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[Jorsher]

140K miles, original owner, targa top, non-turbo

Tuning options?  Aftermarket support?  Common problems?

[shadow]

the old ones were ugly..the newer ones were too. those, they look cool.

[jabberwock]

I'd rock one if the price were right.

[LS1pwNzJ00]

They're gay, dont get it.

[runsfromdacops]

cool cars. mubbdy had one and had alot of tranny/shifter cable problums
super fun car on a nice twisty road  :yes:

[t_cel_t]

tho old ones were like little street legal go-carts. if i wasnt american sized i would own one, got cramped up just test driving one.

[soontobeDA]

they are fun and zippy

but very uncomfortabe even with my short ass 5' 6

when i shift the pedal is always in the middle of my feet and shoe hits dash or someshit been a while

[2slow]

I hope you didn't buy it then ask about it

[Hotrodlincoln]

Aske jordn he knopws. has like 2 of m.

[SloS13]

They have flat domed rotary pistons with NOS.

M stands for Mary (because they are gay) something R stands for Rear (engine) and 2 is for 2 seater.

I'd get it if it were cheap but I wouldn't go out of my way to get one.

[Robb]

They are a great street car, wouldn't build a race car out of one personally.

The 5s engine is okayish, they are somewhat prone to rod bearing failure if not maintained. Open the oil cap and peak inside with a flashlight. If it looks like someone took a torch to the inside of the motor, walk away.

Karl (kgx) slapped a honda dizzy and ecu on this 3s car to tune with, id imagine doing the same on a 5s wouldn't be a stretch. He could tell you more about it.

My brother has a TON of spare parts, and can get you anything you want should you purchase this one.

T-top seals can leak with age of course, older car wiring, etc. Not too bad. Kinda tough to physically work on in comparison to a crx.

[HiProfile]

Common problems?

M stands for Mary (because they are gay) something R stands for Rear (engine) and 2 is for 2 seater.

Fun fact: they sold poorly in France because the name sounds like a local word for SHIT.

[runsfromdacops]

They are a great street car, wouldn't build a race car out of one personally.

The 5s engine is okayish, they are somewhat prone to rod bearing failure if not maintained. Open the oil cap and peak inside with a flashlight. If it looks like someone took a torch to the inside of the motor, walk away.

Karl (kgx) slapped a honda dizzy and ecu on this 3s car to tune with, id imagine doing the same on a 5s wouldn't be a stretch. He could tell you more about it.

My brother has a TON of spare parts, and can get you anything you want should you purchase this one.

T-top seals can leak with age of course, older car wiring, etc. Not too bad. Kinda tough to physically work on in comparison to a crx.

3sgte are rock solid
5fse big block of crap

[Robb]

They are a great street car, wouldn't build a race car out of one personally.

The 5s engine is okayish, they are somewhat prone to rod bearing failure if not maintained. Open the oil cap and peak inside with a flashlight. If it looks like someone took a torch to the inside of the motor, walk away.

Karl (kgx) slapped a honda dizzy and ecu on this 3s car to tune with, id imagine doing the same on a 5s wouldn't be a stretch. He could tell you more about it.

My brother has a TON of spare parts, and can get you anything you want should you purchase this one.

T-top seals can leak with age of course, older car wiring, etc. Not too bad. Kinda tough to physically work on in comparison to a crx.

3sgte are rock solid
5fse big block of crap

Disagree sir. They are equally shitty. Their owners (with a few exceptions) are also shitty.

The 3s are def not rock solid. Head gaskets, shitty coolant hoses in places you can't get to, possibly the worst turbo in the history of turbos, cracked crankshafts on stock cars, etc. Not rock solid. Its no JZ or LSx, but better than an SR20 for sure.

[colt45]

i'd rock one. 

the 1st gen with a 4agze would be nice,

and a boosted 2nd gen would also be nice. 

do not want 3rd gen.

[Donald125]

It has neutral handling, when you are not getting that snappy under or over steering, depending on your SkIlLz.
It has narrow power band that tapper off at high speed,. both 5sfe and 3sgte, even with the revised CT26 turbo.
It has leaky T-top that probably can not be fixed after the whole 19 years.
It has super kool AC because of the size of the cabin.
It has leaky oil/water hose that can not be reach unless you got a chick-sized hand.
It has fuel pump that is ridiculously hidden.
It has a 2 inch gap for you to do the timing belt.
It has a narrow EGR path thats almost impossible to clear.

Good luck with the belt/tensioner in general
Good luck with the shifter cable.
Good luck with the throttle cable.
Good luck with, again the fuel pump.
Good luck to your spine with any major engine work .
Good luck with the paint, consider the red color was not clear coated enough.
Good luck with frontal accident with nothing in the front end, you might want to stuff the "Trunk" with toilet paper for protection.

In general it is a fun unique little car which DOES require attention everywhere consider the age of the vehicle.  if, by any chance the engine coming out you want to replace EVERYTHING, I REPEAT EVERYTHING all at once and get it over with.

[kgx]

aftermarket support is spendy if you go with MR2 "community" vendors.

tuning options are out there. the 5SFE would probably be better controlled with a GM ECM than a honda ECU for 2 reasons: 1. you'd have to rewire the harness to support sequential injection, and 2. the honda distributor is too small for the mounting hole in the 5S, but the 5S dizzy has the required teeth to drive an HEI module/GM ECM. that'll give you the ability to tune boost if you like. the stock 3SGTE turbo manifold bolts onto the 5S head as well. the S54 gearbox can handle a fair amount of torque as long as you don't try to launch the car. high torque can shear the teeth off the ring gears on hard launches. the E153 boxes in the post '92 turbos are mostly bulletproof. earlier E-series boxes has synchro issues that were solved later on. i have a 94 LSD box in my car.

It has leaky oil/water hose that can not be reach unless you got a chick-sized hand.
It has fuel pump that is ridiculously hidden.
It has a 2 inch gap for you to do the timing belt.

none of these are as bad as they sound. i have knuckledragger hands and i can do a timing belt in about 2 hours. same with the hose from hell (the one under the turbo manifold). once you remove the oil cooler, it's easy to get in there. the fuel tank isn't as bad as it sounds either. on my first try, it took about 45 minutes to drop. it helps to have someone working the filler hoses up top while you're under the car.

engine swaps are pretty easy in them as well, since 3 of the 4 mounts are on the gearbox, and many other toyota engines bolt up to the E153 and S54 boxes, including newer engines like the 2GRFE.

they're fun cars, but they're not supercars like so many MR2fags think they are. they can be built to be fast, but it all depends how much money you want to throw at it. if that car is >$1500, i'd pass.

[Eggylshatch]

I bought my b20 engine from a guy that had a turbo mr2 in his garage.  He said when he bought it, it was making around 400 hp.  He said he paid $20k.  I vomited on his shoes and left with his engine.

[Jorsher]

Sounds like a pain and nothing that special.

[92CXyD]

There is a guy near me who has spent untold amounts of dollars on his and still does not run right.

The car sat at a shop for 6mo. or more just to get his wiring harness fixed.

Then another 6mo. at another shop to figure out why it ran rough.

All he did was have the car repainted (bright orange), have a "built" motor put in it, a t4/t3 turbo put on it, and added extra cooling fans in the bay.

I haven't seen it in a while so I'm wondering if it is sitting somewhere rotting away.

[Donald125]

MR2 V6 Supercharged Vs MR2 4cyl Turbo

[97Econobox]

I love to hear folks mention "Lag" when talking about anything supercharger or turbo related.  lol everytime.

"Whats that? Lag? non-exsistant" and then they get passed by the turbo car lol.

[Robb]

The supercharged v6 swaps are gayer than aids, and still patheticly slow. If you swap one, it needs to be a turbo 5VZ or don't waste your time.

[92CXyD]

I like the twincharged 5vz swap Alamo motorsports did in Turbo magezine.

I personally think they should have used larger M112 s/c instead of the M90 type and the t-76 turbo did look like a good choice.

I ca n not remember the exact book where show most of the info in building, testing, and tuning it but it was sweet.  ;D

The book was on Fuel injection designing, building, and tuning using various systems.

[kgx]

I like the twincharged 5vz swap Alamo motorsports did in Turbo magezine.

I personally think they should have used larger M112 s/c instead of the M90 type and the t-76 turbo did look like a good choice.

I ca n not remember the exact book where show most of the info in building, testing, and tuning it but it was sweet.  ;D

The book was on Fuel injection designing, building, and tuning using various systems.

pretty sure that was a 1MZ in Hartman's book. that book would have been better titled "how to blow engines by fiddling around with things you don't fully understand." i know he popped the 3S, can't remember if he popped the 1MZ as well. there was a lot of wrong information about 3S engines and EFI in that book and the results reflect that. i could be wrong on the car you're talking about though.


then there's the other thing you'll find with these cars- people who think they're worth a ton of money. i think there's a couple of them for sale on the mr2 forums right now for $15k plus, built to the hills with the premium price because it was built by a "well known community member" or "did well in time attack." people dump assloads of money into these cars and end up with little to show for it. then they try to sell it for a premium with the idea that "you couldn't build this car yourself for anywhere near this price, this is a steal." fuck you. you spent too much.

a lot of kids there still haven't understood that cars are absolutely retarded investments with returns in the pennies on the dollar. there are exceptions, but that's the rule.

for some reason though, i love these cars. they're different enough from the average front-engined econobox to be an experience in themselves IMO. they're a lot of fun, but i really dislike most of the other owners.

[2slow]

mr2 owners are not as bad as srt4 owners at least.

[Phate]

I'd prefer an '88 Fiero GT-V6.  But only an '88.  With some non-fail engine swapped in.

[t_cel_t]

mr2 owners are not as bad as srt4 owners at least.

oh holy fuck, indescribable what those fags come up with

[Conceptz-X]

mr2 owners are not as bad as srt4 owners at least.

there is no comparison sir

I love my MR2, fun little thing.  Wish I had the time to do more to it.  Almost got everything together to boost it, then some fuckwad backed into my shit and broke the taillight.  Shitty thing was the ECM was mounted under it and the rainwater that leaked in fried it.  But I got another car, stock for now.

[HiProfile]

a lot of kids there still haven't understood that cars are absolutely retarded investments with returns in the pennies on the dollar

I was thinking about that the other day, few cars are really worth it. Someone was joking about my old Civic I "dumped" money into ($3k whole project, inc car/motor/tuning). They didn't like my reply - that their new ford fusion has LOST more value in the year they've had it than I spent on my car. You can only impress a girl so much with a car. When you drive her back to your 600sqft apartment, her clothes won't exactly fly off, even if the car blew off her panties.

mr2 owners are not as bad as srt4 owners at least.

True, but at least their cars are halfway fast.