Handling

[Anonymous]

Hi Guys, well I have finally bought a MR2 (on a 55 plate) its a real beaute, with 28k on the clock in sable with black leather seats and HEATED SEATS!! I will post some photo's soon.   Now I have had a couple of weeks to get used to the car, it seems to be that the front becomes a little light at the front when you get up to about 80mph (on a track of course) The car has some fairly cheap tyres on it, but I dont really wan to change them until I have to. The car does NOT have a roll over bar or rear spoiler, which I guess would only make the problem worse.  Has anyone got any suggestions on how to make the front feel a bit more 'planted'? or is this a characteristic of the car I should get used to - my last three cars have been one Jaguar and two BMW's - so maybe, i have got used to much heavier machines and should shut up and learn to drive properly?  Anyway loving every moment in it!

[kellybax23]

Hi i used to feel it lift a lot as well, i found that playing with the tyre pressures helped lots.  Think i have it set to 27 f and 31 r.

[evileye_wrx]

Cue Nelix to tell you about cheap tyres, tyres stagger, Netz style bars and probably hardtops........ oh, who's going to do it now!?  :-) :-) :-)

Phil

[markiii]

You started, might as well finish

[uktotty]

change the tyres, it's cheaper than changing the bumpers, bonnet and wings.
There are no roll bars made for the car but you can get a full roll cage from the USA (bit overkill)
Take it steady and learn how to drive it when you get your new tyres

[evileye_wrx]

You started, might as well finish

Investing in a decent set of tyres is a sensible and safe used in what is a quite finely tuned sports car.
 It's also advisable to use the same make and model of tyres at the front and back. There is a wealth of information on what people find are the best selections for the '2

Remember that with tyres there should be a 20mm difference between the widths of the front and back.  

As Totty said there are no 'off the shelf' rollbar options to improve safety, altho several style bars are available which just look nice. A custom one could be made up but you'd lose your storage bins at the very least.

Hope this helps

Phil

[OldMan]

Hard Dog rollbar:
http://www.bethania-garage.com/spyder.htm

[MattPerformance]

You started, might as well finish

Investing in a decent set of tyres is a sensible and safe used in what is a quite finely tuned sports car.
 It's also advisable to use the same make and model of tyres at the front and back. There is a wealth of information on what people find are the best selections for the '2

Remember that with tyres there should be a 20mm difference between the widths of the front and back.  

As Totty said there are no 'off the shelf' rollbar options to improve safety, although several style bars are available which just look nice. A custom one could be made up but you'd lose your storage bins at the very least.

Hope this helps

Phil

Proper geometry set-up is important too as are tyre pressures (as said before, and don't assume that forecourt/ cheap gauges are accurate).
There should also be a small plastic wind deflector attached to the underside of the bumper each side just in front of and slightly in board of the front wheels.  Make sure they are still there.  Their job is to deflect air away from the tyres at high speed otherwise the air goes between the tyre and the ground which can create a lifting effect.

Oh, and double check that the tyre sizes are correct - if you have incorrect sizes you may not have enough rake (the height drop of the chassis from back to front) which will also cause instability at speed.

[Ilogik]

deffo play with the tyre pressures, glad im not the only one to experience this on the mk3, really is very sensitive compared to the mk2.

[Toplesscouple]

We were discussing this yesterday and one option may be that the spare wheel is missing from the frunk and not been replaced with something of a similar weight.

[bigwillcv36]

You started, might as well finish

Investing in a decent set of tyres is a sensible and safe used in what is a quite finely tuned sports car.
 It's also advisable to use the same make and model of tyres at the front and back. There is a wealth of information on what people find are the best selections for the '2

Remember that with tyres there should be a 20mm difference between the widths of the front and back.  

As Totty said there are no 'off the shelf' rollbar options to improve safety, although several style bars are available which just look nice. A custom one could be made up but you'd lose your storage bins at the very least.

Hope this helps

Phil

Proper geometry set-up is important too as are tyre pressures (as said before, and don't assume that forecourt/ cheap gauges are accurate).
There should also be a small plastic wind deflector attached to the underside of the bumper each side just in front of and slightly in board of the front wheels.  Make sure they are still there.  Their job is to deflect air away from the tyres at high speed otherwise the air goes between the tyre and the ground which can create a lifting effect.

Oh, and double check that the tyre sizes are correct - if you have incorrect sizes you may not have enough rake (the height drop of the chassis from back to front) which will also cause instability at speed.

Are there any places you would recommend for making sure the car is set up right? Mine definitely starts feeling a little "light" at front at high speeds and I'd like to get it checked out.

[kellybax23]

i had mine set up at elite wheels in Reading.  They have a prober machine and will set it up as standard or however you want, sorted mine out a treat.

[Anonymous]

Thanks to everyone for your wealth of information and advice.  I did check that the spare was in the frunk as I thought this might be an issue.  Having read some of your relpies, I have just popped out to the car and it seems that there may be a bolt missing that holds the front bumper and undertray together, it looks like this may be also where the front deflector is supposed to be, so I think this may be the answer.  With regard to the tyres - which you seem to be pretty unanimous need to be a 'set' and decent quality, does anyone have a suggestion?  I have heard good things about TOYO and YOKOHAMA tyres, can anyone advise - or should I just stick to the more familiar names such Goodyear and Pirelli?

As always boys and girls thank you for your invaluable advice and time.

[kentsmudger]

You can't go far wrong with Toyo Proxes T1R - Very good for a decent price.

Welcome to the club!

[MattPerformance]

Are there any places you would recommend for making sure the car is set up right? Mine definitely starts feeling a little "light" at front at high speeds and I'd like to get it checked out.

Funny you should ask...
Although this was not my motivation for posting, I still have my geo gauges, turntables and tyre pressure gauge (not many people have proper calibrated tyre pressure gauges - they cost a fortune!), and most of my other workshop kit and I'm able to do a full four wheel set-up for £40.  I'm based in Water Orton on the East side of Birmingham and it takes about an hour while you wait.  Geo is not difficult but it does require good equipment and the right approach, and a bit of patience (the devil is in the detail on sports cars).

[bigwillcv36]

Are there any places you would recommend for making sure the car is set up right? Mine definitely starts feeling a little "light" at front at high speeds and I'd like to get it checked out.

Funny you should ask...
Although this was not my motivation for posting, I still have my geo gauges, turntables and tyre pressure gauge (not many people have proper calibrated tyre pressure gauges - they cost a fortune!), and most of my other workshop kit and I'm able to do a full four wheel set-up for £40.  I'm based in Water Orton on the East side of Birmingham and it takes about an hour while you wait.  Geo is not difficult but it does require good equipment and the right approach, and a bit of patience (the devil is in the detail on sports cars).

That sounds excellent Matt!

I'll pm you about arranging a visit  :-) :-) :-)

[cclarke99]

I'd recommend Conti Sport Contact 2, having tried Uniroyal (rubbish), Bridgestone (good when new but not when worn) and Toyo (worn out after 5K miles). In standard form the MR2 is a perfectly balanced sports car and deserves the best tyres - I wouldn't try anything until I had sorted that. Loads of good info at  l viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3313 l

[Ilogik]

The conti sport contact 3 are very good, grip I. The wet and dry is great, braking distance is super good now car brakes like a go kart.

[loadswine]

, having tried Uniroyal (rubbish),

Funny, I don't agree at all, I have Uniroyal rainsports and they work very well indeed on my car. No track use yet, but several hundred miles this weekend, some spirited and some in torrential rain and no problems to report with them.

[cclarke99]

, having tried Uniroyal (rubbish),

Funny, I don't agree at all, I have Uniroyal rainsports and they work very well indeed on my car. No track use yet, but several hundred miles this weekend, some spirited and some in torrential rain and no problems to report with them.

Thats interesting - in defence of Uniroyal they were on the car when I bought it and may have been quite old, plus tyres are constantly being developed - so I take back what i said above

[Little RED Roadster]

, having tried Uniroyal (rubbish),

Funny, I don't agree at all, I have Uniroyal rainsports and they work very well indeed on my car. No track use yet, but several hundred miles this weekend, some spirited and some in torrential rain and no problems to report with them.

I have to agree with Nige. I bought my 2 with Uniroyal on the back and my car always felt great. I changed to Toyos this weekend and it felt totally different on the way home from DT's I was wishing I hadn't changed   s:( s:(   but checked the pressures they had put in when I got home and they were different in the rears to what E said he uses, so have changed that now and hopefully they will feel a lot better.

[Anonymous]

, having tried Uniroyal (rubbish),

Funny, I don't agree at all, I have Uniroyal rainsports and they work very well indeed on my car. No track use yet, but several hundred miles this weekend, some spirited and some in torrential rain and no problems to report with them.

I have to agree with Nige. I bought my 2 with Uniroyal on the back and my car always felt great. I changed to Toyos this weekend and it felt totally different on the way home from DT's I was wishing I hadn't changed   s:( s:(   but checked the pressures they had put in when I got home and they were different in the rears to what E said he uses, so have changed that now and hopefully they will feel a lot better.

Brand new tyres can take a couple of hundred miles to settle in I have always used Yoko's and they are abysmal for at least 300 miles

[Little RED Roadster]

Brand new tyres can take a couple of hundred miles to settle in I have always used Yoko's and they are abysmal for at least 300 miles

Ok, thanks Les   s:D s:D

[muffdan]

Yes, the T1Rs take a good 500 miles to scrub in.

[loadswine]

I totally agree on the Toyo running in bit. My first set I had were a bit of a surprise, but I had been warned beforehand. After 500 miles they were really very good.

I run the same size rears as Ian, what pressures does he use? ( I should ask him myself really  s:oops: :oops: s:oops:  )