I have a 'new' car!

Kinja'd!!! by "Tareim - V8 powered" (tareimgaml)
Published 10/26/2017 at 13:36

Tags: Toyota MR2
STARS: 11


So I’ve been living with the VX220 for about 6 months now roughly (still yet to do an oppo review, that will come at some point)

As we’re getting closer to winter I’m finding that 1 thing is massively lacking and that is a decent heater, the screen fogs up fairly quickly and the heater barely helps keeping the screen clears o decided to get a 2nd car for the winter and here it is;

Kinja'd!!!

Kinja'd!!!

it’s a Rev2 so not the worst one of the lot (rev1) but not the best power wise, got a few things needing to be done to it such as respray all over due to the boot colour and rear bumper has cracked paint and the rest is rather faded (doesn’t show that in the pics)

The exhaust is so loud that the previous owner gave me some earplugs for the drive home and had to sit at 80mph to get it a bit quieter at 4krpm instead of 65-70 which was very basses and unbearable so the exhaust will be changed

I’ll try to keep oppo updated every now and then with things that I do but if you want to follow my project ‘minx’ (previous owner named it that but I’ll stick with it) then I’ll get pics of updates on my instagram

https://www.instagram.com/sam9nufc/


Replies (26)

Kinja'd!!! "yitznewton" (yitznewton)
10/26/2017 at 13:45, STARS: 4

Can’t help but respect a guy who buys an MR2 for a winter car. Although, I have thoughts about your calling the rev1 “worst” 

Kinja'd!!! "Michael" (mhanczyc)
10/26/2017 at 13:50, STARS: 0

Ugh, mine got hit in a parking lot last Friday. Tail light quarter panel, bumper. I give it 50/50 of being totalled by the d-bag’s insurance co. In which case, I’ll need a shell to swap my rev4 into

Kinja'd!!! "MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig" (MR2_FTW)
10/26/2017 at 13:50, STARS: 0

On snow tires MR2's are AMAZING winter cars.

Kinja'd!!! "MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig" (MR2_FTW)
10/26/2017 at 13:52, STARS: 0

Rev2 meaning Gen2 3S-GTE or second generation MR2?

Kinja'd!!! "Tareim - V8 powered" (tareimgaml)
10/26/2017 at 13:53, STARS: 0

rev 2 of the 2nd gen (there was 5 revs in total)

Kinja'd!!! "Tareim - V8 powered" (tareimgaml)
10/26/2017 at 13:54, STARS: 0

damn that sucks but yeah probably will be totalled

Kinja'd!!! "Tareim - V8 powered" (tareimgaml)
10/26/2017 at 13:55, STARS: 0

I’d still have a rev 1 over no car so worst of a good bunch but still positive overall

Kinja'd!!! "Michael" (mhanczyc)
10/26/2017 at 14:20, STARS: 0

Kinja'd!!!

Damage level: Clearly catastrophic

Kinja'd!!! "Michael" (mhanczyc)
10/26/2017 at 14:21, STARS: 1

A rev 2 can be the business. I had one in mine for a while.

I’ve always loved PMY cars.

Good luck with it. I’ve loved mine enough I’ve kept it for over a decade!

Kinja'd!!! "Michael" (mhanczyc)
10/26/2017 at 14:22, STARS: 0

First quote I got to fix it was $2,100

Kinja'd!!! "Tareim - V8 powered" (tareimgaml)
10/26/2017 at 14:32, STARS: 0

that is a fairly easy fix, an excuse to do a rear/asslift? and go for the rev 3+ rear lights spoiler etc.

Kinja'd!!! "Michael" (mhanczyc)
10/26/2017 at 15:02, STARS: 0

Exactly.

I’d love to do it in my own garage, if they give me enough for the tail lights, get the quarter fixed and a new bumper, and paint materials

I’ve got a good 2 bay shop/garage, 50 gallon 14CFM@90 air compressor, and the ability to close off half the garage.

I don’t want to do that if it winds up un-insurable with a salvage title, though. The first quote was $2,100, and that would have terrible quality original paint next to fresh paint. I asked them about repainting the whole car and they just stonewalled me. It sounded like they didn’t want to deal with insurance paying part and me paying part.

Kinja'd!!! "Tareim - V8 powered" (tareimgaml)
10/26/2017 at 15:24, STARS: 0

doesn’t sound like you’re going to have much luck but wish you all the best for it, hopefully a positive outcome

Kinja'd!!! "Michael" (mhanczyc)
10/26/2017 at 15:34, STARS: 0

Trying some mom and pop local places next, I think they may be more willing to deal

Kinja'd!!! "feather-throttle-not-hair" (feather-throttle-not-hair)
10/26/2017 at 16:34, STARS: 0

We have MR2's in the states, but I believe we do not get that particular one. Ours were either 5sfe 135hp non turbos or 3SGTE 200hp turbos.

My assumption from the badge is that you have an NA 3S, which at that point made something like 170hp. We never got NA 3S engines in the U.S. which is kinda a bummer.

Kinja'd!!! "Tareim - V8 powered" (tareimgaml)
10/26/2017 at 16:52, STARS: 1

I wish it was 170hp, it’s approx 155hp, an early revision of the 3sge

Kinja'd!!! "feather-throttle-not-hair" (feather-throttle-not-hair)
10/26/2017 at 16:55, STARS: 0

Oh, interesting! Still better than the boat anchor that is the 5sfe.

Honestly i wish we had some in-between flavors of MR2 here. 135 hp is way too little. But 200 laggy, turbocharged horsepieces make the car a handful. 150-200NA hp would be perfect IMHO.

Kinja'd!!! "Tareim - V8 powered" (tareimgaml)
10/26/2017 at 17:03, STARS: 0

something that is becoming popular is swapping in the 2gr camry v6 as it’s almost a straight fit, just a couple engine mount differences I believe

Kinja'd!!! "feather-throttle-not-hair" (feather-throttle-not-hair)
10/26/2017 at 18:49, STARS: 0

That’s neat, I haven’t been part of the Toyota scene since 2005 or so. I remember a couple of people swapping in the Avalon V6 from first and second gens (1 MZ i believe.) But V6's got exponentially better like right after that so i bet those swapped cars are way cooler now than they were 10+ years ago.

Kinja'd!!! "Tareim - V8 powered" (tareimgaml)
10/27/2017 at 04:53, STARS: 1

Some people still swap in the 1mz as it’s cheaper, but I’d rather have the extra power of the 2gr if I’m going through the effort of an engine swap

Kinja'd!!! "Nauraushaun" (nauraushaun12)
10/27/2017 at 20:39, STARS: 0

What’s wrong with a rev1?

Good job to the previous owner for modifying the exhaust to make the car unbearable. BUILT NOT BOUGHT y’know

Looks nice! Hope it gives you the mid-engine fun you want, the kind the British just couldn’t get right.

Kinja'd!!! "Nauraushaun" (nauraushaun12)
10/27/2017 at 20:57, STARS: 0

I’ve got a 3S-GE down in Australia and it just about is perfect :)

Kinja'd!!! "Tareim - V8 powered" (tareimgaml)
10/28/2017 at 10:27, STARS: 0

I’ve heard horror stories on the handling of the rev 1 being a bit snappy on the oversteer so wanted to avoid that, as for the exhaust I’ve changed that today and it’s a lot quieter and more bearable, only downside is that it’s single exit so doesn’t look as good

Kinja'd!!! "Nauraushaun" (nauraushaun12)
10/28/2017 at 18:19, STARS: 0

I can’t vouch for the history of my rev1 (or its suspension) but handling isn’t as scary as I thought it would be. There’s no grip in the wet (blaming the tyres) but even then it’s fairly progressive when it goes.

Big pet peeve of mine - when people turn a double exit into a fat single that sounds and looks worse. :( They did it in the 300ZX world too. This is a nice Z in a rare color, but I could never handle that exhaust

Kinja'd!!!

Kinja'd!!! "Tareim - V8 powered" (tareimgaml)
10/29/2017 at 05:29, STARS: 0

even worse when changing from twin exit to single exit it leaves a noticeable cut in the bumper where another exhaust should be. I will be going back to twin exit when money allows, but the current one was just too loud and luckily came with a single exit that has made it more sensible (just doesn’t look as good but not as bad as below as I don’t have the obvious cutout)

Kinja'd!!!

Kinja'd!!! "Nauraushaun" (nauraushaun12)
10/29/2017 at 22:31, STARS: 0

Yes, that especially kills me.