Well,

I never thought I'd do this

- but earlier this week I agreed to sell my MR2 Turbo which I've had since 1998.

It's been a difficult decision and I'll certainly be sad to see the car go as I've really enjoyed driving every minute of it.

I'm pleased though that it will be going to another IMOC-er who I know will take good care of it and enjoy it just as much as I have.

We've also agreed that I can still turn up on his doorstep and take the car for the occasional drive.

So, I'm shortly going to be driving my Mk1 for a while whilst I find a replacement for the MK2 Turbo.

Having looked around for something to replace it, I decided against another Mk2

(as I'd have just kept mine) and I have test driven a lot of different cars, but after trying various RWD coupes I came back to the Mk3 MR2 Roadster.

I've got to say its handling reminds me most of the Mk1 on the limit

- very informative and progressive.

Looks are fine

(but I may be tempted to go for some discreet bodykit parts), and I'm going to have to get used to the minimal storage space.

One thing that was dissapointing for me was the 1ZZ-FE engine

- its 140 horses are fairly willing and will haul you to 60 in just over 7 seconds, but lacks any really useful get up and go once you're cruising at 60mph

- I really missed a turbo'd engine's torque and flexibility.

Toyota missed a trick IMO by not putting dropping something into the Roadster with a little more power and torque

a 3 litre V6, or something with some forced induction for more torque

- a supercharged or Turbocharged 4 pot would have been ideal.

TTE in Germany have realised this and have released an officially sanctioned and non-warranty breaking 184bhp turbo kit for the engine, but its a bit steep at around

£5k plus travel to/from Gemany to get it fitted.

So, Im looking at a couple of turbo options, with the eventual aim to give me a reliable car with a similar power/weight ratio to my Mk2 of around 230bhp/ton

- there are a couple of options I'm considerng.

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No doubt, you'll hear more about this project in the next few months, along with others are working on, such as MK1a restorations and the big bhp MK2 project engines

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