2000 Toyota MR2 Roadster from UK and Ireland - Comments

Re the steering problems mentioned above.

My 2000 MR2 has just been back to the dealership for modifications to the steering. I too had a knock in the wheel arch on full lock and a judder.

Both these problems have now been resolved. The work was completed under warranty and the dealership was fully aware of the problems.

Have also had the brake disc's replaced under warranty, as they were warped.

Apart from that I love the car, never mind the storage space.

Boxster VS MR Roadtser???

I just sold my MR Roadster to buy a...Boxster!

I would say that each of them has advantages and drawbacks.

For instance, the MR is 275 Kg lighter than the Boxtser. I swear you can feel it in the car response in bends! I would say the MR is more "incisive" in curves than the Boxster. I can't wait to get back to Spa-Francorchamps race track where I tried my MR roadster once! A wonderful experience! I wonder how I will feel behind the Boxster's wheel...

The MR quality (build, paint,...) is very far behind the Boxster's. I had the engine, the soft top and the front disk brakes replaced on my MR (under warranty, hopefully!). After that kind of experience, you start wondering about whether Toyota's reputation for quality is a fact or a dream. I have read similar problems throughout my web surfing sessions.

The paint on the MR is awful! my front hood looks like the moon's surface because of the stones impacts!

How about the rims, which were corroded after 2 years (I bought the MR new), although I well maintained the car.

I know the Boxster is much more expensive. But I thought about many different things:

- It's a Porsche (resell value,...)

- The noise (music, I should say) of the flat six behind the seats is much, much more exciting than the 4 in line of the MR.

- The Boxster has got decent boot space

- The MR lacks torque and a bit of power to have real fun!

-...

I saw a report saying that the MR outperforms the Boxster during the 40 to 70 Mph acceleration. This seems hard to believe having driven both (personal feeling, I haven't measured it!). But given the weight of the MR compared to the Boxster, hmmmmm... This could be possible.

Anyways, if you talk about driving experience, I would say that The MR beats the Porsche with respect to the handling, but the Porsche is much better in terms of torque, power and...noise. To me, it's simple, if you have got the money for the Boxster, try both of them and choose the one that YOU prefer. If you don't have the money for a Boxster, go for the MR: it's a great sport car. But I would NEVER say that the MR is a poor man's Boxster like I wouldn't say the the Boxster is the poor man's Porsche. They are all different and I know 911 owners who own a Boxster as well and said "the Boxster is a great Porsche".

Manu DELMARCHE, Belgium.

P.S. in french speaking countries (Belgium, France, Switzerland), the MR2 is called MR. This is due to the fact that if you say "MR2" in french, it sounds like identical to the french for "is crappy"...

RE: Front end "jumping" while backing up.

This is a VERY NORMAL result of the front end geometry. Look up "Ackerman Angle" for more details. It's quite common in high-performance vehicles.

That "Ackerman Angle" concept makes sense to me. It's kind of like, the inside tire (during a turn, while moving forward) should be angle a little more than the outside tire. So, if, when backing up you turn the wheel all the way to one side, the angle differences between the left and right front wheel become pronounced, and therefore, act like a wedge, and so, I could see how one of them would eventually have to unwedge itself a little, especially under power. Does that make any sense? : ()