/ end thread

 

[edit] - guess I should have read the whole thread before replying. Oh well.....


What are you going to be doing with the car?

I've owned both. The MR2 was phenomenal as a learning tool and a fun car to drive. Sadly I've unlearned most of those good habbits in the 10 years since owning the MR2, but such is life. Here's what I didn't like about the MR2

- heat problems. If you plan to go big track and mildly mod the engine (boost controller etc), heat is a problem in warmer climates. I had to run a J&S safeguard. The problem is not steady state or at speed engine temps, it's when you have to come in for a drive through or a short stop and then try to go out again. I don't have experience on a completely stock MR2 and heat, but many have cracked exhaust manifolds from to normal day to day driving.

- pain in the butt to for maintenance. Those who have owned an NSX or other mid engine cars can attest to this. The above mentioned cracked exhaust mani is very very common. Also these guys tend to burn oil. 80k mi on an MR2 vs 80k mi the and MR2 will need a lot more attention. Especially for rubber hoses gaskets etc.

- My personal opinion is that they aren't as preferable as a street car as the front end is so light. Over unpredicatable surfaces (ie bumpy non-race track conditions or fast elevation changes where the car gets light), these cars are tough to drive fast as the front tends to hop over uneven road surfaces forcing the driver to go in a lot slower and to be one step ahead of the curves. There is something to be said about steering with the gas pedal though which is why I loved the MR2 for an autocross fun car.

- panic situations the MR2 can be very unstable (I had the earlier model without the "tail happy fix" updates). It is very unforgiving to lift / braking dive as when the rear sits up (forward weight transfer), the rear wheels toe out.

- overall speed and numbers for magazine articles, yeah I'd say the MR2 would probably have the skid pad numbers. But you have to fully commit to get the rear to work like a pendulum and the car doesn't really tolerate any lack of commitment from the driver once you've crossed that line. Not really practical to go there if you're talking about street driving. The S2000 is way faster on the street for any sane person without F1 driving skillz
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I actually liked the MR2 cockpit better. I really dislike the "hump" at the footwell in the S2000 and the interior feels small and up close in the S2000 (I'm 5'9, 150lb, so not a big guy). There was more room to store stuff too

As for the comments about go drive one - I highly doubt anybody you aren't friends with is going to let you drive one to the point where you will start to experience any of these things unless you're regularly involved in autocross or trackdays that sort of thing. For every day putting around town and light sprited driving they are both great cars. The MR2 has a lot less wind noise in the cabin, but aside from that I would prefer to drive the S2000 any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

 

I've owned a AW11 and a SW20 with a BEAMS swap. I can tell you that the AW11 was WOAH light, but at the track, the s2k would be my platform of choice. Power only does so much.

 

The short answer- you gotta have BOTH!

 

That must be fun to drive because I m trying to get a sw21 with BEAMS swap.
After owning both gen3 and s2k, I kinda like n/a more than turbo now.