Thanks for posting, however, MR stands for Midships Runabout. A convertible mid engined sports car with relative uniqueness (even fewer in Australia) and Toyota reliability attracted me to the Spyder. Oh, plus mine is RED. Things I don't like is passengers closing the door with the unframed window and getting in and out, can be difficult for us old blokes.
TOP TEN THINGS I LOVE ABOUT MY 1986 AW11 MR2 1.FUN TO DRIVE! 2.Unique and rare car to find now days, turns a lot of heads. 3.Style - I love the boxy 80’s style, reminds me of Back To The Future! 4.Design - Sporty at a low cost. Not a lot of people own a mid-engine… 5.MPG - I had a Mustang 4.6L before this and filling up with premium now has never been cheaper. 6.Reliability - Reliable but a 30 year old car still requires a bit more maintaining and car knowledge. 7.Gearbox - Great stock and has a nice short shift to it! 8.Turning - This is the car’s strongest quality. Razor sharp turning. Easy to do what you want. 9.Size - Parking is insanely easy in the MR. Parallel parking is kinda fun when it’s a tight space. 10.IT’S A TOYOTA!!!
yo guy, i've had a spyder since 2011, whose engine was felled by the precats. bought an engine from a guy on spyderchat in 2015, i forget his name but he's awesome. he sourced me an engine and it's solid
Precat failure is due to poor running conditions or oil burning.00-02 had oil ring issues that lead to precat contamination/deterioration. 03-05 had redesigned oil rings eliminating the precat issues completely.The exhaust manifold remained the same.My 02 burns a quart every tank full of gas.No precats it's whole life and only the best synthetic oil.
I love your video post. I have been a long time MR2 Spyder owner. That car saved my life 2 times and my dad's life one time. It was totalled twice. I put a new engine and lots of other parts to it to make it run like new. I don't think I will ever get rid of it. The car has magic properties..it never fails to surprise you. I am so glad to see that you guys are enjoying it!
They are great cars and in warm weather I've had 38 miles per gallon out of mine. Good fun to drive and fairly easy to work on. In the UK, some people drop the 2ZZ Celica engine in.
I have a 2000 model, same color with a little over 200,000 miles- daily driver since I bought it new. Still goes like a champ and still enjoy driving it. P.S.- You guys work great together!
Two best upgrades I did that were cheap were: Short shifter and shift cable bushings. Changed a lot on the shifting, instantly noticed a better driving experience. Then came the Turbo, and exhaust, and then lowered with Tein electronic coil overs.Enjoy, and watch those wet roads.
Dimly Lit Garage Honestly, I went with one I found on ebay for like $35 and same with bushings for the shifter cage and rear transmission linkage. That was 5 yes ago and I have had no problems. But I could not go back to stock that's for sure. I hated that tall shifter and now shifting feels so notchy. It's great!
Just bought a 2003 after researching sports cars for several years and I'm with you. Brilliant car! And I could have had a Vette, a Porsche- almost anything I wanted. By the way, I've studied the precat issue and don't believe there is one: it's illogical that exhaust grit is getting into the oil. That's not why they burn oil. So I'm keeping the exhaust stock until the engine goes, and then swap in something interesting. (And my Debra also loves it.) Here's another great thing about it: if I bang it up, no great shakes. But if it were a Porsche, kaching.
I bought one new in 2001 and it was a fun car. In 2002 I bought a new Honda S2000. I sold the MR2 and still have the S2000 out in my garage with 7,500 miles on it. Can’t beat the high revving 9000 rpm redline S2000 engine.
I just bought a japanese spec (02) MR2 off of a friend for £2.5k ($2.9 k roughly). immaculate condition and runs well as can be. 40k on the clock only. go kart handling, split diff, engine excels at 4k plus. a real dream
Get a front strut bar and 30mm lowering Springs (or even better coilovers). I Had both ( Springs and now Coilovers) and I was surprised how much more direct the handling got with that. But Front strut bar is essential in my opinion... an a turbo of course... ;)
MR does not stand for midengine rearwheeldrive. The meaning of MR is litteraly stamped out on the plastic cover of the front trunk. MR2 means Midship Runabout 2-seater
What do you use to clean your engine with? The block has none of that calcification on it that I have, I want it nice and clean like that lol. Great vid as always
Oldskool4lyfe I think my Mr2's block and head look so clean because the car has low miles and hasn't been exposed to all the crud over the years. I know there are some aluminum polishing compounds that may work. Thanks!
Looking forward to getting my 2005 model out of the garage in May for 6 months. It's a Toyota. Charge the battery starts first time. Take it for a service and and a test that it has passed every year and enjoy as long as we have a pleasant summer in the UK I can take the soft top down and the with the side windows up you can cruise at 90 or more with no buffeting in the cockpit on a long journey or just enjoy the cornering and being close to nature on winding country lanes. Being an environmentalist and a Green it is my guilty pleasure but my main drive an Ampera (Volt in US) and generating my own power and storage I think I am allowed this indulgence.
Buy a decent battery and it won't need charging. Like you said "It's a Toyota"! But you could always use a solar powered trickle charger just in case :-))
The sw20 MR2 is becoming a bit more known, which is cool but a few years back, no one knew what in the world an MR2 was. The MR2 spyder seems like a cool small roadster, but is it worth getting?
Coming from a background with an sw20 in it, I can say that I love both generations a ton. The Spyder feels more playful and nimble and I think it is a great car in every way except storage.
Thanks for the video. Question... At how many miles does the pre-cat converter start breaking down? You said you bought yours with low miles... How is this in the rain/snow in stock form? Do you recommend winter tires? If I get this it would be my daily.
I've read the comments and seen that I've already been beaten to it but what I liked most about your car is your girlfriend, a little bit of work on the number of fingers required to = 8 and she would be perfect lol ... I wont comment on the attributes of the amazing MR-S as courtesy of my profile pic you might think that as a fellow MR-S owner (I've had mine for 14 years) that I could possibly be biased.
How tall are you? I am 6-1 and I look like a giant next to an MR2 however it intrigued me and I want one. Next time I see one I am going to try it out. However if you can outright tell me 6-1 will not work that would be nice. 220lbs solid muscle former marine; I am just big.
I'm 6'4 and most of my height is in my legs, I fit perfectly. I do have to have the seat as far back and low as possible but I fit well. Its a great and fun car so long as you don't regularly need much cargo space.
Thanks all for the responses. I took a 2000 with 60k on it for a ride; surprisingly I did fit and it was fun as hell to drive. However my woman took a picture of me in it and when I looked at it I instantly thought oh hell no. It is a woman's/small person car bottom line. I looked like a giant in it and it just screams $^#.
To install it you just have to unthread the stock antenna and pick out the appropriate thread adapter that comes with the new antenna and screw it on. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DQJA81I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
So the Spyders have 3 catalytic converters. 2 smaller ones in the exhaust manifold and 1 further down in the exhaust. The 2 small ones in the manifold are known to break down over time, and because of the engines intake and exhaust valve duration, there is a small vacuum back into the engine. The deteriorating cats will get sucked into the engine and cause engine failure or other issues. What you can do is take the manifold off and punch out the 2 small cats out to prevent them from causing issues, assuming they haven't already caused any problems. Hopefully that helps, let me know if you need any more information.
Hi pal, I just bought one with 118K miles in UK, do you think the previous owner removed that or it's possible to be still there? At what mileage those Catalytic converters will start to break? Thanks!
I love mine for the same reasons.check mine out if you will & see if you like what ive done to it so far.theres alot more to do still but so far im pretty happy with it 8-)
The thing I like most about your car is your passenger. She is stunning 😉 Also MR does not stand for what you say. Open up your boot/trunk and it has what it means written on the lid.
