Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Anyway, in an attempt to up the aesthetics and engineering chat here i'd like to submit the MR2 SW20 as an ageing well soon to be classic. A few weekends back i went to Five Zeros Supercars storage/cafe and as expected all the new stuff was dull as shit but this looked great. From memory not all that good to drive but i see lots of potential here.

1 Attachment

No no no. I completely agree. Learning to drive manual in the recently mentioned late 70s Honda CVCC with no power steering was a great way to learn mechanical limits. Most newer cars are just feedbackless, some of the cars in GTA are more satisfying to drive than an actual car.

I'm in danger of sounding like a boomer but I think slower cars with more feedback and less mechanical grip taught people what happens if you over step at lower speeds and how to feel it.

Now you can jump in an S3 with astonishing levels of mechanical grip, fuck all feedback, and lose it trying to go around a 50mph corner at 100mph and walk away from the crash. I don't feel like that's progress.

Case in point why I binned off my S3 and went with the M2. It'll bite, so you tend to treat it with respect as opposed to using the accelerator like an on/off switch...

Yeah, my boss used to let me drive his E36 325i on company business in about 1997, could slide the back end nicely round wet roundabouts at c. 20mph. Another slice of fun denied to the youth of today

Since I'm throwing out opinions today, I don't think they're bad to drive at all. Great feedback, great grip levels, you can feel the transition coming, it's not a sudden step out with no warning. The worst thing you can do is over-tyre them in my opinion, because it removes that soft transition and makes it harder to counter steer quick enough.

To go a step further, I think the UK has suffered badly from the Clarkson era and style of Top Gear and sensationalist/entertaining car reviewing. I meet and talk to so many people who have never driven more than a Focus or equivalent but regurgitate facts about cars they've never even sat in, let alone driven.

Tiff is a real driver in my opinion, and I think although his reviews are definitely of an era of British TV, I believe his opinion of a car way more.

https://youtu.be/4MlP2j6mBD0?feature=shared

Not saying you're regurgitating facts here, I realise it reads like I am, but I think in some cases his opinion gets circulated so widely in motoring circles.

I miss Quentin Wilson's second hand buying insights.

Tiff is a real driver in my opinion

Yesss! I still remember the episode in Japan when he has a go at drifting with the illegal racing clubs. Watched him at Castle Combe a few times growing up, to quote my dad "a proper driver and not that mouthy sod".

I think the UK has suffered badly from the Clarkson era

Not my words, Carol, The words of Top Gear magazine...

I bought one like yours but I couldn't get it to work at all. A little more research has revealed that JDM ECUs don't always play nice with normal OBD2 scanner tools, who knew??

I've ordered a JOBD scanner tool today, fingers crossed I get better results with this one.

In other Subaru news I scuffed the Forester's front bumper the other day, it's only a tiny graze but I still felt crushed for the rest of the day. Fucking cars, feels worse than dinging a bike.

1 Attachment

I agree, but it is more the poor driving. Still need braking distances etc

I don't think they're bad to drive at all

Also, good insight, i've been a passenger but never driven one myself. I'm sure i got suckered into that "they're too soft etc" talk. Maybe not surprised that good ones go for £10K plus. If i was in the market and had the money i'm not sure i could go for one over a GT86, a car i really like the idea of but again haven't driven one!

This. I am not a good driver by any means, but always amazed how much shit you can get away with in cars with all the traction control etc, and that's even in basic VW's that pretend to be quick with funny throttle stuff.
Compared to the shitty 2000s hatchbacks I drove quite a lot, and the not shitty 993 I drove a bit, they just don't give you a feeling for physical limits.
Meaning Idiots do 50mph and more in the middle of Berlin all the time.

Aah,no - sorry I misled you, had no idea. Fingers crossed you have more success with the next one.

Aussie friends what's the fastest delivery you can get from Aus to UK? The garage did some road testing and diagnosed the dumb car with the rear wheel speed sensor harness issue, not the sensors themselves. Unfortunately they're on back order in the UK, Walkinshaw are the distributor and they don't know when they can get them in. You can buy them off the shelf in Aus though, so I'm wondering if I order asap, can I get it within a week?

To go a step further, I think the UK has suffered badly from the Clarkson era and style of Top Gear and sensationalist/entertaining car reviewing. I meet and talk to so many people who have never driven more than a Focus or equivalent but regurgitate facts about cars they've never even sat in, let alone driven.

You're not wrong... coupled with the fact that a large percentage of the modern "car guy" population are just buying whatever borderline self driving rocketship ticks the golf club membership box and have never really driven an analogue car has really changed the context of what it means to be a "driver".

It's the same old conversation that goes around so often of "why won't manufacturers make a lightweight, stripped back, drivers car for cheaps" but sadly the common punter doesn't actually want to feel like they're driving a car, they just want to talk about it as if they are.

See also all the UK car YT influencers whose entire content is centred around 'racing' 1000bhp german saloons (with auto boxes) in straight lines - often in built up urban environments or narrow country lanes.

Oh absolutely, there are examples there alright but I guess I'm referring more to the cheap and cheerful type of drivers cars that seemed to exist in the 80s and 90s rather than an out and out toy.

I would absolutely love a Caterham though...

Seriously?

Having had the set, MK1 t bar is brilliant standard, have driven a supercharger and that was fun. But not sure it was the sound that I liked. Also drove one that had the 3l Camry engine and one that had an R8 engine.

Had a series 2 na and it was not as nice as the MK1 and wasn't around long. Drive a twin turbo that felt badly tuned to say the least.

MK3 was better and with the 190 bhp engine was really fun.

I like the mk1 but wouldn't want to have it as a main/only car. Looking at this from a purely imaginary perspective i wonder if the mk2 could could work as my only car? A bit like a poor mans Porsche. Stick a rack and some polo mallets on it, and then retrim the interior with coffee bean sacks and i can join the influencers.

But then why bother when the GT86 exists for the same price and is one of the few new cars that have peaked my interest in the last decade.

Cheap?

I'd like a X1/9 with a twin air engine, as it will make more power.

Or a smart roadster looks fun too.

Yeah the mk1 and 3 had similar boot space, the ability to carry a set of golf clubs.

The idea behind the GT86 Is good imo. Low powerish engine skinny tyres by modern standards and did it have even have electric windows? So lightwieght to be more fun

I inherited a few grand from a grandparent in 2010 and being young and stupid put it all into a Mk2 MR2. I knew nothing about cars and sold it two years later having run out of money and/or the capability to keep it on the road. I sold it to someone who’s dad ran one of the owners clubs for £400 after an MOT failure and it was still on the road until 2021, so evidently just needed someone with rather more capability to look after it than me…

I think there were five revisions of the SW20, mine being the third. The first was very prone to snap oversteer and then something on the suspension was changed from rev 2 from memory, I found it was perfectly comfortable to drive and visibility for things like parking was surprisingly good too.

I don’t know if it’s typical of them but I had endless problems with the brakes binding on mine, and I think went through replacing all four calipers in the 18 months I owned it. When they were found to be binding again alongside some emissions issues was when I got rid of it, something I have lived to regret when I see what they sell for now…

My old Rev 4 turbo. This is the only photo I have and was from a later owner who had fettled it a little.

1 Attachment

A quick search says 3-4 days, let me know if you need a retail assist, happy to help.

If you give me a part number and tell me where to grab it I can get it in the post to you today. That's assuming I'll be able to grab one off the shelf in Brisbane.