MR2 For a First Car

[CyFi]

thanks for all these helpful posts guys, i will always think about these things next time i want to touch the pedal to the floor and stop myself

[Angel]

My first car was my 87 n/a automatic. My mom was against it because of all of the wrong reasons (She told me the fumes from the engine would travel against the wind and get into the passanger compartment and kill me ) I really like that fact that this was my first car, but I also had a little extra help than most people get. My boyfriend is who got me into MR2's, our total count right now is somewhere between 7-9 mr2's, one being my yellow 91, rest are all mki's. He told me all about what to expect the car to do, and how to treat diving it in various conditions and a lot of other stuff, and I'm really satisfied with my choice. I was in one accident with it, which wasn't my fault, and happened at 5-10 mph when a lady turned when I was turning because "my car was so small she didn't see me". I think provided you're educated enough to see the flawls as well as advantages it can make a really good car. Like look at the advantages, if it's not all tuned up, you get really good gas mileage, it's sporty and relatively affordable, parts are a little hard to find but not impossible, it's unique, it's fun, you can't fit 4 friends in it so there's less of a chance to be driving around and joking around with your friends and get into an accident - less ability to endanger multiple passanger's lives if you do lose it, the insurance on the mki's isn't unreasonable, and why does a 16/17/18/19 year old need a ton of storage anyway, mostly all they're carring around is some cd's and a schoolbag. As for winter/wet driving. I don't really feel that that's much of an obstacle, looking around and seeing all the other people who can't drive in those conditions with vehicles that have nothing tricky about them, the inexperienced ones fit right in I understand why maybe it isn't that great of a choice, but it sure is beating a lot of other alternatives.

[CyFi]

i agree totally

[sinESter]

^^ x2

[Angel]

Originally Posted by jakobe

nobody 16/17/18 needs this as a first car...buy something sensible and focus on school..

ask the insurance company why the rates are so high for a younger drivers in this car compared to say a civic or camry ...stats show that you will wreck it!..and boys wreck more cars than girls..

if it were my kid ..i dont care how much they whine about having a sporty car..they get a sedan until their driving skills are honed.

although my first car was a 280z and my second was a fiero v6
i wrecked them both to some degree..fender benders ,trees, ect.
i wouldnt want to put my child in that situation.

"stop yer frickin whining and do your homework and get a good job so I can retire early!"

Insurance on my MKI n/a when I was 18 was 2600/6 months - as a girl. I know many guys who have like camaros and had 3 accidents and their insurance is no where near mine.. When I looked into getting my second gen at 19 now, almost 20, they classified it as a class 19 risk vehicle. I put it on my boyfriends insurance and it's less than 100/month fully insured. Where is the sense in that?

I still think Mr2's are good first cars, but there is something I disagree with that was said earlier about, put any civic owner in an mr2 and it'll get wrecked really fast. I think this is wrong. I kind of took it like, the ricer show off kids. But MR2 owners have those in the group as well. How many honda civics vs mr2s are there on the road? A lot more civics, therefore a lot more idiots in civics than idiots in mr2s.

All it is is respect. If you're a bad driver most likely it's because you don't respect the power that your car has - this applies to every vehicle, IMO.

[CyFi]

agreed, as long as you take care and drive responsibly its a great first car, i bet half the people here saying its a bad first car are people who floor around turns everywhere they go and have spun it a more than a few times themselves. i thinkt hat some of you guys drive irrasponsibly making it seem like anyone who drives it will spin, but it has nothing to do with age, it has to do with maturity which it seems like a lot of the older people on here dont even have

[Gallagher005]

my wreck wasn't my fault, i have a clean driving record and my 91 turbo is 100 a month for full coverage.

[Angel]

Originally Posted by Gallagher005

my wreck wasn't my fault, i have a clean driving record and my 91 turbo is 100 a month for full coverage.

That's a really good price for a turbo, do you have other cars on your insurance as well?

[Mister2.2]

Angel who was your insurance provider that was charging you 2600/6 months?!

[Angel]

I think it was State Farm.

[Blaze_System02]

sadly i think brian thought i shouldnt have this as my first car in the beginning. haha hha....

[sinESter]

well guys i think i have changed my mind. i think i may just buy a dodge stealth for a first car. because if i go buy an mk2 turbo then
1. i know nothing about turboes
2. if something were to break down i have no where i would trust to take it

but if i get a stealth then
1. if something were to break down my dad can help me w/ it
2. its probably safer?

what do you guys think. remember im in north dakota

[CyFi]

I think that is a good choice. The mr2 isnt always the best choice and especially because it is your first car and dont have experience with turbos, thats a good idea. Im sure there arent very many shops around your area that know a lot about turbos either. Also another thing is the mr2s are high maintenance cars, its not a car you just drive, you gotta be fixing stuff all the time.

[Gallagher005]

Originally Posted by CyFi

I think that is a good choice. The mr2 isnt always the best choice and especially because it is your first car and dont have experience with turbos, thats a good idea. Im sure there arent very many shops around your area that know a lot about turbos either. Also another thing is the mr2s are high maintenance cars, its not a car you just drive, you gotta be fixing stuff all the time.

Fixing stuff all the time? What are you talking about? I just fixed everything in my 2 and now i'm just waiting for something else to go wrong.

I also have a 95 Celica GT(picture in member garage) I was shocked my insurance was that low especially for a turbo. I think it is actually lower for my 91 Turbo than my 95 GT.

[Angel]

Why do you think a Stealth would be safer? I mean I like them and all but I don't know what you mean by this. I look at it a few ways for safety :

1. MR2 is a sports car, sports cars are built for speed, and also for crashes. We had a MR2 parked on the street with the e brake on and someone nailed it doing over 70mph and this is all that happened :


The engine compartment was barely even damaged. When we stripped it the o2 censor got smashed and that's all.. Even though this was a MKI, the MKII's are just as safe, IMO. And probably even stronger seeing as they're faster, so they need to compensate for that with durability.

2. If you did get in a bad accident, there is a buffer zone between the engine... like any front engine car, get nailed really hard in the front and you could be wearing the engine on or inside your body, or even parts of your body on other parts where they don't belong. Where as in a MR2, nailed hard from the front or the back and there is room for the body to crumple before it pushes the engine into your spine.

3. They roll well, Ive seen a lot of pictures of wrecked mr2s that have rolled and the passanger compartment was completely intact, and hardly crumpled.


However I don't think that getting a turbo would be the best of ideas, since you stated that you'll need your dads help with fixing it, I take it that you're not very mechanically inclined. Turbo's are a lot higher maintinance than a naturally aspirated car, so if something did go wrong, or overlooked/forgotton, it's got a higher potential to be a lot more of a pain in the butt to fix, not to mention more financially strenuous.

[sinESter]

what do the rest of u guys think about it?

[Mjfan12]

First car was a civic. learned stick on it.

MR2T is my second car. Very easy to drive. Handles like its on rails. went autoxing and always was able to easily keep the tail in check. spun out once on purpose.

Only time I spun on the road was on some black ice. one wheel went over ice, and one was on dry ground. Since we dont have lsds, one wheel slipped and the other gripped and it spun me around.

As long as a person is responsible and realizes that fooling around is for the track and not the street, you'll be ok.

Although I have done my fair share of fooling around, but Im more careful than most teens. 20 now btw.

this car makes me want to hit redline every shift.

[Scape]

Hey, I'm 16, and yeah, I'm one of those planning to get MR2 as a first (As much as many parts of this thread has me having second thoughts)

I can't say I have a lot of experience, but so far, all my driving time has been with a professional instructor. Can't say I'm many bits mature, as I often do floor the thing, but thats cos the thing can only do 97Kph on a flat road a on a bloody wonderful day. Can't say I'm a good driver, cos I've had a few near accidents, that were of course, completely my fault.

But yeah, I'm still gonna get it.

Hey, sinESter, when you say Dodge Stealth, did you mean the one thats pretty much identical to the Mitsubishi GTO?
.

In the case its the same, its a 3.0 liter turbo'd AWD, which, according to many of my friends (Older, most with alot of experience) is alot worst than the MR2. Story was, the GTO was my dream first car, until one of my friends, STi driver, convicned me of the dangers of AWDs, then switch me to the MR2, but he did mention the huge danger of oversteer...But I'm still too in love with the TRD body kit, so

[PeStVic]

i just got mine a couple weeks ago. they arent bad at all. i just drive normal and it does fine in the rain/snow and does especially fine when its dry.

you just have to be mature with the car.

[jakobe]

[quote]I can't say I have a lot of experience, but so far, all my driving time has been with a professional instructor. Can't say I'm many bits mature, as I often do floor the thing, but thats cos the thing can only do 97Kph on a flat road a on a bloody wonderful day. Can't say I'm a good driver, cos I've had a few near accidents, that were of course, completely my fault.

]QUOTE]

perfect example of why kids should not have fast cars.. as a first car