southwalesgt
Member +
I recently straight swapped my Rev1 Turbo MR2 for My ep82.
The MR2 is great fun to drive - Rev1 like mine comes with pretty much no safety features that you would both want and expect of a 240bhp (ish) mid engined rear wheel drive car.
Snap oversteer is a common problem on REV1's due to pants suspension/roll-bars etc... The biggest most common mods for the first two revisions is REV3 brakes, suspension as a lot is bolt-on upgrades that can be found cheap second hand.
I also had to change the alternator (Common problem as it sits directly below the water run-off on the engine lid :slap: ) And only last a few years. £250 ish if i remember correctly.
Also be wary of coolant pipe leaks underneath the chassis as they are an absolute swine to replace. Engine in rear, radiator in front = a lot of coolant pipes. Fuel lines can also corrode just below exhaust manifold.
The usual rust spots are along the bottom of the side sills, bottom of doors, A-pillars ( all around windscreen) and in front compartment where battery and spare wheel sits.
Personally I prefer the EP82 - I owned the MR2 for just over a year, and in that year they went from being fairly rare to insanely common round my way. The prices have fallen through the arse (havent all cars) but seemed quite severe on the old MR2 MK2. Thats one reason why I prefer the Starlet as people see it and either think "What the hell is that?" or "Nice, dont see many of them"
The MR2 MK2 is a wicked car, especially the REV3+ due to better equipment and revised parts, but they're everywhere! The MR2 was exactly the same insurance as my starlet with Brentacre specialist insurers. MPG was between 20-27 miles depending on how much I thrashed it. (would differ depending on mods done - Mine was only moderately tuned with bolt-on mods) PARTS WERE INSANELY EXPENSIVE FROM DEALER
Stick with the Starlet
The MR2 is great fun to drive - Rev1 like mine comes with pretty much no safety features that you would both want and expect of a 240bhp (ish) mid engined rear wheel drive car.
Snap oversteer is a common problem on REV1's due to pants suspension/roll-bars etc... The biggest most common mods for the first two revisions is REV3 brakes, suspension as a lot is bolt-on upgrades that can be found cheap second hand.
I also had to change the alternator (Common problem as it sits directly below the water run-off on the engine lid :slap: ) And only last a few years. £250 ish if i remember correctly.
Also be wary of coolant pipe leaks underneath the chassis as they are an absolute swine to replace. Engine in rear, radiator in front = a lot of coolant pipes. Fuel lines can also corrode just below exhaust manifold.
The usual rust spots are along the bottom of the side sills, bottom of doors, A-pillars ( all around windscreen) and in front compartment where battery and spare wheel sits.
Personally I prefer the EP82 - I owned the MR2 for just over a year, and in that year they went from being fairly rare to insanely common round my way. The prices have fallen through the arse (havent all cars) but seemed quite severe on the old MR2 MK2. Thats one reason why I prefer the Starlet as people see it and either think "What the hell is that?" or "Nice, dont see many of them"
The MR2 MK2 is a wicked car, especially the REV3+ due to better equipment and revised parts, but they're everywhere! The MR2 was exactly the same insurance as my starlet with Brentacre specialist insurers. MPG was between 20-27 miles depending on how much I thrashed it. (would differ depending on mods done - Mine was only moderately tuned with bolt-on mods) PARTS WERE INSANELY EXPENSIVE FROM DEALER
Stick with the Starlet
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