The largest Civic Type R club forum

[colinep3]

Evening all, I've been having a bit of a thought lately. I own a cosmic premier edition type r (still on finance) but was considering my options. I tried to trade in the ep3 to my work (VW) against an R32 but because of the outstanding amount I still owe, It wasn't possible. Basically I'm now considering buying a cheap van, for diesel and work purposes (30-40miles) each day and maybe a Toyota MR2 turbo for a weekend toy and sell the civic/cut my losses on it, but at the same time clear my feet with finance.

Has anyone ever owned/know much in the way about the MR2 turbo? reliability, fun car etc? or Is this just a crazy phase i'm going through? I'm really unsure whether I'd regret getting rid of the type r for something in the way of around an L-Plate type car?

All opinions welcome

[T180985]

I used to own a mk2 MR2 non turbo and it was alot of fun to drive, would recommend you go for a test drive. Mid engine + RWD gets a little scary in the wet though lol

[I need VTEC]

The interior of the Civic isn't much different from an 1996 L plate car anyway

[J@mes]

I used to be in negative equity with my r, I'd concentrate on clearing that rather than another 2 cars!

[colinep3]

Never owned a RWD car so cant imagine what it must be like to drive. Heard they are really fun to drive and can be quick cars especially the turbo'd versions. Heard they came in rev 1,2,3 and 4? saw quite a few on ebay for sale. some seriously powerful looking cars some of them. 250-350 bhp some of them

[colinep3]

I used to be in negative equity with my r, I'd concentrate on clearing that rather than another 2 cars!

yeah its the negative equity problem i'm now facing with my type r aswell. they have dramatically dropped in value now. I was thinking of buying a van, maybe upto £1500 so I could use it for a daily driver and keep the civic off the road until I could sell it then look into an MR2 afterwards. I don't like the whole finance thing nowadays

[white-n-black]

You've never driven a rear wheel drive car? And you want to jump into a mid engined rear wheel drive turbo, that'll be fun be careful :salut: they are great if you can drive one and control the twitchyness.

[Jtizzle]

I used to be in negative equity with my r, I'd concentrate on clearing that rather than another 2 cars!

yeah its the negative equity problem i'm now facing with my type r aswell. they have dramatically dropped in value now. I was thinking of buying a van, maybe upto £1500 so I could use it for a daily driver and keep the civic off the road until I could sell it then look into an MR2 afterwards. I don't like the whole finance thing nowadays

You may save on finance payments but surely, 2 lots of tax, 2 lots of insurance, 2 lots of go go juice, 2 lots of servicing/repairs etc etc is going to cost more.

id say concentrate on the ep3 get that into the good as it will cost you more the other way :thumbup:

[colinep3]

You've never driven a rear wheel drive car? And you want to jump into a mid engined rear wheel drive turbo, that'll be fun be careful :salut: they are great if you can drive one and control the twitchyness.

lol I have driven rear wheel drive cars before at work, BMW's, MX-5, RX-8 etc but just never owned one that i'd be using more often than a 10min roadtest

[colinep3]

I used to be in negative equity with my r, I'd concentrate on clearing that rather than another 2 cars!

yeah its the negative equity problem i'm now facing with my type r aswell. they have dramatically dropped in value now. I was thinking of buying a van, maybe upto £1500 so I could use it for a daily driver and keep the civic off the road until I could sell it then look into an MR2 afterwards. I don't like the whole finance thing nowadays

You may save on finance payments but surely, 2 lots of tax, 2 lots of insurance, 2 lots of go go juice, 2 lots of servicing/repairs etc etc is going to cost more.

id say concentrate on the ep3 get that into the good as it will cost you more the other way :thumbup:

hmm the 2 lots of everything did come to mind once upon a time but I tried to flash that out my mind. To be honest, im kind of getting fed up with the CTR now and feel a van would be more use to me for throwing tools in and out of, less fuel costs etc as it would be my new daily run around but would no doubt also want something a bit more lively to knock about in at weekends etc and thought the likes of the MR2 would be fine as I would be clearing my feet with finance

[s77ltd]

my mate has just bought an astra van,

2.0 turbo, vxr engine conversion and lpg conversion for £7k



Looks insane, and flys for a van, with unbelievably low running costs when using the lpg.

do it if oyu have th time /money ! :salut:

[BlakMagik]

. looks cool......but really cant see the point in having a pretty fast, 'non economical' work van. (assuming its for work....)

[colinep3]

my mate has just bought an astra van,

2.0 turbo, vxr engine conversion and lpg conversion for £7k



Looks insane, and flys for a van, with unbelievably low running costs when using the lpg.

do it if oyu have th time /money ! :salut:

bet that goes well. I looked at astra vans and considered buying a cheap one that over some time could tidy up with gsi bumpers and a set of wheels etc. also watching a combo van on ebay just now

[white-n-black]

I do like the astra van!) seen some nice gsi'd ones. If i needed a van that would be it :salut:

[dannyhall]

I used to own a Rev3 caribbean blue MR2 turbo, only sold it because it didnt really get used and couldnt warrant the 15mpg! Was awesome, miles better than the Civic to drive and felt twice as quick. Reliable started first time everytime, miss the way it used to spit flames and deafen you with a backfire when easing off

Also miss the way it used to attempt to kill me whenever taking a corner abit too fast... Lol.

TBH, id buy another in a heartbeat. Im planning on keeping the civic another 12 months then going for rev5 tubby and buying a banger for work.

Mine;


Excuse the chavvy stoke lads... :S

But as the others have said, your probs best paying your debt off before running two cars

[colinep3]

whats the differences between the rev marks they talk about on the MR2's? Is it to do with age or is it different engine types?

I'd definitely want to get rid of my finance on the CTR first before considering another car, however as I said previous, I'd probably buy a diesel van so I had more chance to gather up some money and put it towards the type r and when I sell it, Id clear the debt on it then give it until after the end of the year before looking into the likes of a weekend toy/MR2

[Lee H 27]

This is my mk1 MR2 turbo and first rear wheel drive car. Its running about 285 bhp on a rev 2 engine with rev 3 loom/ecu conversion. Is awesome fun.





The rev 3 on engine is the one to go for, 250ish bhp standard, metal headgasket and a much better designed cylinder head and LSD gearbox.

The rev 1 and 2 have weak headgaskets, I found this out a couple of weeks ago when I tried running 1.2 bar boost and blew the gasket. Have just finished installing a rev 3 metal headgasket which has been great fun.

Rev 1 and 2 engines are usually up to 1992 and then it changed to rev 3 on about an L reg.

[colinep3]

Ah, I see. A guy I work with has had a couple of MR2's and it was him that put me in the notion for one. He did mention a rev 3 or 4 was the best to go for but I didn't have a clue what the differences were. He also mentioned a tintop roof? Said the T-Bar were prone to water leaks and a tintop would be the best option. again, no idea what the tintop is? Was just reading the other thread that was up about older cars and saw your white MR2. Bet it can shift along

[Lee H 27]

Tintop is just no sunroof. Best option for definite, the T bars on my car leak terribly.

Mine goes ok, managed a 13.4 1/4 mile but hoping to go a bit quicker with more boost and a decent headgasket.

[I need VTEC]

Tintop is just no sunroof. Best option for definite, the T bars on my car leak terribly.

Mine goes ok, managed a 13.4 1/4 mile but hoping to go a bit quicker with more boost and a decent headgasket.

Doesn't seem like a quick time for a car that weighs nothing and has 285 bhp.

The M3 coupe has 245 bhp per tonne and manages 12.6, your W10 MR2 has exactly 300 bhp per tonne if it weighs 950 (the jap ones did not sure about the Euro ones), I'd have thought you'd have gotten a quicker time that the M3.