MR2sday - On Side-Grading From a 300ZX to an MR2

"Nauraushaun" (nauraushaun12) 09/01/2015 at 18:32 • Filed to: MR2SDAY

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Or, can my ego take driving something smaller and less powerful with less cylinders? Because that’s the real question here.

I’ve been driving 300ZXs for about 5 years now. My first Z32 I crashed, so I bought a Z31 and then !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . These are big, heavy, powerful, luxurious cars (for their time), and I’ve often wondered if my ego could take something a bit more modest. Of course if you asked me why I liked the big bad Z I’d never admit to something as childish as ego, or over-compensating, or genital-measuring, or anything like that. I’d wax lyrical about the wedgey styling that looks like a supercar until you park it next to a supercar and realize how fat it is. The glass t-tops that look great on or off and let in about as much water either way. The power from that massive 3.0 litre V6 which isn’t nearly as much as one of them twin-turbos or even a modern Camry but lets not talk about that.

But I’d be wrong, wouldn’t I? Ego is always a part of the fascination. Or if it’s not, it grows on you. Having a big car makes you feel like a boss. The longer you have one, the harder it is to move into something smaller. This is a realization that has been dawning on me for a few years, probably starting out right when I crashed my beloved first Z. I considered all the cars I could’ve bought instead of another Z: maybe something safer? Something FWD? I’d always wanted a Nissan EXA, with its (non-glass) t-tops and awesome late-80s styling. Or a Toyota Sera, an oddball that shouldn’t exist but does and can be bought for pennies. Or maybe a warm/hot hatch? Something that’s still fizzy, but more practical and cheaper to run?

Be still, my beating heart

Part of the reason I didn’t pick these is because they’re FWD. And part of it is because I love the 300ZX. But a big part of it is ego - I didn’t want something smaller, something with less cylinders. I was used to the heavyweight Z, I wanted to be a guy who owned a big powerful sports car, and I was starting to learn that about myself. At that time I considered getting an MR2 and dismissed it for similar reasons. Too small, not big and awesome enough, and why shouldn’t I have the Z?

Well, now !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! finally drove me into something more rational - a Toyota that’s a few decades old with less storage space than your average handbag. So how does it compare?

It’s not as bad as I thought it would be. I think all the cool stuff is distracting me from any perceived deficiencies in the car. Things like having an engine whirring away behind the vertical back window behind my head, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! steerable fog lights and full 90s-spec pop-up headlights. The performance actually feels comparable to the Z, it sounds much better despite being a smaller engine and accelerates very well (blame the 300-400kg comparative weight loss for that). It’s smaller, lighter and feels more snugly wrapped around its occupants, but it’s still comfortable and roomy enough, and executed such that it doesn’t feel claustrophobic like you might imagine.

That’s my poor stricken Z, covered in dust, hogging the car port

But there are differences, that’s for sure. The windscreen is lower, such that with the roof off it feels like your head is going to stick out above the roof line. It doesn’t of course, but it feels it compared to the Z. The doors are shorter, which means the B-pillar is further forward, and with the window open the wind smashes into it which drives it into you - this sort of thing matters if you want to have the roof off all year ‘round. The speedo needle bounces a little - a minor thing, but it feels either lower quality or more raw than the Z. The interior plastics and dash are made of less-fancy materials, though they still feel solid. The t-tops are much more difficult to remove and store.

Maybe I should follow this post up once the honeymoon period is over. Maybe the thrills of the MR2 will fade, and the strengths of having a bigger car will change my opinion in time. But at the moment, trying to remain as subjective as possible, side-grading to an MR2 feels like a good swap. The cars have many complicated strengths and weaknesses, but they boil down to offering largely the same thrills, just in different ways.

yitznewton > Nauraushaun 09/01/2015 at 21:22

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I almost wet my pants the last tine I was in my local Toyota dealer... until I saw it was automatic. Red manual and I would have taken it home. BLUE CORDUROY SEATS!! Maybe I’m just an 80s boy, but that styling is brrawrrr.

Wilsonic > Nauraushaun 09/01/2015 at 22:00

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How about the footwell? I test drove a 2nd gen MR2 once and one of my biggest annoyances was how it felt like the footwell was trying to cram my feet together and towards the center of the car. My body felt twisted at the waist, like my hands were pointing to the left and my feet were pointing to the right (FYI, the car was left hand drive being in the USA). And the pedals felt so close together too.

If you do not experience these problems in your right hand drive MR2, I may have to talk to an importer and learn to shift with my left hand because I really, really liked how the MR2 drove.

Nauraushaun > Wilsonic 09/01/2015 at 23:00

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Really? Wow! I have not had that problem. My feet feel perfectly natural.

The pedals are very close together, especially compared to the Z. I believe it’s desireable on sports cars to make heel-and-toe shifts easier, but I found them easier in the Z. I find myself accidentally revving the car while braking fairly often. It’s because I’m braking with my foot ready to heel-and-toe, but the revving is happening when I don’t want it to. I find myself twisting my body a bit to lessen the chance of me hitting the accelerator, but again, it’s only happening because I’m trying to keep my foot available for both pedals.

I hope that makes sense.

Nauraushaun > yitznewton 09/01/2015 at 23:01

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Wow, that condition! And the angles in the dash, fantastic. I wasn’t even sure they made automatic MR2s. I suppose that one’s not supercharged then.

I wonder where the hell that car has been the last 3 decades. It looks like it was just built!

yitznewton > Nauraushaun 09/02/2015 at 06:24

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Yeah, it was flawless, 1987, in the 10-30k miles range. Looks like you could get the SC with the AT also, but they only brought it to the US for 1988.

Nauraushaun > yitznewton 09/02/2015 at 07:10

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Amazing. I have noticed that the non-charged auto models (of everything) tend to last a lot better. They aren’t bought by idiots.

RustedSprinter > Nauraushaun 09/18/2015 at 18:23

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I’ve seen supercharged autos.