to this that an Elise starts at 10K for a ropey one and any Caterham is 8K+ and its easy to see why not all of us 'drivers' have one.

If i had the money to throw on a trackday car then i might consider either of the above. I had driven both extensively BTW.

[Kieron]

A good friend of mine would argue the point over the Elise. In the summer he takes the roof off if he is hot, although he assures me that the cold output of his "heater" is the same as any car without air conditioning. In the winter his heater works fine. He drove over in Mid December from North Yorkshire to Blackpool in freezing conditions and arrived fine and relatively refreshed.

You're right about the cost(sort of). He spent the best part of 10K on a nice example.

[Alex_Dunn]

Also i got a hell of a lot more flashes from mk1 owners then i have mk2.

*lowers the tone*

That's because you smell of wee.

naughty michael!!! go stand in the corner

[Lauren]

A good friend of mine would argue the pont over the Elise. In the summer he takes the roof off if he is hot, although he assures me that the cold output of his "heater" is the same as any car without air conditioning. In the winter his heater works fine. He drove over in Mid December from North Yorkshire to Blackpool in freezing conditions and arrived fine and relatively refreshed.

You're right about the cost(sort of). He spent the best part of 10K on a nice example.

Keiron I think heater controls in an elise are a bit hit and miss. I was driving an eRise (honda CTR engined) over to Zandvoort & Spa this summer and all the heater would do was blow out hot air. Then there was the heat from the engine behind and the small matter that the coolant pipes run down both sills, so you can see the problem!

I'll concede the point that the heater works okay in the elise, but having to get in and out of various ones to find the carpet soaking wet, having to dry the seats after a downpour is a real PITA.

Don't get me wrong I love the elise and maybe at some point i'll have one as a second car. I could say the same about Caterhams as they are just so much fun whether you are going sideways or just going plain fast, but a caterham IMO is really a trackcar and at best a very occasional road car.

[Kieron]

Definately a hit and miss affair - as all Lotus's are. It's a gamble, some people get a good one, some people get a lemon. And it seems 50/50 too. I lusted after an Esprit for years, and for every horror story (and there were lots) there was a corresponding story of pure joy and no fault motoring.

If Lotus could get it right every time (or even 90% of the time) they would outsell everything in their class.

My friends Elise is a joy, beautiful looking, he has a hard top for it too, drives it everywhere. His other car is a big old Jag so he knows a bit about comfort levels. Everytime I ask him about his car he talks for 30 minutes about how great it is and what he has been up to.....

As for Caterhams. Never liked them, it's always old spiv's you see driving them around, freezing their nuts off, wearing a huge jacket (on top of another jacket), silly scarf and goggles with their combover hair flapping in the wind. They think to themselves "I built this sportscar and it's brilliant". b0ll0cks. It's like riding a motorbike - cold. (And at least on a motorbike you don't look a c*nt).... (Unless you are in a pub on a hot summers day wearing full bike leathers, sweating your nuts off drinking orange juice) etc etc....

They may be fast, but they look daft. (To me.....)

For the money, the best track car is the car you own - for fag money you can buy yourself a MK1 (or even an early MK2) and throw it around a track oblivious to the cost, whilst grinning from ear to ear.

Still prefer the MK2 though....

[Lauren]

My friends Elise is a joy, beautiful looking, he has a hard top for it too, drives it everywhere. His other car is a big old Jag so he knows a bit about comfort levels. Everytime I ask him about his car he talks for 30 minutes about how great it is and what he has been up to.....

As for Caterhams. Never liked them, it's always old spiv's you see driving them around, freezing their nuts off, wearing a huge jacket (on top of another jacket), silly scarf and goggles with their combover hair flapping in the wind. They think to themselves "I built this sportscar and it's brilliant". b0ll0cks. It's like riding a motorbike - cold. (And at least on a motorbike you don't look a c*nt).... (Unless you are in a pub on a hot summers day wearing full bike leathers, sweating your nuts off drinking orange juice) etc etc....

They may be fast, but they look daft. (To me.....)

For the money, the best track car is the car you own - for fag money you can buy yourself a MK1 (or even an early MK2) and throw it around a track oblivious to the cost, whilst grinning from ear to ear.

Still prefer the MK2 though....

Yeah i think there is a lot variation in how well elises are put together and thats the problem really. The build quality is pretty bad to say the least but set the geo up well and nothing will stay with you.

I love caterhams, but only the factory built ones. None of this kit-car crap self-build stuff of which only a few non-caterhams are any good.

That said a decent caterham is probably the most fun you will ever have on track this side of a single seater (which is easily the best experience you can have). I remember driving a caterham round Brands last summer in torrential rain, got absolutely soaked but was grinning ear to ear from the angles you can hold those things at.

Yep a MK1 as a trackcar/roadcar strikes a very good compromise. They are cheap, nice and nimble on track and tactile enough to be entertaining.

I can see how a tubby can be fun on track, but i don't reckon they are any more fun than a MK1 NA in all honesty and given the power differential its a big compliment to a MK1 and goes to show that handling balance is the key here.

anyways i'll agree to disagree!

[Sidewinder]

Ok, that's fair enough. I wasn't having a dig or anything; just curious to see how far people wanted to go with the weight issue (I know from previous post on the IMOC-UK mailing list that Lauren has stripped loads of extra weight from her Mk1).
The 'comfort' part was interesting, though!

My main car is a comfortable Honda Accord VTEC, so I can afford (in a car sense) to get something utterly impractical as a second car. Before I bought my MR2T, I looked at getting a Caterham as they are amazing performers. However, I like the shape and looks of the Mk2 too much, so I caved in and bought another one.

So, it looks like the best compromise with MR2s is to have no compromise: do what a few people have done on this board and buy both a Mk1 and a Mk2.

[Taz007]

this was up on mr2oc - the red one looks very rx8 like and the convertible just looks xxxx to me!

they need to keep with the pop up lites - those are cool as fuk - makes the car look so mouch smoother n better

[michael]

they need to keep with the pop up lites - those are cool as fuk - makes the car look so mouch smoother n better

You can't fit pop up lights due to the current safety regulations, I also fail to see how having two great triangles sticking out of your bonnet makes the car smoother?

Has someone removed a selection of keys from your keyboard BTW?

[Dale_V]

Has someone removed a selection of keys from your keyboard BTW?

[DavidM]

Holy celica batman! found this magazine page showing details of how the new mr2 is possibly going to look.....looks to me like toyota have cut the rear off the mk3 and whacked the front end of a celica onto it!

I quite like the look. I have a Mk3 and if I had to be critical about anything, it would be the front end. It doesn't look aggressive enough.

Regarding the debate on the evolution of the MR2: I have both a Mk1 and a Mk3 and both cars are excellent in their own right. They give me the best of both worlds. If I need to carry anything and still want a decent drive then I take my Mk1 instead of mrs roadsterman99's Micra. If I have a lovely clear sunny day then I put the top down and enjoy

Having said all that I don't think the Mk3 will have the longevity of the Mk1.

[waynestoyotamr2]

You can't fit pop up lights due to the current safety regulations.

Is that true!!??? What a farce!

[Paul R]

I've only just read this thread....same old again!

pack it in you lot. Any new members are gonna be scared off!!

Paul.

[Alex_Dunn]

they need to keep with the pop up lites - those are cool as fuk - makes the car look so mouch smoother n better

You can't fit pop up lights due to the current safety regulations, I also fail to see how having two great triangles sticking out of your bonnet makes the car smoother?

Has someone removed a selection of keys from your keyboard BTW?

what about the 2005 corvette they have pop up lights!

[Dave Couzens]

what about the 2005 corvette they have pop up lights!

I don't think it has - now flush lights on the new model vette

[michael]