Craikeybaby's 2004 Sable Roadster

[Craikeybaby]

I've been running a sort of Reader's Rides thread in my introductory post, so I'm going to copy across the content, then keep this thread updated.

These days my MR2 is my second car, so mainly used for weekend blasts and the odd trackday.

[Craikeybaby]

19th August 2013

Hi, I'm Lewis and I've just bought an '04 MR2 Roadster.

I've had MX-5s (a 1994 and a 2011) for the last 8 years and fancied a change. I was looking for a car I could tour Europe in, as I'm planning on going to the historic Grand Prix in Monaco next year, but in the end I went for a car that would suit me better for 50 weeks of the year. It will be my only car, but as I walk to work it will mainly be used as a weekend toy and hopefully for a few track days.

This was the third car I looked at and was in much better condition than the others, it has just under 40,000 miles and appears to have been garaged most its life. I think the seller was underselling it by saying it didn't have full service history, it had missed its service in 2008, but between the 2007 and 2009 services it only did 5000 miles and has been serviced properly since. Having said that I'll still probably take it to Rogue Motorsport in Rugby, or my local Japanese specialist for a quick check. Unless anyone can recommend somewhere in Coventry?

As I still have my MX-5 for the next few weeks the MR2 has been stashed in the workshop at work until the end of the month, but to get it there I did take out 24 hours insurance. After getting it home I used it to run some errands, proving to the girlfriend that we could fit the weekly shop in the storage bins. Then took it for a drive around the Cotswolds (including Fish Hill, for those of you that know it) I was pretty impressed with the ride and handling, it wasn't as refined as my 2011 MX-5, but I found that too refined for a sports car. Performance wise it feels faster than either of my MX-5s (both also 1.8l) and I love the sound of the engine behind me. The only negatives I've found so far is that the hood mechanism isn't as good as the newer MX-5, which is a truly one handed operation and I also find it annoying that the seat backs don't return to their previous position when you've folded them forward - even my girlfriends Fiat has got that sorted! All cars have niggles though and I can't see these spoiling my enjoyment of the car!

While I'm waiting to get it on the road I have a few jobs to do:

Get my private plate transferred and new number plates fitted - the car is still on its original plates from 2004 and they look a bit tired.

Replace the OEM headunit with an aftermarket one - I work for a car audio company, so can't have a crap headunit!

Research pre-cats, I understand a 2004 model should be less prone though.

Give it a good detail.

Take some better pictures.

Toyota MR2 Roadster by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

After having had an ititial taste, I can't wait to get it out of storage and drive it again!

[Craikeybaby]

30th August 2013 (fitted the stereo)

I tested the ISO adapter the other day, and despite not using 2 of the connectors to the OEM head unit my Alpine head unit seemed to work fine. My concern was that the tweeters wouldn't be connected, but dropping the bass & raising the treble showed they were working. The facia kit arrived today, so I can crack on with fitting it all this afternoon.

The big news is that the MX-5 has gone and as of midday the MR2 will be insured! Yay!

[Craikeybaby]

25th March 2014

It's been a while since I've posted on here - I'd like to say it was because I've been enjoying the MR2, but that's only part of the reason, DIY, crap weather and trips to Japan have gotten in the way. Although I did have a good run up to North Wales the other weekend, it was good to get the MR2 on to the roads up there. Last time I was in Wales was a couple of days after I'd picked up my MR2, I was in a 500BPH GT car (testing for work) and all I could think was "I'd rather be in my MR2". The MR2 was great on those roads and I can't wait to get back, this is it at the top of the Horseshoe Pass:

MR2 by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

Unfortunately the MR2 failed it's MOT on emissions this morning, as it has only done lots of short journeys the last few days, hopefully all it needs it a good thrash to sort it! Otherwise I'll be back asking for more help.

The plan is to take it to MattPerformance for a service next month, then when I've got my garage built, tidy up a few things, like the "ears" and find out what is rattling under the front end - then take it to Le Mans mid June!

Later in the day

It's passed now, just needed a good thrashing!

[Craikeybaby]

7th April 2014

I've got the MR2 booked in with MattPerformance later in the month and a top strap on the was from Dev - progress on the garage build seems to be going slower than my to do list for the MR2 is growing though.

On Saturday I managed to take a stone to the windscreen on the M45, I had the roof down and could see the stone coming straight at me, luckily it hit the top corner of the windscreen, so will be needing a new screen to go with the new pants!

[Craikeybaby]

11th April 2014 (the top strap still hasn't been fitted 2 years later)

Top strap arrived from Dev (and I found one the original behind the passenger seat  s:roll: :roll: s:roll: ) so that will be my job for the weekend. Windscreen getting replaced on Wednesday, then service the Wednesday after!

[Craikeybaby]

14th April 2014

Had another brown trouser moment in the MR2 on Saturday - the left rear tyre let go at motorway speed:

Blown tyre on the MR2 by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

New tyre being fitted tomorrow, so after 6 months of pretty cheap motoring, the MR2 is having an expensive month!

[Craikeybaby]

21st April 2014

No MR2 mishaps this weekend! Although I hardly drove it, other than to Silverstone to see Toyota take a 1-2 in the WEC 6 hour race.

Got the new tyre sorted easily but when the turned up to fit the windscreen they'd brought the screen for a pre-facelift model, despite me pointing out to them that I have a facelift model and being told their computer always gets it right   s:roll: :roll: s:roll:  So that's rescheduled for Thursday and it's going to Matt Performance for a service tomorrow.

I took some time to give the MR2 a good wash and wax today, the paint seems to have picked up a few scratches, I'll need to sort out when my I've got my garage built (and more time) but from a few feet away it looks pretty good!

MR2 washed & waxed by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

[Craikeybaby]

24th April 2014

It has been a couple of expensive days of MR2 ownership -  10 year service at MattPerformance, plus alignment, brake fluid and a new radiator yesterday, then a replacement windscreen today.

[Craikeybaby]

7th June 2014

I haven't managed to get over to Wales unfortunately, but that is mainly due to the prep work I've been doing for the garage which is being built for the MR2. While I've got the builders round I've been driving the MR2 to work, so that I can get home quickly if there's a problem and I've found myself not putting the roof down for the short journeys. This would never have happened in my MX-5s, the roof mechanism on the MR2 is just that bit more awkward, and it needs a good push to get it to clip down, so that is something I need to look at when I've got the garage built and more space to tinker with cars.

Yesterday I gave it a quick was and applied some stickers ready for the drive down to Le Mans next week:

MR2 stickered up for Le Mans by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

[Craikeybaby]

18th June 2014

I had a great time at Le Mans and the Roadster performed faultlessly, even though after driving round a field to find a parking space a few times caused the "check engine" light to come on. I checked the engine and it was fine, so drove it the 500 miles home and performance, economy and temperatures were all fine. Time to buy that fault code reader I've been meaning to buy for a while...

Bought fault code reader, discovered it was O2 sensor, replaced O2 sensor, but that was lots of short posts.

[Craikeybaby]

30th July 2014

Finally got my garage built and ready to accept an MR2:

MR2 in the garage! by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

Unfortunately it isn't as easy to get a car out of the garage as it, this happened mid 5 point turn:

Doh! by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

Gutted.

[Craikeybaby]

1st August 2014

I think the MR2 is getting its revenge for me scraping it down the fence post, the clutch feels like its slipping now. Can pull away in 6th gear without any throttle.

Took it to the body shop today, £400 to repair the damage to the door and 3/4 panel, which isn't as expensive as I was expecting to be fair.

[Craikeybaby]

5th October 2014

I've not updated this for a while, but the MR2 has had a varied couple of months, I hadn't really been using it much as I was worried about the clutch. Then, whilst I was away on holiday it went to Manhattan Motors in Coventry to have the passenger door and rear 3/4 panel resprayed. After that I put some miles on it and remembered what a great car it is, the clutch seemed to be fine too!

So I decided to take it up to Yorkshire for a long weekend. We managed to fit our weekend bags in - and had enough space that the missus could do some shopping too. I had been looking forward to taking it for a hoon over the North York Moors, but the weather was pretty crap, so couldn't see much:

MR2 North York Moors by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

Since then it has been parked on my drive, as I have been in Japan for business. The reason it is on my drive is that it's space in the garage is occupied by an Elise (unfortunately not mine):

Lotus in the garage by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

Hopefully that will be out of the way soon so  can crack on with some jobs on the MR2 and hopefully get the clutch looked at over the winter.

[Craikeybaby]

24th March 2015

The Elise is out of the garage, unfortunately it was written off 6 days later, gutted for Rich after all the work he did on it. On a more positive note, I've been able to start on my to do list on the MR2 and have sorted the squeaky brakes.

At the weekend I finally got the MR2 on track at Silverstone, I was pretty much the slowest car on track, which is probably as much to do with the driver as being at least 100bhp down on everything else.


The MR2 is getting serviced at Rogue next week, then I've got a week up in Scotland and back via the North York Moors, which should be fun.

[Craikeybaby]

28th March 2015

MOT in 1 hour, quick check of lights = nearside brake light out. Arse.

[Craikeybaby]

1st April 2015

Lights sorted, eventually. Euro Car Parts don't seem to good at getting the right lights for Roadsters, then wouldn't let me browse to what I wanted, because they weren't on the list for what they thought would fit a Roadster. MOT also didn't happen, but I've still got a few weeks to get it sorted.

Today I had the Roadster serviced at Rogue, the also gave it a good check over and confirmed that although the clutch bite point is high, it seems normal, which is good news, as I had been a bit concerned about the clutch.

The next plans for the Roadster are a thorough wash and wax over the weekend, hopefully fix some rattles and then a Scotland and North York Moors roadtrip with my fiancé!

[Craikeybaby]

10th April 2015

MOT = Passed!

[Craikeybaby]

27th May 2015

I took the MR2 up to Scotland for a few days - the roads in the Highlands are perfect for the MR2:


MR2 Bealach na Ba by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

MR2 Bealach na Ba by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

MR2 on the Old Milirary Road by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

[Craikeybaby]

Between these posts I took the MR2 to Wales for a mountain biking trip with the lads - hiring bikes obviously. On the drive over we left the A5 just after Shrewsbury and took the scenic route to the hotel, my best mate was behind me in his Z4 and it was one of the best drives of the year. The next day I ended up doing about 150 miles in North Wales collecting my mate from hospital, then transferring him to another one and eventually back to our hotel after he broke his jaw. At least the MR2 was entertaining over all of the passes. The final day, which was meant to be the driving day was a bit of a washout, both because of the weather and being a man down, but still had a good blast around the eco triangle, then took the b roads to Chester.

14th August 2015

Had the MR2 out on track at Donington Park the other week, it was brilliant fun, I can't wait to go again!

Donington Park Trackday by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

Donington Park Trackday by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

[Craikeybaby]

It looks like I didn't post in the original thread, but between these posts I used the MR2 to drive to my wedding.

Then a few days after getting back from honeymoon my wife and I did another trackday at Silverstone. My session got cut short due to someone continuing to drive around the track with an oil leak, despite what was said in the briefing.    s:roll: :roll: s:roll:  

Jen had a good session though, and enjoyed her first time on track and is more confident driving the MR2 now.

27th December 2015

As the roads hadn't been gritted I've had my MR2 out a few times over Christmas - I'd certainly missed the feedback and inherent rightness of the MR2 after driving my BMW daily for the last few months. Roll on the spring when the MR2 can become my main car again!

[Craikeybaby]

3rd April 2016

The MR2 has mostly been laid up all winter - although I've been shamed by one of the ladies at work who has been driving hers all winter. We have now gone from 4 to 0 MX-5s in the work car park, with 2 of us moving to MR2 Roadsters.

On Friday I got the MR2 out for its MOT, knowing how it struggles with emissions I took it out for a good blast to get the cat nice and warm, it must have worked as it passed, with only an advisory for a slightly rusty spring. Then this morning I went to Santa Pod to put the MR2 down the strip, given that the car is more suited to the twists I was pleased with a 16.47s 1/4 mile time.

IMG_2351 by karl.mckenna, on Flickr

_MG_8734.jpg by Bob Craik, on Flickr

[Craikeybaby]

20th April 2016

With the better weather recently the MR2 have been getting some use.

I've been having some trouble with my BMW daily drive, so I managed to convince my wife that we should take the MR2 for our annual jaunt to Devon, with Baby Craik on the way it could well be our last chance for a trip away in the MR2 together for a while!

As we were in the MR2 we decided to come off the M5 early and take the A39 over Exmoor - one of my favourite roads. We managed to hit it at a good time, the rain had just stopped as we got to the top of Porlock Hill, so I pulled in to drop the hood and let the traffic clear. The run down in to Lynmouth was one of the best blats I've had in a long time. After a quick lunch in Lynmouth we carried on towards Croyde, roof up again as there were a few flakes of snow! With the diversion it was about 200 miles door to door and we both didn't feel any worse for it.

The next day we decided to take a day trip to Dartmouth, via Dartmoor. I'd only ever skirted round Dartmoor previously, but open moorland roads are my favourite. The detour didn't disappoint, even if we were up in the clouds crossing the moors. At Dartmouth we took one of the small ferries across the estuary - ferry is really a glorification, it was a raft big enough for 6 cars, towed across by a tug boat. We took the A377 back to Croyde, the road looks wiggly on the map, but it was better in real life, driving along an empty, awesome road, with pine forests on one side and a wide, shallow fast flowing river on the other I felt like I could have been in the Scottish Highlands. This was another 200 mile day in the car.

After a day where the MR2 was only used for a fish and chip run to the next village, we spent the next few days heading home, via Glastonbury, Bath and the Cotswolds. The MR2 worked better as a GT car than I'd expected, we are used to travelling light from backpacking days, and the seats were surprisingly comfortable. But when the roads got interesting, the lightweight nature of the car and feedback through the seats and steering meant I could make the most of it. I was falling in love with the MR2 all over again.

At Bibury, 550 miles into the 600 mile trip:

MR2 in Bibury by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

After all that driving I took the MR2 to Rogue for a service and to get the squeaky rear brakes looked at. Even though the car hasn't reached 54,000 miles this was to be the 100,000 mile service, along with a brake fluid change, as the pedal has been soft after my Donington track day last year, even after bleeding the brakes.

The front callipers were rebuilt, without anti squeal shims, as the could have added to the pedal softness. The discs have probably only got one more track day in them, so they were reused and I'll change discs and pads after my next track day.

At the rear, the cause of the squealing brakes was traced to irregular wear on the inner face of both brake discs, probably due to poor adjustment of the handbrake mechanism. So the discs and pads were replaced with OEM items and the callipers were rebuilt and adjusted correctly.

Matt also identified a small oil leak from the drive shaft gaiter, so that was replaced.

The bill was £700, but the car is driving so much better, especially on the brakes, the pedal is firm and the brakes seem much more efficient. Slowing down from 50mph for the first right turn after the workshop I nearly headbutted the windscreen. Now to get a track day booked to see how they hold out...

[Craikeybaby]

12th May 2016

The roads around Snowdonia are awesome, I had the MR2 up there last summer.

With the nice weather recently I've been having a lot of fun in the MR2!

Over the weekend we went to stay with some friends in Stockport, rather than taking one of the boring cars and driving up the M6, I took the opportunity to take the MR2 through the Peak District. We came home via Bakewell, which meant another run through the Peak District, including the Cat & Fiddle pass. It was perfect convertible weather, warm enough not to wrap up too much but not too sunny that my Scottish skin got burnt to a crisp.

Then yesterday I did a trackday at Donington Park, I'd had put off booking as I didn't fancy a trackday in the rain, but my calendar was looking busy for all the alternative dates, so I had to go for yesterday. In the end it worked out really well, with the track pretty wet to start with a lot of the race cars stayed in the pits and the speed differential between the MR2, which in my hands is usually the slowest car on track, and the faster cars seemed lower. The lack of power probably helped me to stay out of trouble.

In the afternoon the rain stopped and the track dried out the MR2 was still going really well, I felt like I was going faster than the trackday I did at Donington last year. I was able to lap with other cars too which was fun, notably an Austin A30 race car. Just like last time I was there, about 15 minutes before the end of the day the rain started again, last year I pulled into the pits and went home, but with my new-found confidence from the morning, I pulled into the pits, put the roof up and went out for a few more laps! The car had been moving under me all day, especially at Redgate and Coppice, but on my penultimate lap I had a bit of a tankslapper coming out of McLeans, fortunately there weren't any other cars around and I managed to keep it on the black stuff.

I was happy with the 185 miles I clocked up on track, I was doing 15 mins on/15 mins off with no trouble from the car. I had a few people come up to me and say how the MR2 is so underrated. Like my last few track days the brakes have taken a battering, the pedal is now quite soft. When I had the car serviced last month I'd been advised that the front disks only had 1 track day left on them, so I'll bleed the brakes properly when I do the disks and pads. Does have any recommendations for brake pads?

After the last month of drag strip, road trips and a track day I really need to treat the MR2 to a good wash!


Donington Park track day by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

[Craikeybaby]

6th June 2-16

I've got some of the official photos from Donington, all from the morning which was wet:

Donington Park Trackday Official Photo by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

Donington Park Trackday Official Photo by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

Donington Park Trackday Official Photo by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

I got back from Donington and left the MR2 in the garage, unfortunately it hasn't moved since, the brakes needed bleeding, so I jacked it up and removed the rear wheels, then got a bit bored waiting for someone to press the pedal for me and ending up giving the rear wheels a thorough clean/wax.

Not overly dirty to begin with, probably because the brakes weren't properly adjusted:

MR2 wheel clean by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
Snow foam to get most of the dirt off:

MR2 wheel clean by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

MR2 wheel clean by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

MR2 wheel clean by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

Looking better already:

MR2 wheel clean by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

But still more contaminants to remove:

MR2 wheel clean by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

MR2 wheel clean by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

On to the bench for some deep cleaner, 3x sealant and 2x tyre shine:

MR2 wheel clean by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

A lot cleaner than the front wheels:

MR2 wheel clean by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

The fronts had this treatment last year, so should only need a snow foam and maybe another coat of wheel sealant to be looking as good as the rears.

Unfortunately since getting the rear brakes bled my wife's waters have broken (not related), so I have been spending my days in the hospital with her and haven't been able to get the fronts done. At least the baby will attract lots of visitors to the house so should have a helper sooner rather than later. It also means that the MR2 is going to be pressed into daily driver duty for me when I go back to work after paternity leave - I'm hoping the weather stays this nice!