Good looking, reliable car for the money
Nothing went wrong with the car at all, apart from when it rained heavily, it did leak on the drivers side, but it wasn't too bad.
Bought some 17 inch wheels.
Lowered it 35mm all round it, really did handle really well after this.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 31st January, 2002
A lot of car for the money
Whoever had serviced the car before I bought it was a bit messy with oil and spilled some into cylinder number 4. This resulted in the car misfiring, smelling of petrol and generally running badly. One spark plug change later and the car is running perfectly.
Front left shock absorber has leaked resulting in the car making crunching noises when travelling over speed bumps.
This car eats rear tyres (no, it's not just the way I drive!).
The build quality of this car is superb, no rattles, whines etc.
This car is pretty fast and a lot of fun to drive, however I am not 100% inspired by this car's handling. This is probably something that uprating the suspension will fix though.
If you own the model with the 14" alloys, replace them with the 15" ones as the tyres on the 14" alloys are more expensive.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 18th December, 2001
Great bang for the buck. Second to the Eclipse GSX
The car was bullet proof. Nothing went wrong.
The performance was pretty good. I liked the acceleration and handling. Then I got introduced to a 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX and fell in love. This car felt more refined and the acceleration felt stronger. Now I have a 3" turbo to tip exhaust, boost control, intake and this now would blow the socks off of any turbocharged MR2 T. Much easier to modify. Although they fair well against each other stock. When $800 is thrown into the Eclipse, no comparison at all.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 28th October, 2001
A road legal race car
Driver's door central locking switch was unreliable.
Retractable mirrors just refuse to work.
The standard wheels are too narrow!!!
Shop at HKS and this car will be snapping at the heels of 911's.
The standard stereo is OK, but a good sort out is still necessary.
Add bigger wheels and the already crisp handling is pushed to new limits.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 17th October, 2001
Nice article, I totally agree about the wheels, I was lucky as mine came with 16 inch split rims, 215/45/16 on the front and 245/45/16 on the rear. The car handles superbly in the wet and dry with Toyo Proxes T1-S tyres on, though these need replacing every 6,000 miles!
As for your retracting mirrors, these are not standard on your model at this age, so maybe they are an unreliable add on!
The most fun I had was racing against an Audi S4, the businessman driver was laughing at me when we were at the lights, but not so much half a mile later, I will give him credit though, he was alongside me up to 130 mph, and I think it was his nerve and not his car that let him down!
I've shocked a few Calibra Turbo owners too, they just don't realise that a turbo MR2 exists alongside the regular hardresser model!
Great thrills for little money
The car was not very well cared by the previous owner, so it had lots of little things to do.
The worst was when I bought the car, in Germany, just before the journey back to Portugal, the engine compartment lock jammed and I couldn't check the water or the oil during the entire journey (about 3000 Km).
All went right though.
Great car, very reliable.
Very regarding to hear the turbo's hiss and get a kick in your back!
The car has stunning looks, is very comfortable and extremely quick.
It reminds me a Lotus Europa that I owned many years ago, but this is much more refined.
I think I will never sell it.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 11th August, 2001
5th Feb 2002, 06:59
I haven't seen one of the new model yet, it doesn't seem to be very popular, which is good=)