mk1 Mx5 v mk3 Mr2 - which has more problems?
Discussion
Hi,
I am trying to decide what car to buy for Sprinting. [FYI, it must be RWD, cost £1.5k, be light and cheap to repair, which is why I am looking at these cars]
I had pretty much made my mind up on a mk3 Mr2. On the basis of it being newer and hopefully a little safer than a much older car. Then i found out about potential problems on the Mr2 and now i just don't know.
mk1 Mx5
- rusty and rotten rear sills
- rear arch rust
- rear lower arms
My worry is that the rust never stops. Even when fixed it will come through again. Cost to fix will be £800+ for both sills. More if it is the lower arms.
mk3 Mr2
- pre-cats breaking up and destroying engine
- oval boring / very high use of oil
- rear subframe rust
- non-working handbrake
[also, requires a baffled sump fitting for tracks/sprints]
My worry is that the mr2 failures could be very expensive. Pre-cats breaking up could be catastrophic and require engine rebuild - removing pre-cats costs money.
Oval boring and excessive oil use will mean the car is simply not fit for the track.
Rear subframe rust is reasonably expensive.
The other things is that parts are not easy to find.
So - which is the better option purely in terms of cost?
Thanks,
R
I am trying to decide what car to buy for Sprinting. [FYI, it must be RWD, cost £1.5k, be light and cheap to repair, which is why I am looking at these cars]
I had pretty much made my mind up on a mk3 Mr2. On the basis of it being newer and hopefully a little safer than a much older car. Then i found out about potential problems on the Mr2 and now i just don't know.
mk1 Mx5
- rusty and rotten rear sills
- rear arch rust
- rear lower arms
My worry is that the rust never stops. Even when fixed it will come through again. Cost to fix will be £800+ for both sills. More if it is the lower arms.
mk3 Mr2
- pre-cats breaking up and destroying engine
- oval boring / very high use of oil
- rear subframe rust
- non-working handbrake
[also, requires a baffled sump fitting for tracks/sprints]
My worry is that the mr2 failures could be very expensive. Pre-cats breaking up could be catastrophic and require engine rebuild - removing pre-cats costs money.
Oval boring and excessive oil use will mean the car is simply not fit for the track.
Rear subframe rust is reasonably expensive.
The other things is that parts are not easy to find.
So - which is the better option purely in terms of cost?
Thanks,
R
If I may be frank, all of those potential problems / expenses pale into insignificance compared with the overall cost of participating in motorsport. If you are worried about having to do a little welding every ten years or so, or replace exhaust parts occasionally, I have to wonder if you truly know what you're letting yourself in for.
You are asking us which of two Japanese sports cars will have fewer problems. The answer is that any £1,500 car can throw up problems and is likely to do so at some point because it's an old used car and you are going to be absolutely leathering it.
You may have to do some welding on the old panelwork due to rust. You may have to re-shell the entire car if you are unfortunate enough to find a barrier.
You are asking us which of two Japanese sports cars will have fewer problems. The answer is that any £1,500 car can throw up problems and is likely to do so at some point because it's an old used car and you are going to be absolutely leathering it.
You may have to do some welding on the old panelwork due to rust. You may have to re-shell the entire car if you are unfortunate enough to find a barrier.
Edited by HustleRussell on Monday 3rd April 16:54
HustleRussell said:
If I may be frank, all of those potential problems / expenses pale into insignificance compared with the overall cost of participating in motorsport. If you are worried about having to do a little welding every ten years or so, or replace exhaust parts occasionally, I have to wonder if you truly know what you're letting yourself in for.
You are asking us which of two Japanese sports cars will have fewer problems. The answer is that any £1,500 car can throw up problems and is likely to do so at some point because it's an old used car and you are going to be absolutely leathering it.
You may have to do some welding on the old panelwork due to rust. You may have to re-shell the entire car if you are unfortunate enough to find a barrier.
Quite true.You are asking us which of two Japanese sports cars will have fewer problems. The answer is that any £1,500 car can throw up problems and is likely to do so at some point because it's an old used car and you are going to be absolutely leathering it.
You may have to do some welding on the old panelwork due to rust. You may have to re-shell the entire car if you are unfortunate enough to find a barrier.
Edited by HustleRussell on Monday 3rd April 16:54
That said, i'd go mx5 for 2 reasons:
- more benign handling, especially at 10/10ths
- mk1s are very robust and cheaper to repair. Good imports still exist, better than mk2s as well.
Go for a 2003 onwards facelift MR2 and most of the engine issues are resolved. I bought a red 2003 facelift car on 76k with a stainless exhaust manifold (no pre-cats) in Dec 2015 for £1800, slightly over your budget but certainly worth paying the extra. I've had the handbrake issue and recently a rusted sump but otherwise all fine and it's a fabulous car to drive.
Previously owned both, if you buy well you should be able to buy and run both cars fairly issue free (other than rust in the mx5, plenty of examples of both without the listed issues), i would aim to test drive them both see which you like the drive of best. (The mr2 is less playful but slightly faster i think).
Worth mentioning that in the MR2 race series they aren't allowed to run baffled sumps, which means either they are blowing up their engines regularly, or the issue is blown out of proportion.
The MR2 is lighter and more powerful, LSD as standard, so it should be faster than the MX5 out of the box.
The MR2 is lighter and more powerful, LSD as standard, so it should be faster than the MX5 out of the box.
this is a great dilemma to have and makes me hope the MR2 is brought back. To have two contrasting and affordable sports cars available was a great period. Now the choice is only with older s/h examples. In Europe we only do hatches or niche manufacturers (good though they are), but when manufacturers show some passion they can do it. That passion lies with the Japanese in recent times. i wish the 4c and the A110 well, but they are, for good reasons, in a higher price bracket.
Sorry for drift....
Sorry for drift....
james_gt3rs said:
Worth mentioning that in the MR2 race series they aren't allowed to run baffled sumps, which means either they are blowing up their engines regularly, or the issue is blown out of proportion.
Sorry to ressurect an old thread but I stumbled over this thread via somewhere else today, and the above jumped out at me.What's the issue with running a baffled sump?
Actually the bit you quoted quite clearly stated that they aren't allowed to.
The question you asked is what is the issue with.
The answer to your question is there isn't an issue, but they aren't allowed to.
If you want a question answered ask the question you want answered!
That is neither being thick nor being obtuse, in fact if anything your question was the thick bit.
The question you asked is what is the issue with.
The answer to your question is there isn't an issue, but they aren't allowed to.
If you want a question answered ask the question you want answered!
That is neither being thick nor being obtuse, in fact if anything your question was the thick bit.
E-bmw said:
Actually the bit you quoted quite clearly stated that they aren't allowed to.
The question you asked is what is the issue with.
The answer to your question is there isn't an issue, but they aren't allowed to.
If you want a question answered ask the question you want answered!
That is neither being thick nor being obtuse, in fact if anything your question was the thick bit.
I'm fairly confident that anyone else reading my post would have grasped the context of my question.The question you asked is what is the issue with.
The answer to your question is there isn't an issue, but they aren't allowed to.
If you want a question answered ask the question you want answered!
That is neither being thick nor being obtuse, in fact if anything your question was the thick bit.
That you appear to require things to be spelled out to you, isn't my problem.
I'm not wasting any more time engaging with you on this.
Edited by TheJimi on Sunday 12th May 20:40
TheJimi said:
james_gt3rs said:
Worth mentioning that in the MR2 race series they aren't allowed to run baffled sumps
What's the issue with running a baffled sump?Not my fault you can't see past your own nose!
The issue is they aren't allowed, could it actually be any more obvious?
TheJimi said:
Indeed so. I can read 
My question, just in case anyone else gets confused, is *why* isn't a baffled sump allowed?
I think it's just an expense thing, these 1zz in mr2 series arnt blowing up by the way. My question, just in case anyone else gets confused, is *why* isn't a baffled sump allowed?
Edited by TheJimi on Sunday 12th May 15:41
I've got an oil burning - pre-cat chewing - piston rings made out of cheese early mk3 and it's fine on track if you're on top of maintenance.
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