I kinda have to chime in with my story at this point. I'm currently 19, and the MR2 is my second car. I've had my license for nearly 2 years now, and my first car was a 2002 saturn SL1. Great learning car, except it had shit for power, stick, plastic, and unfortunatly FWD. Being young and dumb, i pushed that car as hard as I could, and after learning how to slide it, I had a few close calls while driving hard and decided I needed a better platform to start with. Drift0 style and all, I was in love with the 2. I went and bought one with college money that was saved up, without doing the proper research. Suffice to say, it didn't work out as well as I'd hoped. One of the first things i did with the car after all the work being done to it, and the turbo added etc etc, was take it to an autocross. Every single lap, I could not control the weight transfer of the car, so I reverted to what I knew best, how to make a car understeer, stupid FWD. Suffice to say, after I autox'ed I was scared to drive at the speed limit, much less push my car on the street. Still am, since part of me knows that if I crash, I'm FUBAR'ed, since I have no other car. My experience driving another car has saved my 2 from untold numbers of accidents, and thus, I personally cannot recommend a MR2 as a first car.
As for PestVic, I have a house in Truckee, close to you, and the weather there is not very .. good for owning an MR2. Our car's really are not meant to be driven in adverse weather, but they can be. It just takes a LOT of experience, and a bit of caution. All of my near accidents have been in miserable weather. Yes, you more than likely will be able to get to the track safely if you drive the speed limit, and if you obey every little yellow sign that shows turn speed and go exactly that speed, you shouldn't crash. They have those signs for a reason, and our cars can handle twice those yellow signs if not more in good conditions with a good driver. Doesn't mean I recommend it. Racing streets.. ahh, there was a video on here somewhere of an MR2 trying to peel out and crashing into a parking lot.. Save any and all of it at the track, just sit there and laugh at them, knowing that your car if asked could easily take them. So why bother? Goodluck and welcome to the community. Please make sure you get a real mechanic to look over the car before you buy it
