S2000 or MR2 Spyder

Meeyatch1 · 18 June 2005

Psychobiology said:
I want to get a new daily driver, but don't know whether I should get the S2000 or a MR2 Spyder. I've driven both, and they each have their pros and cons. Which would you guys choose as your daily ride? Thanks :smile:

S2000. It is so much more fun to drive and the overall interior quality I think is better and looks more sporty. Plus, the S2000 looks WAY better in my opinion and my wife's. She saw an MR2 Spyder and said, 'See....that car just looks like a sissy car,'.....need I say more??

rickysals · 18 June 2005

Well,

I'm honestly looking to buy a very-used MR2 spyder maybe in a year or so. I don't fit in the S2000, not even close. I fit fine in the MR2, top up or down, i was so happy when i fit in the lil bugger. I'm 6'5" so it's a tossup alot of times.

I like them. The S2000 is a sweet car of course, but more expensive. I'm in college, so MR2's being cheaper used, is a big plus...

Umm, if you're looking new to new, you're in the high 20's/low 30's pricerange yes?... what about another NSX?! (91ish) haha,

IsR · 19 June 2005

Get the one you like less between the two option for daily driven... focus full attention for your NSX :biggrin:

supra2nv · 19 June 2005

I think for cost saving, the Mr2 is good. That is my game plan. I may sell the legend and have the Mr2 and my daily. fun, inexpensive, and great on gas.

mdb · 19 June 2005

slashmatt said:
Yes, he does need medications. However, I'm thinking alcohol and high dosage sleeping pills had something to do with his trade in the first place.

Lol

If you'd bought the NSX I did, you'd have been staring at a bottle of pills and a fifth of whiskey too. The 6 or 7 thousand miles I put on my NSX cost me over $10k. My MR2 has triple that, and hasn't cost me a cent yet! I've even switched from being a Sato fan to rooting for Trulli

dave22 · 19 June 2005

mdb said:
I've even switched from being a Sato fan to rooting for Trulli

Oh man, that's an EXCELLENT point :biggrin:

Meeyatch1 · 19 June 2005

mdb said:
Lol If you'd bought the NSX I did, you'd have been staring at a bottle of pills and a fifth of whiskey too. The 6 or 7 thousand miles I put on my NSX cost me over $10k. My MR2 has triple that, and hasn't cost me a cent yet! I've even switched from being a Sato fan to rooting for Trulli

What the heck was the deal?? What cost you that much??

mdb · 20 June 2005

Started running odd a little after I got it and leaking oil. Cam seals and oil pan seal had to be replaced. Then began idling erratically, back to shop, cleaned things up on the intake and correctly routed some vac lines. Found a broken stripped engine mount too! Then the air bags conked out, more $$$. Had been burning oil from the get go (just rebuilt motor, so was apparently suppose too), but getting so bad it was smoking, so rebuild. Had heads rebuilt too, when they got back they tested very poorly, so rebuilt again. Had to resleeve a cylinder, which involved undoing a previous rebuild where the shop down there had said the cylinder damage wouldn't be an issue, but two shops here (who stood to make nothing) disagreed greatly. Spent god knows how much time tracking down a low oil pressure problem. Throw in shipping the motor around and other various parts / labor. Car was inoperable close to a year.

In fact, if you factor in what I lost selling it, I'm out closer to $15k. Once it was all back together, even looking at the car made me pissed off, so I traded it for a nice NEW, WARRANTIED, MR2 Spyder (after almost getting the S2k).

Been happier ever since !

yulook · 20 June 2005

I have an 04 rio yellow for sale :tongue:

NsSeX · 20 June 2005

Re: Why no Celica GT-S engine?

Ojas said:
Really? Do you mean when over-revved (from a missed shift) or when redlined normally? It must be especially difficult to keep the engine from exploding in an Elise since no redline is indicated on the tach.

I've heard that just normal redlining is highly "discouraged" :wink: :biggrin:

djdrock · 25 June 2005

I bought a 2000 Spyder brand new, and drove it for 100K miles, and just sold it to get my 91 Sebring NSX.

I loved the Spyder. As a matter of fact, I still love it (sold it to a friend). :biggrin: Although I do not know much about the S2K, I can say that the handling on the Spyder is excellent, reliability is superb. Not a single problem in 5+ years.

A real eye-catcher, great gas mileage, and yes, there are plenty of upgrades you can do. And if you do get an exhaust, go with the Team Moon. Unbelievable sound, and very inexpensive.

Jin1976 · 26 June 2005

You could buy the second generation MR2 and put the F355 kits on. :biggrin: Ferrari look with affordable maintenance of a Toyota.

Ncturnal · 3 July 2005

Jin1976 said:
You could buy the second generation MR2 and put the F355 kits on. :biggrin: Ferrari look with affordable maintenance of a Toyota.

Just say no!

While that kit actually looks decent, it's still not the real thing, and the 2nd gen MR2 is good in its own right, IMO. That's also a pretty expensive kit to implement properly as well, and you'd have to have some serious motor mods to "back up the look".

chrisngrod · 9 July 2005

I can't believe I came here just to stand up for my car... :biggrin:

Pontiac? What?

Elise motor? Sure why not... that's what I have. (2zzge... waiting to do a nice turbo setup)

6 speed

9k rpm? That's my license plate... I can rev to 9k also.

Gas mileage on average of 25... Up to 30-32 depending on the PFC settings.

more info. at http://www.cardomain.com/id/mr2trial

MeSoHuanny · 9 July 2005

I'll join in on the fun too...

Everyone says the Spyder is fugly. Stock, I'd almost have to agree... but it looks great lowered and with a simple lip kit... and a hardtop... and maybe wheels... and maybe fender flares to match... lol.

I can't rev up to 9k but I can boost 10 psi. A 2300 lb ~250 whp car is not too bad.

I love s2k's though. I'd have a hard time chosing between a s2k and a mr-s too.

Oh yea. more info:
http://www.spyderchat.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=4226&start=0

dreambackup · 9 July 2005

hi there, I joined your forum to post a remark...

I was about to get a S2K when I test drove the MR-S with SMT transmission (which is a clutchless manual transmission, not an automatic).

As a daily driver, nothing can beat it. you've got the looks and no effort to drive in the traffic when commuting.

and it's still a light mid engined roadster... something you have to drive hard to understand how far the limits are...

I like mine... I do think about going turbo soon (and get about 200hp for less still than the price of a S2K) but 140hp is more than enough for twisting roads thrills!

Sketch · 17 July 2005

mdb said:
Lol If you'd bought the NSX I did, you'd have been staring at a bottle of pills and a fifth of whiskey too. The 6 or 7 thousand miles I put on my NSX cost me over $10k. My MR2 has triple that, and hasn't cost me a cent yet! I've even switched from being a Sato fan to rooting for Trulli

Guess I was lucky. I was considering buying a new MR2-S and ended up buying a used 91 NSX instead...with 120k on the odometer. It's at 170k now with pretty much nothing more than normal maintenance, the only major probelm was having to replace the A/C compressor a few months after I bought the car.

After driving the two, there was pretty much no comparison. With the trunk, the NSX is even a more practical daily driver, which I used it as for about 3 years while I lived in Florida. I was pretty disappointed by the MR2's engine. Both performance, and sound. It sounded strained, especially for how slow the car I drove accelerated. It didn't feel any faster than my V6 Fiero which was also rated at ~140hp, but weighed ~300-400lbs more. I never did see why they didn't put the GT-S engine into the car...seemed like it would have been the perfect match. If they did, my choice mght have been a little bit harder. Also the fact that my local Toyta dealer acted like jerks didn't help the MR2 case either.

BTW, I didn't consider the S2K, because it has the engine at the wrong end.

chrisngrod · 17 July 2005

And now we've put a GTS motor in it, old MR2 motor, and Avalon V6

.

You just have to know the right forum to join after you purchase one.

ETLMD · 7 September 2005

Thanks for all of your help everyone. I picked up a '00 S2000 last night :biggrin: . I was really looking to buy a Toyota MR2 Spyder, but all of the ones I looked at (for the price I wanted to pay for a Spyder) seemed to have engine problems. From what I understand from researching on Spyderchat.com, these cars probably had precat problems. These cars just didn't have as much power as the Spyders I drove with higher asking prices. Since a decent Spyder would cost me the same amount as an early S2000, I decided to get the latter. You guys were right, I didn't have the seat properly adjusted. I didn't realize that I had to recline the seat forward before sliding it all the way back :tongue: . I feel like such a doofus. I have adequate room in the car. Although, I think it's still a slightly tighter fit than the Spyder. In terms of quality, there is no comparison. The S2000 is much more refined. Anyways, the New Formula Red S2000 matches much better with my Formula Red NSX than any Spyder would :biggrin: ! I'll post pictures later. Thanks!

ETLMD · 10 September 2005

Here's a picture:

Klayton · 10 September 2005

Plenty of room for some other red cars.. thinking about a 360 or something like that.

ediddynsx · 10 September 2005

nice maybe I should get a black one to match mines

ETLMD · 24 May 2006

I decided to just get the MR2 Spyder too :tongue:.

otto_joe · 24 May 2006

Psychobiology said:
I decided to just get the MR2 Spyder too :tongue:.

That's a nice collection there. You now have a car for every day of the work week. If it weren't for the wife, I'd still have a miata and s2k along with my NSX. :biggrin:

Otto

S2000 or MR2 Spyder

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