TOTAL NEWB CONSIDERING MR2 turbo

[sweep121]

Hi I normally drive a fiat coupe 20vt, I got rid of it recently due to the engine completely mashing itself to pieces.

In less than 1 month(or if i see bargain on the century and am convinced by mr2s) I will be in the position to buy a new car.

At first I thought about just getting another coupe, but then I wondered about trying something different. GTO crossed my mind for a while then I thought about the mr2.

I really like the thought of it being rear wheel drive and mid engined. I like the looks of the car and the styling potential is huge.

The only major thing I am not fond of is the fact it's so antisocial with the 2 seats. If my mum didn't have a smart car then I don't think i'd be here asking you lot about whether or not to go for one.

Anyway. I would be really grateful if you could answer a few questions.

1 How much bhp does the mr2 have as standard?
2 Are they as reliable as most jap cars?
3 Why am I seeing so many 10 year old cars with less than 60k on clock?
How much bhp would a grand get me(say chip, exhaust, no cat)

4 I have seen a few for 2 - 3 grand, should I steer clear? Can they be that bad?

If you could give me some feedback on why I should choose the mr2 that would be great.

My coop had 217 at the wheels and I cuffed all scoobies and quite a few evos.

I've only been once to crail and I got 14 seconds up the quarter mile.

What I want is a car with some real potential as I just want to go faster and faster.

One problem I have is the fact that I raced an mr2 turbo and beat it quite considerably. It had a huge exhaust and dump valve so I assume he didn't stop there with the modding. Surely he must of had at least 250bhp and a car that small should really have caned me.

5 How easy is 300 bhp?

6 How easy can I pick up a leather interior? is it worth buying some nice recarros from halfrauds or are they too big?



I know i've asked a lot of questions lads, thanks for your help.

If you want you can email me

[email protected]

[prezjamin]

Right where do we start:

1) How much bhp does the mr2 have as standard?

You will get alot of arguments on here about this one but i believe that a rev1/2 turbo has around 240 as standard and rev3+ have around 260, someone please correct me if i am wrong

2) Are they as reliable as most jap cars?

The 3sgte is a very reliable engine, as long as you keep it maintained properly you should have no major problems.

3) Why am I seeing so many 10 year old cars with less than 60k on clock?

In Japan they get use alot as weekend track cars and playthings, hence they dont do many miles

4) I have seen a few for 2 - 3 grand, should I steer clear? Can they be that bad?

Hard to say i would suggest reading up all you can on the 2 from this site and others such as www.mr2oc.co.uk and www.mr2dc.com and then go and have a really good look at the cars, the value of the 2 tends to fluctuate depending on mods, revision, age etc.

5) One problem I have is the fact that I raced an mr2 turbo and beat it quite considerably. It had a huge exhaust and dump valve so I assume he didn't stop there with the modding. Surely he must of had at least 250bhp and a car that small should really have caned me.

If it was a turbo he Either he didnt have his foot down or he was a xxxx driver, he really should have caned you. It could have been a NA in which case you would have caned it.

6 How easy can I pick up a leather interior?

GT comes with half leather/alacanta as standard, and GT-S was optional. There are also some full leather ones out there but not as many. Personally i like the alacanta.

Hope this helps a bit, i am only new to the 2 as well so i am by no means an expert, some of the guys here will be able to give you more detail responses.

P.S Good choice on the 2, its a great car

[Driftlimits Performance]

I brought my turbo just over a year ago now, and have never looked back.

The mid engine really is the dangleys.

Ok, the MR2 you raced had something wrong!

My MR2 is a rev3, dynoed standard at 266bhp ATFW. I then fitted a departure 2 exhaust, decat, Apexi air filter, TRD short shifter and an Electronic boost controller. I ran a 12.9@ santa pod the other week

I'm fitting a chargecooler next month and will have it dynoed again. I think I'll be sat on 300bhp.

Drive it like a coupe though and you'll end up in a ditch!

[blueorb]

See "buying advice 93-96 turbos" in this forum,

follow the link for info, should be helpful.

Jap imports have low mileage due to mortoring being a very expensive past time in Japan. Therefore cars used for leisure at w/end. However, be aware of clocked cars available in this country.

Stay away from £2-£3,000 cars, most will be knackered! Look on E bay for these cars......."Never let me down" "new engine fitted last week" WTF!

Leather seats are available from rougue systems (Look in affilated sellers section) Nice seats but £500 per pair!

Standard mr2 turbo rev1-2 will be pushing aprox 220bhp. Rev 3 will be slightly more.

300bhp is possible with heavy mods.....cheapest way to that power would be nitros oxide.

Check the search feature for more info if you need it.

[Ian Geary]

I won't b able to help with all of these, so hopefully others will fill in the gaosL

1. pre 1994 225bh/p
post 1994 this was raised to 245bh/p

2. reliability depends on the cars service history, so can be quite variable. The engines were built be Yamaha, and were very good quality when produced.

3. turbo cars were all imported from Japan, as the MR2 turbo was never released in the UK (there are very few UK car conversions about though). Japanese drivers must tend to do less miles than Uk drivers - I think they have stricter MOT tests and more traffic problems than we do perhaps.


4. Older cars 1990 - 1994 can go as low as £2,000, but they'll probably be at the lower end of the scale of quality.

5. GT badged cars came with leather standard - GTS with cloth trim. All had air-con standard.

I looked quite seriously at the fiat 20vt and also the Nissan 200sx and BMW 325 coupe. In the end I didn't need 4 seats and was wary of the fiat's build quality and wanted rear wheel drive. The styling put me off the 200sx, and BMW coupes all had starship mileages in my price range.

If you have a look in "driving experiences" I'm sure there's plenty of stories that would beg to differ on the 20vt vs Mr2 turbo saga

HTH

Ian

[sweep121]

unfortunately the mr2 turbo was definately a turbo as i heard the dump valve which was very high pitched. perhaps he had a problem or just couldn't drive properly. I'm really interested in these cars now. I will look for a 1994 model in my price range.

How about parts, can you pick them up alright?

The fccuk.org coupe forum was really helpful for parts. This forum looks pretty much just as good so that is a relief.

[sweep121]

There are so many pre 1994 models stating they have 280bhp, there is a 1993 model on autotrader for 2k. and many on ebay that state they have 280bhp.

I'm not sure what to do now, is there a big difference between the pre and post 1994 models?

I think my budget is only going to allow a pre 94 model.

[poyntesm]

Hi there,

Welcome to IMOC.

Differences between revision 1 & 2 engines and revision 3
Just a quick list, do not take any of these as gospel:

* position and orientation of oil filter changed.
* different internal engine parts, e.g. pistons, con-rods etc.
* turbo charger changed from Garrett CT26 to CT20 (same intercooler though).
* boost pressure raised from about 10 to about 13 PSI.
* power output raised from 220 to 240 BHP.
* compression ratio slightly lowered.
* injector size increased from 430cc to 540cc.
* fuel cut threshold raised from about 12 PSI to about 18 PSI.
* head and inlet path completely redesigned. TVIS removed, 8 'independent long ports' reduced to 4.
* throttle body increased from 55mm to 60mm.
* inlet valve lift increased from 8.2 to 8.7.
* different, smarter engine ECU, more tolerant of poor fuel, different connector pin out.
* air flow meter removed.
* intake manifold inlet air temperature sensor added. i.e. after turbo and intercooler.
* ECU now modulates the turbo VSV to achieve variable control of boost pressure rather than either open/full or closed/reduced. Control of boost now quite subtle when ECU is unhappy because of temperatures, detonation, speed, etc.
* location of valve shims moved (someone said this was to stop problems with them falling out). Note this makes adjusting the valve clearances a much bigger job as on the revision 3 it involves removing the camshafts (might as well replace the timing belt whilst you're at it).
* exhaust valve clearance increased by 0.08 mm (probably. valve clearances is one question I'd like answered direct from Japan. They are probably the same as the UK GT4s, but it would be nice to be sure).
* oil pan changed from a one piece pressed steel part to a two piece affair, the upper half being aluminium, the lower half being pressed steel.
* No. 1 compression ring now described as 'stainless steel' in GT4 manual/supplement instead of just 'steel'. Oil ring is described as 'stainless steel' instead of 'a combination of steel and stainless steel'. No. 2 compression ring remains described as 'cast iron'.
* idle speed perhaps slightly reduced (need to check this out on a rev 1 or 2 car, my stickers say 750 rpm, I've a feeling rev 1 & 2 was 800 rpm).
* exhaust part numbers changed. Revision 2 part number for the front pipe is superceeded by the revision 3 front pipe part number. Back-box part numbers different. Unknown to me whether they are actually different.

I would say get the best condition car your money will afford. I would personally prefer a mint rev2 to a trashed rev3. All cosmetic differences can be easily made to make a early model look like a later model so if looks are the main concern maybe budget for a few hundred to bring the cosmetics up to date.

Regards
Esmond

[jimGTS]

all you need to here is

rev1/2 (90-93) turbos, 0-60, 5.7 STANDARD!
rev3+ (late 93 onwards), 0-60 5.2 STANDARD!

grab the rest of the info from what peeps have already said.

[blueorb]

Don't expect to find a good car straight away, you could be looking for ages, there is so much crap available. Be careful what you buy. I have been looking for about 4 weeks now, and some of the cars I have viewed have been fit for the scrap yard!

Do you research, it will pay dividends!

[sweep121]

I think I prefer the sound of the rev 3. Don't reckon I'll pick one of them up for less than 4k will I?

[jimGTS]

I think I prefer the sound of the rev 3. Don't reckon I'll pick one of them up for less than 4k will I?

for one thats in crap condiction yes.
if you want to build up to big bhp, getting a crappy rev3 is not the way to go.
get a mint rev2, and youll still see 300bhp.

[poyntesm]

I think I prefer the sound of the rev 3. Don't reckon I'll pick one of them up for less than 4k will I?

We have many very happy rev1/2 owners...just make sure that whatever you buy has been well looked after. That is the main thing.

[sweep121]

I just want to post times on the quarter mile around the 13 second mark. I will try and fish out a good one. I'd quite like to buy one which already has 280 bhp.

many claim it but i don't know if it's true.

Surely nothing will touch an mr2 with 280 bhp? (apart from mr2 with 290)

Can anyone tell me how much these babies weigh??

[jimGTS]

I just want to post times on the quarter mile around the 13 second mark. I will try and fish out a good one. I'd quite like to buy one which already has 280 bhp.

many claim it but i don't know if it's true.

Surely nothing will touch an mr2 with 280 bhp? (apart from mr2 with 290)

Can anyone tell me how much these babies weigh??

quite heavy aparently, around 1200-1250kg.
but combine, RWD, mid engined, 2 seater, equals VERY quick car.

[sweep121]

Here are the cars i've been looking at on ebay. what do you think lads?


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 10540&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 73774&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 81291&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 93310&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 37700&rd=1

THIS ONE BELOW INTERESTS ME AS IT'S SUPPOSED TO HAVE A LOT OF BHP, WHAT DO YOU THINK?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 13669&rd=1

[jimGTS]

Here are the cars i've been looking at on ebay. what do you think lads?


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 10540&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 73774&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 81291&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 93310&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 37700&rd=1

THIS ONE BELOW INTERESTS ME AS IT'S SUPPOSED TO HAVE A LOT OF BHP, WHAT DO YOU THINK?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 13669&rd=1

unless these cars have prove of bhp, (if over standard), i wouldnt take there word for it.
in most cases on ebay, mr2 turbos are owned by clueless muppets. claiming big bhp, labelling the twin cam turbo, as twin turbo (different thing al together).
best bet is to buy off a club member.

[blueorb]

I think that you generally get what you pay for. Listen to the advice being given here! Most E bayer's cars are in poor condition, You cannot tell the quality of the car via photos. I have been caught out a few times, told how great a car is only to travel miles to discover what rubbish they have.

If you had a fiat coupe 20v turbo, surely you have a larger budget than £2,000 to spend?

You could by something cheap, but when these cars go wrong they are expensive to fix!

BE CAREFUL!

[Driftlimits Performance]

That one at the bottom looks like a right mess!

I'd steer clear personally. Look at the paint match!

Uprated Rev 2 engine fitted in December and uprated clutch

Uprated? uprated?!? If it was uprated, he'd list all the internals he'd fitted. I say again, RUN FAR AWAY! lol

[Driftlimits Performance]

Find one you think you want to view, then post up the details and the location, and see if there's a member near by that would be willing to come take a look with you.