Used FRS/BRZ vs 03 Toyota MR2

[Rampage]

Originally Posted by WolfpackS2k

Daily Drive an MR2 Spider? You're crazy. That car makes the BRZ and cars like an S2000 or Miata seem downright practical in comparison. Cargo space is a joke in that car.

Get a BRZ.

Ah, but there is more room for the driver and passenger in the MR2 Spyder than either the s2000 or the Miata. I tried all three and at 6'2" the only one I fit in comfortable is the Spyder. It is true that it does not have a lot of space for luggage or things like groceries but it is easy to use it as a daily. I have done it on occasion when my second car was down for periods of time.

Having said that, the FR-S/BRZ/86 is the more practical car if it is your only car.

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

Never cared for the Spyder, and don't consider it in the same league as the MK1 and MKII MR2s.

Now, if Toyota brought back the MK1 in a restomod kind of thing the FR-S would have stable mate tomorrow.

You obviously have not driven one. I can understand saying that you do not like the looks. They are very polarizing and many of the fans of the MKI and MKII do not accept the thrid generation cars as real MR2s. The fact of the matter though is that the Spyders will hang with any of the previous gens on twisty roads due to their light weight and superior handling. They may lose out to MKII turbos but only in a straight line.

I owned a 93 MR2 and currently own a 2000 MR2 Spyder with a hardtop and a 2ZZ swap. Even when I still had the stock 1ZZ I felt the Spyder was the superior drivers car. But then, I am all about the twisties.

Originally Posted by Cloud

I would be keeping both cars primarily stock, the MR2 I'm looking at has that SMT transmission, which is a bit of a turn off tbh, how much did your friend spend to swap out the transmissions?
Also does he daily drive his MR2?

My advice would be to stay away from an SMT equipped car. They are slow and they can be troublesome. Almost no one knows how to work on them anymore and if something goes wrong it can potentially cost you more than the car is worth to fix the problem.

You do not actually have to swap out the transmission. You have to buy a different shift, shift shaft, pedals, hydralics for the pedals, lines, clutch slave unit, etc. Yo can buy kits from someone like MW or you can look for a cheap totaled Spyder and use it as a parts car which is probably the cheapest alternative.

It is better just to find a good condition manual Spyder with low miles and avoid the headaches completely.

Or buy that BRZ.

[nocoolname]

I've had an mr2 spyder in some form or fashion for 9ish years. Rampage pretty well nailed most of it. They're a great handling car and actually easy to work on, which isn't often if you keep an eye on your oil level if you're 1zz and keep up on general maintenance as well. The biggest pain in the ass is burping the air out of the coolant IMO. I second on staying away from an SMT unless you get it cheap and want to convert it. I've got an 02 I'm converting to full manual. Also they're quite a bit cheaper than a brz or an frs. I'll be selling my 2000 2zz swapped one soon along with the 02 smt to manual converted one.