N/A accelleration

[GHOST]

Coming back to the MR2 fold after driving a MK1 Eunos Roadster for 3 years I'm a little miffed with the performance.

My 1.8 roadster was perky right through the rev range but my Rev5 seems very sluggish til 4000RPM (then in all honestly, where the mazda ran out of revs the MR2 just keeps going).

Its a 98 Sonic Shadow with 74,000 on the clock with a mongoose exhaust. Might it just need tuned or do I just have to get used to getting it in the right rev-range to get the best out of her?

Its been a few years since I drove a 2.

[Ryan6926]

I'm inclined to say that's just the way the MR2 is, my friend has a MX5 and it's very free revving whereas the Mr2 doesn't come in until the power starts coming in from 3k, anything underneath that 3k rev range on most Toyota's I've had has been pretty much non existent

[GHOST]

Ah good, its not just mine then lol. Was racking my brain trying to remember how my previous MR2s performed.

Such a distinct driving difference to my MX5. The MR2 is so so masculine to drive in comparison. Still to this day I don't know how the hell it got the reputation as a hairdressers car.

[danjama]

It certainly doesn't sound like a hairdressers car.

My god, 3-7000rpm in 2nd gear gets me going.

[Ryan6926]

Exactly although the mk2 Mr2 isn't a hairdressers car just the mk3 as it doesn't look very aggressive as standard

The MR2 is quite heavy compared to the MX5 which is why it feels more planted and if set up correctly doesn't feel so bad in a straight line compared to the mx5 which tends to be blown around a lot.
The mx5 is probably a better car on a track though. I've driven my friends 1.8 mk2 import and it's not bad but doesn't seem as stable as the MR2

[GHOST]

I couldn't fault my MK1 roadster. It handled like nothing else and was the most fun I've had in a daily driver. The MR2 is a lot more refined though, has more grunt and is by far a prettier car.

Which reminds me...must sell my mx5 lol

[Adam]

I think the rev3-5 engines do lack torque lower down the rev range compared to Rev 1-2, I think Hurley Racing do an ACIS spacer that improves the low down torque by increasing the volume Inside the plenum

[millentubby]

I recently went back to a Mk2 NA after a few years in a 1.4 Turbo Diseasel Yaris...the lack of low down torque meant the Yaris felt faster and more driveable!

Strangely enough the Yaris' peak torque figure is 1ft/lb greater, although the Mk2 NA has almost twice the BHP.

Took me a while to change my driving habits. I had to stop being lazy and use the gears more, let the engine run further up the rev-range and let the 3S-GE show it's strengths. Now I'm holding the tool at the right end I quickly rekindled my love-affair with the MR2.

Problem is...in the time I took to figure out I needed to change the way I was driving it I'd bought a Rev3 Turbo rear clip and am due to complete the swap this coming weekend.

C'est la vie!

[GHOST]

Yep, after getting a but more used to her today you are totally right. I got lazy. Strange how that happens.