I posted this in GDD, but not much input. I'm hoping some good luders here might have more direct experience.

I'm considering both cars, although i'm stronly leaning toward the Prelude (having already owned an older one and already knowing a lot about them is nice).

Obviously the MR2 is going to be faster in a straight line, i'm more interested in the corners, ie track days, back roads, autocross, etc...

Only reason i like the MR2 is the MR layout and turbo engine - but i keep hearing they are hard to control, and very unstable in rain.

comments??

 

R3AR WHEL DRIEV TURBO OWNS U1!111! OMG WTF U CAN B A MAD TIET DRIFT3R1!!11! OMG WTF I WUD GO FOR DA MR2 PERSONALY A BUDY OF MIEN USED 2 HAEV ON3 AND HIT 300WHP WIT AL SIMPLA BOLT-ONS11!!11 OMG

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PrecisionH23a &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">R3AR WHEL DRIEV TURBO OWNS U1!111! OMG WTF U CAN B A MAD TIET DRIFT3R1!!11! OMG WTF I WUD GO FOR DA MR2 PERSONALY A BUDY OF MIEN USED 2 HAEV ON3 AND HIT 300WHP WIT AL SIMPLA BOLT-ONS11!!11 OMG</TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah i forgot to mention i'd be keeping the engine stock

 

If you are looking for a faster car and more performance stock, go with the MR2. If you are looking for a more reliable car, go with the prelude.

 

if you want handling, you can't go wrong with either car.

 

if you go for the mr2 becareful, i forgot which year it was that they had independent suspension = losing control easily, i think it was 94?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by es_squared &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if you go for the mr2 becareful, i forgot which year it was that they had independent suspension = losing control easily, i think it was 94? </TD></TR></TABLE>

well i know the later models had some revisions to the rear suspension to prevent sudden oversteer...

does anyone have track experience with either car?

 

prelude handles the twisties very well.

 

Only the '91 MR2 had an "underpowered" power steering system, which is the one most races go after if only due to the fact that it's the cheapest but the feel of the road is so much improved. I believe it was in '95 (or whatever year they changed the rear lights) did they do the revisions to the rear suspension to attempt to get rid of the power on oversteer. I've only driven my sister's '93 MR2 and my friend's '91 so I can't tell you the differences they made after that point. But either one of those you can easily induce power on oversteer or a mutitude of other ways to get sideways. Just remember that the MR layout on the MR2 just asks to be spun if you go crazy with it.

If you're going to keep the cars relatively stock the MR2 in general is the better platform, and the 3S-GTE motor is incredibly robust (with good tuning you can push 800 whp out of those w/o opening the engine up) and Toyota and Honda, reliability come hand in hand. If you're looking for a track monster the MR2 is the way to go, as it's just a better design for the track. But if you want a dual duty car, the MR2 is just really small if you're ever trying to live your life with one. My sister steals my car all the time when she comes back... which is sorta fun.

 

i dont know about the 800 whp stock internals part, but i think the mr2 has a skidpad of something in the mid to high .9x range

 

Then don't even try and imagine with the 1jz-gte is capable of stock w/ good tuning. There is quite literally no aftermarket support for the non-psycho minded for the Supra engine. Why? OEM just can take that kind of punishment in the Toyota turbo engines.

 

thanks for the responses guys...
like i said though, i'm not interested in engine mods, although i'd probably do some suspension tuning on either car.

oh and i believe stock the mr2's pull .86 or .88 g's on the skidpad...

 

If you really want to get a feel of how annoying the MR2 is to setup pull out Gran Tourismo 3 and you'll see. In reality that's how tail happy the car is, which is great for autocross. Somewhat dangerous if you don't know how to control it at the track. But if this is going to be solely a fun vehicle get the MR2 and don't mod it at first and learn how to drive it. It's a very rewarding car, but to tell the truth the Miata or the MRS is MUCH more fun than the MKII MR2.

 

In 1993, Toyota changed to longer rear trailing arms on the MR2, which prevented that "snap oversteer" effect. People make it out to be much worse than it is, but the 91-92 MR2 is actually preferred by experienced drivers for track cars because once the handling characteristics are mastered, the tail-happy car can be manuevered quite well.

The 91-92 MR2 didn't do as well on the skid pad because of the tiny 14" rims and crappy tires. The 93-95 versions did much better since they had 15" rims which were a little bit wider and had better tires.

As far as 800rwhp on stock internals, that's false. A fellow owner did do 528rwhp on completely stock internals, and one of my friends did 555.9rwhp with the factory rods (but aftermarket pistons). There are a few 700+rwhp MR2's popping up now since the true potential of the car has been realized by serious tuners. Keep on the lookout for some insane powered MR2's within the year.

 

i have whipped out GT3 and tried the MR2, both with and without traction control on. the turbo model seemed fairly stable when i was driving it, both on laguna seca and deep forest, although i can see how you have to be very careful about the throttle...

like i said i'd be keeping the engine mostly stock, how reliable is it? i presume it's fairly hard to work on, being located in the back. i know toyotas are reliable (obviously...), but the turbos? even turbo supras of all gens have their quirks...

 

There are plenty of 200+k mile MR2 turbos out there. As long as they are taken care of, they will last just as long as any other Toyota. The factory CT26 turbo seals probably see the last of their prime around 150k or so, maybe less - it all depends.

I have a friend who had 230k miles on the stock turbo and stock un-opened motor that went 13.50 with basic bolt-ons.

 

go for the mr2

 

neither. a pontiac fiero is a much better choice.

if ya gonna go down, go down in flames.

 

Get an MR2 T. My brother has one. He's done intake, down pipe, and exhaust. He's pushing 200 whp with only $1000.00 worth of parts that's all he's done. Also running 15 psi on a stock iron block motor will out perform a crap *** amateur Honda turbo any day.

 

mr2 turbo..