MR2 Mk2 NA - As much fun as a tubby?

Discussion and technical advice the SW20 MR2. 3S-GTE, 3S-GE, 3S-FE etc
Anything and everything to do with maintenance, modifications and electrical is in here for the Mk2.

Moderators: IMOC Moderators, IMOC Committee Members

Post Reply
User avatar
Lauren
IMOC Committee
Posts: 38632
Joined: Mon Dec 13, 2004 5:37 pm
Location: Greater Manchester
Contact:

Re: MR2 Mk2 NA - As much fun as a tubby?

Post by Lauren »

Razor04 wrote:
Oh i see #-o i thought they'd made a decision on the N/A's being more reliable for continuious hammering round a track? didnt think bout regs! :lol:


I think it was more the case that they'd be cheaper to run. Also when they first came into the series performance wise they are closer to mk1 na's.
2020 GR Yaris - Circuit Pack :lover:
dawolf
Posts: 2526
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2005 4:36 pm
Location: Midlands

Re: MR2 Mk2 NA - As much fun as a tubby?

Post by dawolf »

sheppy wrote:

i prefer not have to kick the s**t outta the turbo thought, car doesn't have to work as hard for power, just seems to relentlessly come from nowhwere, whereas the n/a i found i really had to wind it up!! was a rev2 import with tiny mods though!!


I think I'd agree with that. I find that I'm changing gear at 5000rpm max in the turbo as there's plenty of low to mid-range pull. With the N/A I had to constantly rev it up close to the redline. That could be partly why it started burning oil. I've found the 3S-GTE very reliable so far but it all depends I guess.
skinthespin
Posts: 1833
Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:04 pm
Location: Derbyshire

Re: MR2 Mk2 NA - As much fun as a tubby?

Post by skinthespin »

I think I disagree with most of the things on here! I have a rev3 turbo track car and have been on track with other race NA's and have been much quicker than them, even though my car is 200kg heavier.

The turbo isnt all about straight line speed at all, but its harder to drive fast, which makes it (IMO) more challenging and therefore more rewarding, if I want somehting easy to drive fast i'll get an imprezza or some hot hatch.

Turbos are not tempremental either, I have done 30+ trackdays in mine and even though its running over 300bhp its NEVER broken, these cars are as tough as NA's easily, the bad thing about them is there easy to modify badly, if that makes sense, so people wind up the boost without thinking about the cooling or fuelling - then slag them off when they put a hole in a piston, I know other track based turbos that are equally as tough as mine too, so mines not a freak of nature!

I have taken several Mk1 owners out in mine and the general comments that come back are not those concerning straightline speed but the cornering ability, the usual comment being "I thought MK2's handled badly?"!!!!

I think the Mk2 (while not as good as a Mk1 or Mk3) is an underrated car, especially the turbo because people are plain scared of it.
jonb-
Posts: 4634
Joined: Sat May 21, 2005 2:33 pm
Location: hitchin, north hertfordshire
Contact:

Re: MR2 Mk2 NA - As much fun as a tubby?

Post by jonb- »

skinthespin wrote:I think I disagree with most of the things on here! I have a rev3 turbo track car and have been on track with other race NA's and have been much quicker than them, even though my car is 200kg heavier.

The turbo isnt all about straight line speed at all, but its harder to drive fast, which makes it (IMO) more challenging and therefore more rewarding, if I want somehting easy to drive fast i'll get an imprezza or some hot hatch.

Turbos are not tempremental either, I have done 30+ trackdays in mine and even though its running over 300bhp its NEVER broken, these cars are as tough as NA's easily, the bad thing about them is there easy to modify badly, if that makes sense, so people wind up the boost without thinking about the cooling or fuelling - then slag them off when they put a hole in a piston, I know other track based turbos that are equally as tough as mine too, so mines not a freak of nature!

I have taken several Mk1 owners out in mine and the general comments that come back are not those concerning straightline speed but the cornering ability, the usual comment being "I thought MK2's handled badly?"!!!!

I think the Mk2 (while not as good as a Mk1 or Mk3) is an underrated car, especially the turbo because people are plain scared of it.


Unsurprisingly I agree with all of this.

Having owned and tracked both an NA and a tubby i can tell you I enjoy the tubby way more than the NA on a country blast. The NA doesn't have the power to upset the rear a lot of the time so isn't that exciting to drive imo, where as the tubby you can pretty much do what you want with if you know how to time boost etc.

In short, if you think you can drive you'll probably have more fun in an NA, if you can actually drive get yourself a tubby and enjoy the extra power.
steve b
Posts: 3238
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 1:49 pm
Location: Trackdays in the South
Contact:

Re: MR2 Mk2 NA - As much fun as a tubby?

Post by steve b »

jonb- wrote:
skinthespin wrote:I think I disagree with most of the things on here! I have a rev3 turbo track car and have been on track with other race NA's and have been much quicker than them, even though my car is 200kg heavier.

The turbo isnt all about straight line speed at all, but its harder to drive fast, which makes it (IMO) more challenging and therefore more rewarding, if I want somehting easy to drive fast i'll get an imprezza or some hot hatch.

Turbos are not tempremental either, I have done 30+ trackdays in mine and even though its running over 300bhp its NEVER broken, these cars are as tough as NA's easily, the bad thing about them is there easy to modify badly, if that makes sense, so people wind up the boost without thinking about the cooling or fuelling - then slag them off when they put a hole in a piston, I know other track based turbos that are equally as tough as mine too, so mines not a freak of nature!

I have taken several Mk1 owners out in mine and the general comments that come back are not those concerning straightline speed but the cornering ability, the usual comment being "I thought MK2's handled badly?"!!!!

I think the Mk2 (while not as good as a Mk1 or Mk3) is an underrated car, especially the turbo because people are plain scared of it.


Unsurprisingly I agree with all of this.

Having owned and tracked both an NA and a tubby i can tell you I enjoy the tubby way more than the NA on a country blast. The NA doesn't have the power to upset the rear a lot of the time so isn't that exciting to drive imo, where as the tubby you can pretty much do what you want with if you know how to time boost etc.

In short, if you think you can drive you'll probably have more fun in an NA, if you can actually drive get yourself a tubby and enjoy the extra power.


Both you guys run turbos that have been modified for track use though. I very much doubt your on stock wheels, suspensions, alignment settings. Your cars have taken work to get them to behave how you want, to make that power useable and you are very regular experienced track drivers. n/a's don't stretch the chassis and so are easier to drive as you say, this can easily be argued makes them a "better" car. Your quite right a good driver can find a pushed chassis more fun as its more difficult, but the majority of people are not good drivers.

I always say i'm an average driver as I don't really do sliding the car (my mx5) about except a bit of power oversteer to adjust lines on track, lift off oversteer I always have trouble with, my big let down. Yet on the last trackday I went on the only car that was lapping at a compariable speed was an R400 Caterham, in fact i was still able to stick to his bumper lap after lap so even he wasn't much quicker. Only other things that were even close were a pair of Aerial Atoms but I still pulled slowly away from them, I obliterated the EVO's, Scoobys, regular Caterhams, M3's, 205's, 200sx, VX220, Exige, Elises etc.

Why was I so quick? Answer because the cars a piece of p1$$ to drive on the limit, its a fantastic car and the powerlevel is perfect for the chassis. If I tuned it up to say 290bhp then i'd spend the whole time partial throttle balancing getting the power, down it'd become a handful. This would make the car not as good, it'd make it harder to drive. This is how I think about the n/a and tubby MR2, ones got it about right, the other shows up its problems and unless your a good driver that finds that fun then the n/a is better.

Its a more regular driver friendly car, just look at the number of people on this site that have binned a turbo (always on ice or diesel of course).
'02 VX220 2.2 n/a Daily driver - Exige Size TD 1.2 - TAT shorty Diffuser - HardTop - Chris Tullet 4-1 Manifold.

'97 mk1 Mazda Eunos Turbo track car with 260bhp/ton - soon more as Chris Wilsons going to build me an engine over the winter :o) .
chrispurvis100
Posts: 125
Joined: Tue Mar 07, 2006 11:53 pm
Location: Kent

Re: MR2 Mk2 NA - As much fun as a tubby?

Post by chrispurvis100 »

I must admit, when I had my old rev3 tubby, the back end was very very lively. Fine if you want it like that, but going round a roundabout at 15mph in the drizzle shouldn't require such concentration! #-o

With regards to the power of the turbo, I have had 3 300bhp scoobies, an MR2 rev3 tubby and a DC2 Integra Type R all in the last 5 years. All great cars, but out of all these, the one I miss the most in the teggy.

Power ain't everything! :thumleft:
Ryan S
IMOC Moderator
Posts: 10902
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2005 1:32 pm
Location: Bonnie Dundee
Contact:

Re: MR2 Mk2 NA - As much fun as a tubby?

Post by Ryan S »

you guys make the tubby sound like a total b1tch to drive, i don't find it any harder than my n/a, i've had an mx-5 as well and yeah it's fun but both the 1.6 and 1.8 are severely under powered, i've had an rx-8 as well and again, really under powered, the tubby is a total joy to drive but the difference is the power is there if you really want it!!

my tubby smokes my rx-8!!! :D :D

and the handling is surprisingly similar to it!!!
skinthespin
Posts: 1833
Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:04 pm
Location: Derbyshire

Re: MR2 Mk2 NA - As much fun as a tubby?

Post by skinthespin »

Hi Steve, I understand where your coming from completely but its sort of a flat arguement, wheres the fun in driving something on the limit thats a doddle? I could drive a hot hatch or something like that flat out all day like and regardless of how many people you beat on a trackday you know full well its the car thats easy to drive and no challenge at all, I have got out of my turbo dripping in sweat after driving it flat out while racing slick shod 911's and the sense of satisfaction when the driver comes over and says WTF! is brilliant, I doubt whether it would be the same if I had done that in a Radical or R500.

Also for pure handling I think my car was better when it was standard, it just didnt have the grip it has now, hence the mods.

Sure a standard turbo wouldn't keep up with a track NA BUT it would leave a standard NA.....assuming you are driving it properly, which lets face it is what it comes down to.

The turbo isn't the uncontrollable beast people make out, ive done 10's of 1000's of road miles in mine and have never spun it, only spun it twice on track (both times messing about for the camera) and its not like i'm not trying, I just don't think its a bad as people make out, I think the biggest problem is people progress to one from a 150bhp hot hatch and think they can drive them the same (which obviously you cant!) and end up in a ditch!
raptor95GTS
Posts: 6213
Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 7:14 pm
Location: glasgow
Contact:

Re: MR2 Mk2 NA - As much fun as a tubby?

Post by raptor95GTS »

I don't do track days and I don't drive as fast as most folks and my corner speed is pretty low too but I do drive a fair bit quicker than the 45mph club. In the mk1 I could easily get round the corners quicker but in a straight line drag / overtake it was sometimes a fair old task with the result I was stuck behind them for miles in some cases before the road opened up enough and was clear enough to get past them. With the turbo, cog it down and rip straight past them in much much smaller spaces. Then I can carry on at my own sedate pace.

Turbos are more expensive to run than n/a's but they're hardly the tail happy all or nothing power delivery folks make them out to be. Yes if you stamp on the loud pedal mid corner it will try and kill you but that's not the cars fault.

To me there is nothing more annoying that doing your fav road only to be stuck behind some slow coaches. At least in the tubby I have a better chance of getting past them easier and safer than I would do in an n/a
Ryan S
IMOC Moderator
Posts: 10902
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2005 1:32 pm
Location: Bonnie Dundee
Contact:

Re: MR2 Mk2 NA - As much fun as a tubby?

Post by Ryan S »

skinthespin wrote:
The turbo isn't the uncontrollable beast people make out, ive done 10's of 1000's of road miles in mine and have never spun it, only spun it twice on track (both times messing about for the camera) and its not like i'm not trying, I just don't think its a bad as people make out, I think the biggest problem is people progress to one from a 150bhp hot hatch and think they can drive them the same (which obviously you cant!) and end up in a ditch!


i agree, and it's usually a 150bhp FRONT WHEEL DRIVE!!!!

easy peasy, people forget that as well as being rear wheel drive the engine is also at the back(mid), making it very unforgiving(in the wet at least) compared with a front engined motor!!!

in saying that i still think the tubby is a doddle to drive!!!
Razor04
Posts: 2560
Joined: Mon Jun 09, 2008 4:25 pm

Re: MR2 Mk2 NA - As much fun as a tubby?

Post by Razor04 »

Turbos are more expensive to run than n/a's but they're hardly the tail happy all or nothing power delivery folks make them out to be. Yes if you stamp on the loud pedal mid corner it will try and kill you but that's not the cars fault.

i agree, im scared of mine :lol:
steve b
Posts: 3238
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 1:49 pm
Location: Trackdays in the South
Contact:

Re: MR2 Mk2 NA - As much fun as a tubby?

Post by steve b »

skinthespin wrote:Hi Steve, I understand where your coming from completely but its sort of a flat arguement, wheres the fun in driving something on the limit thats a doddle?


Karts are super easy to drive and they are great fun. I find my car the same :) I also feel very proud that what i've done to my car (that 2.5 years ago had only 133bhp, took 8 seconds to get to 60 and gets dismissed by many as a hairdresser, girly car) means it is now a capable tool for chasing down EVO's and EXIGE's :)

The feeling of parking up and seeing someone getting out of their Atom to walk over to see why they couldn't catch the mx5, or the VX220 owner who says he wanted to hide when he realised the bloody mx5 was coming up to lap him is quite a good feeling :D
'02 VX220 2.2 n/a Daily driver - Exige Size TD 1.2 - TAT shorty Diffuser - HardTop - Chris Tullet 4-1 Manifold.

'97 mk1 Mazda Eunos Turbo track car with 260bhp/ton - soon more as Chris Wilsons going to build me an engine over the winter :o) .
PeterRST
Posts: 67
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2008 12:06 pm

Re: MR2 Mk2 NA - As much fun as a tubby?

Post by PeterRST »

skinthespin wrote:
The turbo isn't the uncontrollable beast people make out, ive done 10's of 1000's of road miles in mine and have never spun it, only spun it twice on track (both times messing about for the camera) and its not like i'm not trying, I just don't think its a bad as people make out, I think the biggest problem is people progress to one from a 150bhp hot hatch and think they can drive them the same (which obviously you cant!) and end up in a ditch!


Well, at least both, FWD' hot-hatch and midengined MR2 are a lot more dangerous off throttle than they are on throttle. So the driving style is kind of similar:

LIFT
POINT
STABILIZE with THROTTLE
skinthespin
Posts: 1833
Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:04 pm
Location: Derbyshire

Re: MR2 Mk2 NA - As much fun as a tubby?

Post by skinthespin »

Karts are super easy and dull after 30 mins of driving, I did a Kart endurance race last Friday and was ready for home at half time!

I get the same thrill from beating stuff I shouldn't too, after all both our cars suffer from the hairdressers syndrome, but I get just as much joy from wrestling the car round the track and beating 'quicker' mr2's, I don't think id get that thrill from something thats easy to drive and fast, hence I have always said Evos and the like are for people who want to go fast but don't know how.........*ducks!*

The MR2 really isnt a point and squirt car either, like I say if you drive it properly and use its advantages, which on track is mainly the immense traction out of corners due to the mid engine and the impressive corner speed, you just need to be a bit ready for when it does (inevitably) oversteer.
dawolf
Posts: 2526
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2005 4:36 pm
Location: Midlands

Re: MR2 Mk2 NA - As much fun as a tubby?

Post by dawolf »

I do like the fact the MR2 can be challenging to drive but sometimes over the winter period it can get nerve-racking in slippery conditions. I think with the MR2 if you're going to drive it close to the edge you have to be very quick with the steering correction otherwise it's too late. With FWD cars it doesn't seem so sudden.
User avatar
Lauren
IMOC Committee
Posts: 38632
Joined: Mon Dec 13, 2004 5:37 pm
Location: Greater Manchester
Contact:

Re: MR2 Mk2 NA - As much fun as a tubby?

Post by Lauren »

skinthespin wrote:Hi Steve, I understand where your coming from completely but its sort of a flat arguement, wheres the fun in driving something on the limit thats a doddle? I could drive a hot hatch or something like that flat out all day like and regardless of how many people you beat on a trackday you know full well its the car thats easy to drive and no challenge at all, I have got out of my turbo dripping in sweat after driving it flat out while racing slick shod 911's and the sense of satisfaction when the driver comes over and says WTF! is brilliant, I doubt whether it would be the same if I had done that in a Radical or R500.

Also for pure handling I think my car was better when it was standard, it just didnt have the grip it has now, hence the mods.

Sure a standard turbo wouldn't keep up with a track NA BUT it would leave a standard NA.....assuming you are driving it properly, which lets face it is what it comes down to.

The turbo isn't the uncontrollable beast people make out, ive done 10's of 1000's of road miles in mine and have never spun it, only spun it twice on track (both times messing about for the camera) and its not like i'm not trying, I just don't think its a bad as people make out, I think the biggest problem is people progress to one from a 150bhp hot hatch and think they can drive them the same (which obviously you cant!) and end up in a ditch!


A good handling car can be expoited more. If you are really pushing a car its never a doddle to drive over the limit, but its a more involving experience if the car has a good chassis because instead of driving around the cars foibles/idiosyncracies you can concentrate on pushing it harder still and as such I think its more rewarding.

So just because a car is a real challenge to drive quickly does not necessarily mean its a better option. I would wager that any car is a challenge to drive really quickly and the key is always progressiveness with how the car responds.

If it was a track day you can't really say you were racing a slick shod 911. If you were really racing ie as in a proper race then i take it back. You name it i've passed it in all my mk1s on track, but that doesn't mean the mk1 is a quicker car, I just drove it quicker than the other driver drove their car.

Sure if you can drive you can drive a turbo quickly, but if you can drive, you can drive any car quickly. But because it is a difficult car to drive very quickly and takes some skill to do so, it can be beyond what a lot of drivers feel comfortable with and so they miss out as a result.
2020 GR Yaris - Circuit Pack :lover:
skinthespin
Posts: 1833
Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:04 pm
Location: Derbyshire

Re: MR2 Mk2 NA - As much fun as a tubby?

Post by skinthespin »

Hi Lauren, I knew you wouldn't be able to resist! lol

This is my point, I don't think the turbo is a bad handling widowmaker that people think it is, but perhaps harder to drive than an NA purely because of the power delivery/extra power, but has extra rewards if you do exploit its limits because of that extra pwer?

So we are all agreed if you can drive a bit you should get a turbo? If you are less comfortable and perhaps its your first RWD car you should get an NA?
RobCrezz
Posts: 1509
Joined: Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:16 am
Location: Essex

Re: MR2 Mk2 NA - As much fun as a tubby?

Post by RobCrezz »

skinthespin wrote:Hi Lauren, I knew you wouldn't be able to resist! lol

This is my point, I don't think the turbo is a bad handling widowmaker that people think it is, but perhaps harder to drive than an NA purely because of the power delivery/extra power, but has extra rewards if you do exploit its limits because of that extra pwer?

So we are all agreed if you can drive a bit you should get a turbo? If you are less comfortable and perhaps its your first RWD car you should get an NA?


I agree about the turbo. But if you are not comfortable with RWD cars in genral, I dont think a MR2 is the best place to start. I love MR2s, but cars like MX-5s and 200sx are much more controllable on the limit for someone new to RWD, but ultimatly cant corner as quickly on the limit (as standard anyway).

Before my tubby, I had a S13 200sx and that was amazingly good fun on the limit as it was so easy to catch if you ever overstep the mark, but it couldnt corner anywhere near as quick as my MR2.

If someone really really wanted turbo power, and really really wanted RWD, but had little or no RWD experience, I would recommend a 200sx everytime. But I love my tubby so much more than my S13 :wink:
User avatar
Lauren
IMOC Committee
Posts: 38632
Joined: Mon Dec 13, 2004 5:37 pm
Location: Greater Manchester
Contact:

Re: MR2 Mk2 NA - As much fun as a tubby?

Post by Lauren »

skinthespin wrote:Hi Lauren, I knew you wouldn't be able to resist! lol

This is my point, I don't think the turbo is a bad handling widowmaker that people think it is, but perhaps harder to drive than an NA purely because of the power delivery/extra power, but has extra rewards if you do exploit its limits because of that extra pwer?

So we are all agreed if you can drive a bit you should get a turbo? If you are less comfortable and perhaps its your first RWD car you should get an NA?



Hi Si!

I think thats fair enough, yes. I think though a lot of people do buy the turbo because of its straightline pace and then enjoy that, but get in trouble on the corners when they have to balance the car.
2020 GR Yaris - Circuit Pack :lover:
steve b
Posts: 3238
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 1:49 pm
Location: Trackdays in the South
Contact:

Re: MR2 Mk2 NA - As much fun as a tubby?

Post by steve b »

skinthespin wrote:
So we are all agreed if you can drive a bit you should get a turbo? If you are less comfortable and perhaps its your first RWD car you should get an NA?


I think thats a fair summary, except i'd alter "a bit" to well.

i.e. well means you wouldn't brick it if the car does slide a bit at speed.
'02 VX220 2.2 n/a Daily driver - Exige Size TD 1.2 - TAT shorty Diffuser - HardTop - Chris Tullet 4-1 Manifold.

'97 mk1 Mazda Eunos Turbo track car with 260bhp/ton - soon more as Chris Wilsons going to build me an engine over the winter :o) .
Post Reply

Return to “MR2 MK2 1990 - 1999 NA & Turbo”