Have a picture of Toyota MR2 T-BAR Turbo GTS Rev 3?, please send it to us.
Picture courtesy of Bob Builder.
| Performance | 9/10   |
|---|---|
| Practicality | 5.4/10 |
| Reliability | 8.4/10 |
| Value for Money | 8.1/10 |
| Reviewer Rating | 8.7/10 |
| Overall Rating | 8.2/10 |
By bob.
on 23rd Nov 2002
| Performance | 9/10 |
|---|---|
| Practicality | 2/10 |
| Reliability | 9/10 |
| Value for money | 8/10 |
| Overall value | 8/10 |
 bob.'s recommendation | |
PHENOMENAL PEFORMANCE, HIGH LIMIT GRIP WHEN WANGING IT ROUND BENDS, POSE FACTOR, FANTASTIC TOYOTA MAIN DEALER SERVICE AND HELP (RON BROOKS, ILKESTON, NOTTINGHAMSHIRE).
POOR FUEL ECONOMY (EVEN WHEN PODDLING AROUND WITHOUT TURBO DOING OWT)!! £20 SUPER UNLEADED (OPTIMAX) = 115 MILES OF MIXED DRIVING1?!?!?!
WATER LEAKS FROM T-BAR,
Theres plenty of 'fast' cars out there and to be fair they all go like stink - yet when racing someone how much further in front can u get from them usually? Couple of car lengths or so? All these so called mass produced sports cars can reach 60 m.p.h in 7 or 8 secs to a top end of 120 - 135. True peformance cars have always been ferraris / Lambo's / 'certain' Porsches ;)
The search was on to identify a sports car solely for driving pleasure that a Mr Average could afford to but & RUN!
The vehicle decided upon, after plenty of research, was the MR2 TURBO. Plenty of mr2's to choose from but alas never imported as a commercial vehicle for sale in U.K. . Not a problem as vehicle importers had realised the potential to fill the gap.
I looked for 7 months for the right mr2 turbo, God there was SO many dog 1's about - i.e. neglected whether owner just ran out of dosh to maintain it or lack of knowledge on looking after them. TOYOTA UK DEALERS have been sent a memo from Toyota, Japan that full service help can now be provided to owners of mentioned car. Great - and i can vouch how BRILLIANT they are!! £190 to do a cambelt and replace the air-con and alternator belt at same time for example !
All parts are sourceable and basically it's a mr2 uk car with celica turbo running gear (except gear box bit's' n bob's - clutch is same as celica turbo ..... )
The car had minor problems (which the previous owner must of thought it was on it's way out ,he he he - bargain price !)
The car was driving like your Mams Fiesta and then when warmed up no faster than Barrys xr3i.
You must remember that these jap cars are packed full of over usefull technical equipment. The e.c.u. is self protecting and won't allow the driver to 'stress' or 'wear' the engine unnecessarily.
The engine was running 'cold', caused by a faulty Thermostat stuck open not allowing it to get to operating tempreture - common problem by the way!!!
The cooling system has to be maintained, it has various bleed points and so found it as an investment to let main dealer do it, cheaper than replacing a warped cylinder head ;)
The car 'eats' distributor caps (£50!)
and rotor arms (£ 19!)
replace every 2 years or 15,000 miles.
Mine was replaced as a precautionary measure and now the car doesn't miss now and again!
The car is very torquey upto 3000 r.p.m.
The turbo starts to kick in at 2800 r.p.m. untill it's full impact is made felt at 3500 r.p.m.
It's a gradual build up of power so you can drive the car very relaxingly round town.
The car really feels secure when it's pumping out it's bonkers amount of power. Jap official figures are 0-60 of 5.2 seconds , it certainly feels it , but official figures are always on a lovely smooth test track in perfect conditions. So to be honest i'd say (running on super unlead fuel 98 octane -- optimax shell -- ) about 6 is realistic. I'm bound to be biased, but Subaru gives it's Turbo imprezza very impresive figures, yet when racing my mates y am i having to back off the accelerator before i have an impact on his nice rear bumper? When there's space to overtake, he's absolutely gutted as i pull away as he's trying his damnedest to play keep up/catch up !!
But they are 2 totally differnet sports cars. Mines just rear wheel drive and the 4wd will have an advantage that i could only dream of (in the wet that is, he he he)
The mR2 is only a driving machine and is very impractical for using it for anything else (you can still lob couple cases of beer and 3 bags of shopping in it's little boot !!
Insurance provde to be a minor problem - finding out what companies will insure you ( group 20 same as the Ferrari brigade :o )
Tesco insurance will do it but most major insurance companies won't touch you. Mind you norwich union wouldn't insure me but when my broker arranged my insurance the people underwriting the policy was ... NORWICH UNION. hhmmmm!
They obviously can, but under a different policy title.
Mines a Club mans policy with a limit of 5000 miles a year fully comp for £840/year/7 years no claims. Not bad but i was only paying £370 on a astra gte. Big mark up for insurance companies.
You won't get insured unless the vehicle has a cat 1 alarm immobilser confirming to VESA standards (£400 typical instal cost at a dealer).
If you are thinking of buying a mr2 turbo and need help or advice y not e-mail me and i can help you out. marek.wilson@ntlworld.com
| Helpful | Unhelpful | Agree | Disagree |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
Total Respect: +10
sicknote. on 10th Apr 2003
Azim. on 24th Jun 2003
shaneb1975 on 11th Aug 2003