MR2 Turbo VS Honda Integra Type R???

[flex1984]

im saving for a dc5 at the moment,hoping thay wil drop in price with all this credit crunch stuff going on

i dot think thay will have the stright line speed off tubby but for me thay are a nice all round car,thay good handling car,rare,nice looking,will be reliable and good on petrol if kept out vtec

with few mods like full excaust system including manifold and a kpro ecu thay seem to put out about 240 bhp whitch ant bad for 2 litre N/A

im just a bit worried that it wont match up to the tubby for stright line speed and will feel like a downgrade

[mr2nut123]

I must admit, those DC5s are very good looking cars, and if they did a turbo version I might be tempted purely because it's a newer and (most of the time) more reliable car. But like you said, to get the power that a 2 could get would cost a LOT more and there aint many places you can go for it in a straight line nevermind get corners.

[dawolf]

i dot think thay will have the stright line speed off tubby but for me thay are a nice all round car,thay good handling car,rare,nice looking,will be reliable and good on petrol if kept out vtec

But driving it in 'the vtec zone' is the fun part, otherwise you may as well just own some boring lazy 2 litre. Lol.

[flex1984]

totaly agree thats the best bit,lol
just saying its a good point of the car

[.::Ant::.]

I owned 3 MR2 Turbos, and I'm now on a DC5.

You'll certainly lose some of that lazy oomph you can achieve with a turbo in the DC5, you can't just put your foot down and sprint off in a straight line at 3500rpm as you can in a MR2 Turbo. You'll need to be in the right gear for the right situation in a DC5 Teg or you'll be waiting for the revs to build to hit VTEC and you'll get left behind.

If all you care about though is going from Point A to Point B in a straight line as fast as possible, or want some traffic light GP's then don't buy a DC5. It's not the car for you, and you'll be disappointed.

If you enjoy going round twisties with a sense of true interaction with the car and infinite chuckability, and not that nagging fear that the backend is going to be swinging round at any time, and you want something rare, modern (and still a beautiful car), as well as being able to get about 350mpg out of a tank and still have excellent performance then it's a car to look at. Plus you won't be fixing it every five seconds. I had one MR2 for a year and spent nearly 4k on it repairing and modifying. I've had the Teg half a year, and all it's needed is an oil change.

Would I go back to a MR2 Turbo after the Teg?

Not a chance.

[GhostWKD]

I owned 3 MR2 Turbos, and I'm now on a DC5.

You'll certainly lose some of that lazy oomph you can achieve with a turbo in the DC5, you can't just put your foot down and sprint off in a straight line at 3500rpm as you can in a MR2 Turbo. You'll need to be in the right gear for the right situation in a DC5 Teg or you'll be waiting for the revs to build to hit VTEC and you'll get left behind.

If all you care about though is going from Point A to Point B in a straight line as fast as possible, or want some traffic light GP's then don't buy a DC5. It's not the car for you, and you'll be disappointed.

If you enjoy going round twisties with a sense of true interaction with the car and infinite chuckability, and not that nagging fear that the backend is going to be swinging round at any time, and you want something rare, modern (and still a beautiful car), as well as being able to get about 350mpg out of a tank and still have excellent performance then it's a car to look at. Plus you won't be fixing it every five seconds. I had one MR2 for a year and spent nearly 4k on it repairing and modifying. I've had the Teg half a year, and all it's needed is an oil change.

Would I go back to a MR2 Turbo after the Teg?

Not a chance.

350mpg? sweet

[.::Ant::.]

Told you them there Tegs were good

[BarronMR]

I owned 3 MR2 Turbos, and I'm now on a DC5.

Plus you won't be fixing it every five seconds. I had one MR2 for a year and spent nearly 4k on it repairing and modifying.

The only problem I see was you had the wrong engine in your 2 .

[EarL]

The only problem I see was you had the wrong engine in your 2 .

Quite...

Chuck a V6 in there, and have a huge chunk of torque from just off idle, a 7000 rpm rev limit, and...

...I regularly get 400 miles per tank from my car.

EarL.

[.::Ant::.]

I owned 3 MR2 Turbos, and I'm now on a DC5.

Plus you won't be fixing it every five seconds. I had one MR2 for a year and spent nearly 4k on it repairing and modifying.

The only problem I see was you had the wrong engine in your 2 .

True could have chucked a V6 in there, but then in my opinion it's not an MR2 anymore. It's just an MR2 shell. You could stick a couple of Harrier jet engines on the back though...

Having modified my last MR2 with boost controlers, downpipe etc... I wouldn't modify any car again. I'd rather enjoy it standard and then move up the car ladder.

If I was going to go V6 then a 350z would be order of the day

[BarronMR]

If I was going to go V6 then a 350z would be order of the day

I would too if they weren't several times more expensive than my 2, can't seem to find any 350z's for 2.5k. Being a student those kinda money's ain't exactly easy to get hold of.

Really its not modified just had a different engine installed, just as I wouldn't consider a n/a to turbo conversion modified tbh. And as the v6 is about as detuned an engine you can get, it should last forever without the trade off in performance.

[wiggee]

unles you like new cars get a modified ef 8 cr-x SiR over from japan with an integra dc2 type r engine fitted , 10 times more fun

[flex1984]

yer i hade the same prob with my tubby,spent a small fortune on it,
i use to own a crx vtec so i know about the needing to be in right gear at right time,but i find that part of the fun about hondas

how does the handling and grip compare to the mr2?

[.::Ant::.]

The handling and grip is a completely different ballpark to the MR2.

The DC5 inspires so much confidence in the corners, like an EVO or Impreza, everytime I think i've found the limit to the handling it still has more to give. It certainly doesn't feel as twitchy, and is a million miles away in the wet from an SW20. I'm sure it has the potential to bite you in the butt though if you get too cocky, much like the MR2. I'm no pro race driver (I do quite a lot of go-karting though ), but I can put the Teg through corners with balance and at speeds I would never have dreamed of with the MR2.

If there's one thing I find a bit annoying with the Teg, is that it gets bogged down with wheelspin from stationary a fair bit, but as I mentioned previously, it's not a car to be doing 1/4 miles or traffic light GP's. Find a track or an empty B road and have some fun... (within the speed limits obviously)

[BarronMR]

The handling and grip is a completely different ballpark to the MR2.

I've always wondered if the reputation of mk2 not being chuckable are down to the tubby engines power delivery, lsd's and suspension/wheel setups.

I notice most people who comment on the mk2's lack being chuckable are tubby owners past and present. And that most of the stories I've read involving diesel on the road (read 'handling issues') are modified tubby's.

My rev3 tubby on the standard bilstiens and 18's with 40 profile tyres (not my choice), was as you said a bit lairy in the wet. There was lots of grip but I don't remember ever trying to get near the limit due the snap oversteer characteristics and lack of easy throttle control to counter it.

But my current mk2 n/a has standard susp, stock 15's and the non-lsd diff. I can say hand on heart thats its quite chuckable. And being a v6, the torque does get it sideways every now and again. When pushed beyond the level of grip, the lack of lsd means the inside wheels spins and outside grips (but without drive). This does allow some travel of the rear end but never at much of an angle and it regains grip quickly. This makes it easy to control by the throttle input. If you keep on the throttle its just spins the inside wheel but the angle of drift doesn't increase, because the outside wheel is still giving grip. If you lift off the grip returns to both wheels and returns to driving in straight line.

Also the flex in the high profile tyre lets you know when the limit is near and the transition from grip to slide is more linear giving more reaction time. Pretty much all tubby's are not on standard size tyres or suspension as owners choose ultimate grip and looks over predictable handling.

IMO this contributes to the mr2's 'will bite you' reputation.

Would be interesting to compare numbers of mk2 n/a (standard, non-lsd models) prangs that were handling related to similar incidents involving modified tubby. Bearing in mind the numbers of tubby's models to n/a's in the UK.

[Lauren]

Good post Barron.

Certainly having an open diff will calm things down a bit as will a more linear (ie non-turbo) power delivery. Also good points about the wheel tyre size/profile issues.

[.::Ant::.]

You have a good point Barron.

I'd be the first to admit that when I got my first SW20, I had never driven a RWD Turbo car before, and I put my foot down at the wrong point on a corner and I ended up going backwards quicker than my pants changed colour. No diesel. No rain. Just me being over enthusiastic with the go pedal. Fortunately myself and the car came out unscathed without risking anyone else, and I learnt a lot from that experience.

I might have been a bit over zealous with the "different ballpark" remark,a nd you do have a valid point with the power delivery though. Once I had got used to the turbo characteristcs and the delivery of power on a tubby, and got the hang of timing the acceleration and balanced throttle through an apex it was indeed a lot more stable in the corners. I think from my own experience years back with my first one, it's often inexperienced turbo owners who can ditch them by lifting off mid-corner or gunning it too hard and too early from a bend exit. I have had a rev2 tubby, and a rev3, and the LSD on the Rev3 made a noticable difference. They were both on standard suspension, GEO and 15's. Also from a tyre POV, going from worn tyres to brand new Toyos on the Rev3 made a hell of a difference. I think one of the problems with the SW20 is that some people don't realise the importance of good tyres, with decent levels of tread on a Mid-Engined RWD Turbo.

I think one of the main reasons I switched was the fact the 90% of our days over here are wet. I would still have my last MR2 if I could have afforded to run two cars, for a country drive on the weekends.

[Quigonjay]

not wanting to get in to the argument as i drive a mk2
just wondering if any of you guys have had the chance to compare your hondas etc to a mk3?

[Lauren]

not wanting to get in to the argument as i drive a mk2
just wondering if any of you guys have had the chance to compare your hondas etc to a mk3?

I've driven MK3s, though the one I drove the most was a turbo'd one.

MK3 is a good car generally, handles well, though you need to take it on track to really get the best out of it. So chassis is pretty good really, hard to compare with the DC2, the DC2 is such a focused car with a razor sharp chassis. Though the mk3 is no barge by any means, thats for sure, its a well setup good, fun car.

Stock engine wise, VVti is not all that but it's okay.

I'm not really sure i've compared them!

[.::Ant::.]

not wanting to get in to the argument as i drive a mk2
just wondering if any of you guys have had the chance to compare your hondas etc to a mk3?

Haven't driven a mk3 unfortunately. Out of all the MR2s i've driven though, the Mk1 I had on loan for 2 months was an absolute hoot