Just got rid of my tubby - my opinion/review

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My gt-s

Just got rid of my tubby - my opinion/review

Post by My gt-s »

Having just broke up my tubby I thought i'd write a bit about it. 1st of all, what a bargain!!!! I only got it Sep 2006, direct from Japan, I heard about it from a friend in the trade, he'd imported a few and was more interested in the rev3's he had than the rev2. I went to see it and couldn't work out whether it was mint or sh***ed. It was completely covered in oil and it needed jump starting to go anywhere, but underneath it all looked mint, I looked at the important bits (ie the engine) and it seemed ok so I took the plunge.

£2500 got me a crackin little car, it was mint after all (phew \:D/ ), it had just been sat on a boat and in his yard for 3 months so looked grimy but after a quick oil change, new battery and a bit of cleaning was raring to go. Obviously having a subtle little car packing a fairly hefty punch I did the only decent thing and filled the tank with 99 RON and went for a blast.

The only RWD cars ive driven were old beemers that I was selling as a trader so i'd never launched a quick RWD car before (u can see where this is going :evil: ). On the drive I came to a set of lights and the driver in front decided to indicate at the last minute to turn so I needed to get into the other lane. I looked to my left and there was a little cutie in a MG ZR so I though id just boot it to get past her. As the lights changed she started wheelspinning to stop me gettin in (love it when girls rag cars :thumleft: ) but as i'd already spun it up to 5500rpm I decided to launch it. F**k me, a bit of opposite lock and at the top of 2nd I was about 5 car lengths in front.....bye bye! This was the moment I was smitten with "Jezebell Tallulah" as I called her :oops: .

I'd named the car this as I though with my heavy right foot she was going to take me for all ive got. How wrong was I? After becoming addicted to launching, the clutch went after 2 weeks, unsurprisingly, but in the year I owned it, with the exception of a new coolant sensor, this was the only thing that went wrong. I'd heard that with a cheap MBC u could get a few more ponies so bought one and fitted it. Although I only did a few miles with it like this I couldn't believe it, the first time the Fuel-cut kicked in (didnt have my FCD fitted yet), so I turned it down to about 1 bar. This seemed to give the tubby an even more evil side, and I thouroughly enjoyed embarrassing the Boxter owner who was showing off to his g-friend on the motorway, hahahaha :mrgreen:

Comparing the tubby to my RX8 I would say:
The tubby is more "pointy", making it easier to steer with the rear, never understeering as the RX8 can on slower corners. I was amazed at the way it never seemed to understeer, I even threw it round a corner once to make it do this and it didnt, it just twitched a little 8-[
I ran it with standard tyres and Bilsteins so it seemed to handle bumps and dodgy roads better than the 18" on the RX8 which seems to tramline a bit. (Although I only ran standard, I can see the MR2 be a bit twitchy with bigger wheels too, loads of grip from standard though). It definately seems more of a focused sports car than the RX8 and I was thouroughly impressed with my purchase.

I have been wanting to build a project VW for a while so decided to sell it, it needed about £200 on boots and tyres so I put it up at a fair price - £2k. Nothing. £1800? Few enquiries but no viewings, I ended up dropping it to £1300 which was a ridiculous price for it but I needed the space, still no interest?? Madness. At that point I decided to break it for parts and as it was in mint condition ive pulled in over 2k this way so I feel slightly better. But she's now gone to the big breakers yard in the sky so R.I.P. Jezebel Tallulah, gone but not forgotten :( .
I WILL definately get another in the future though, and highly recommend one to anyone thinking of buying one, take ur time and give it a good looking over and drive, u wont be dissapointed, a bargain basement bulletproof toy if ever there was one :thumleft:

p.s. Sorry to waffle on, thanks for getting to the end.

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nakamura
Posts: 2512
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 2:40 pm
Location: bournemouth

Re: Just got rid of my tubby - my opinion/review

Post by nakamura »

What a warm and furry story. And the RX8 is a family car really. :mrgreen:
My gt-s

Re: Just got rid of my tubby - my opinion/review

Post by My gt-s »

Lol thanks, yeah its a decent all-rounder. I was mighty impressed wi the tubby, I really do give cars some stick (my own anyway), even drove about 2000 miles in a couple of days with it and not a prob at all :thumleft: . I even got nearly twice the mpg as the mazda too on average, about 18-24, with better performance \:D/
Carty
Posts: 26
Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2008 10:29 pm
Location: Stourbridge, W. Mids

Re: Just got rid of my tubby - my opinion/review

Post by Carty »

Nice story. Its real good to read when your picking up a gt-s tubby on saturday! :D
Martin F
IMOC Moderator
Posts: 14830
Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 1:19 pm
Location: The Couch !

Re: Just got rid of my tubby - my opinion/review

Post by Martin F »

nice read, poor car but at least you had fun and got close to your money back...next time though try and get a nice 350-400 bhp one....so much more fun and it will be ferrari's you will be comparing it too and not a rx8 :lol:
My gt-s

Re: Just got rid of my tubby - my opinion/review

Post by My gt-s »

Yeah I highly recommend an mr2 turbo, in any guise its a cracking car. Ive still got bits left so will recoup my money on it too :thumleft: . The test drive was what sold it for me, id just pulled onto the motorway and there was a BMW 330i up my ar$e trying to get past so I floored it and comfortably pulled away from him, laughed at him later as he passed, he didnt look happy :lol: .
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