Don't mind me, I'm new...

Anonymous · February 1, 2006, 09:59

Morning everyone,

I've just bought a black '00 MR2 1.8 VVTi which I'll be collecting this afternoon and am really looking forward to many years of posting on here and kitting the little MR2 out with goodies.

I've already purchased a set of 17" O.Z. Hydras which should turn up later today as well and also the Extreme Dimensions Type W bodykit from w www.potn.co.uk w which should arrive next week.

Next things on my list are a twin exhaust system, spoiler (nothing too garish mind!) and I'd like some slightly darker rear lights. I also saw some great front lamps on a car whilst browsing the web, which had dark graphite looking surrounds to the lights... no idea who make them or anything, but they look pretty nice on a black 2.

Anyway, nice to meet you all, if you have any info let me know. I'll take some photos tomorrow so you can also see the new addition to the family.

Chris

Liz · February 1, 2006, 10:06

Hi and welcome along, if you want slightly darker rear lamps - how about using the tint spray, just so happens that I bought a can and decided not to use it, costs £14.99 in Halfords, yours for a donation to the club of £10.00 - free postage!

SimonC_Here · February 1, 2006, 10:07

Hi!

Sean (slacey) has got some darkened rear lights, can't find a pic of them at the moment. If you post the pic of the front lights, someone here should be able to point you in the right direction!

Simon

Anonymous · February 1, 2006, 10:48

Thanks guys and girls,

I'll let you know about the tint spray.. I'm always a little wary of the sprays as I officially suck at DIY mods and it would end up looking stupid if I tried it myself!

I'll find a pic of the lights... I think it may even be as simple as the difference between the early MR2 lights and the 03' revamped ones... I'll have a gander though.

Thanks again!

Liz · February 1, 2006, 10:50

Seans rear lights are the DAMD ones...how heavy are those wheels that you are getting?

Anonymous · February 1, 2006, 10:53

Not sure of their weight, although they arrived about half an hour ago and I managed to lug them into the boot of the estate car I'm using without too much fuss! Unless you meant "heavy" as in the down diggity street talk meaning of the word, in which case, Seeeeeriously heavy! s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

No?

Thought not! s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

17's should go straight on without too much fuss shouldn't they?

markiii · February 1, 2006, 10:58

rather depends on teh tyres.

and teh offset

and teh width

oh and for god sake don't put teh same width tyres on all round, you'll be in a ditch in no time flat.

Anonymous · February 1, 2006, 11:01

Hmm, well I ordered from w www.potn.co.uk w and they said these would go straight on to my MR2 without any fuss. I'll have to check the width of them, I rather suspect they are all the same width s:cry: :cry: s:cry:

Anonymous · February 1, 2006, 11:02

hope for your sake they aint buddy as that would be all bad

Anonymous · February 1, 2006, 11:03

This is what the specs are of the tyres:

Toyo T1-S - (205x40x17) Ultra High Performance Tyres

Does that mean anything to anyone? s:roll: :roll: s:roll:

Anonymous · February 1, 2006, 11:14

Not Good Really

I'm running 205's all around now 6 months and definitally not ideal.
Try running Odd tyre pressures, 33 Front 27 Rear works for me but if at all possible change them, I'm just trying to get a decent run out of these and then once they start going I'm changing the rears to 225.

Anonymous · February 1, 2006, 11:19

That's what I'll do then, I'll use these for a while then change the width of the back ones in a month or two.

That's what you get for not checking here properly first I suppose!

Bongo · February 1, 2006, 11:44

I'd just flog the rears as unused on ebay or something, save you the hassle of going through a hedge backwards...

Oh and welcome s:)

s:)

markiii · February 1, 2006, 12:34

Quote from: "Slurpy J"That's what I'll do then, I'll use these for a while then change the width of the back ones in a month or two.

That's what you get for not checking here properly first I suppose!

bad plan

roger · February 1, 2006, 12:50

Quote from: "markiii"
Quote from: "Slurpy J"That's what I'll do then, I'll use these for a while then change the width of the back ones in a month or two.

That's what you get for not checking here properly first I suppose!

bad plan

I would agree with Mark. Get back to the seller before you use them and get him to supply the right equipment before you end up in a ditch!

markiii · February 1, 2006, 12:57

and just to clarify you will need 225/35/17

oz wheels are usually 38 offset whihc is pushing it on the roadster you may find a little rubbing on teh front wheel liners, check what potn's return policy is if this happens, since they assured you they would be ok.

and again for clarification what will "fit" and what will "work" aren't the same thing,

I'm not having a go but a midengined lightweight sportscar is not as forgiving as teh average shopping trolly, lots of people (and probabaly potn) are used to.

what you will get away with on your average fwd hatch will get you in a world of hurt with this car.

Anonymous · February 1, 2006, 13:45

I hate to throw a spanner in the works but like I say I'm running on 205's six months and its not that I'm particullarly brave or anything but its not as bad as everyone seems to beleve. Like I say I changed the pressures around after finding a thread on SC. I don't think its quite as nimble but I have a sneaky suspision its cause I'm over -tryed (is this a word, poll starts next week!). But neither do I get Massive under/over steer. Car just dosn't seem as darty. Point is 205's haven't killed me YET.

markiii · February 1, 2006, 13:50

teh same width tyre all around will make it very prone to oversteer at teh limit.

The roadster is designed to understeer first when it lets go.

trust me if you push it, or get caught out, with a mistake, hit ice , leaves or anything else that puts you on the limit thats when you will have teh problem.

I remember at least 2 people on here who have said don't be silly I'll be fine with teh same width all round, and teh following week have either ended up in a ditch or written it off.

if your going to buy a midengined sportscar designed for hanlding, compromising that handling by fitting teh same tyres all round is just silly.

so far you've been lucky.

Bongo · February 1, 2006, 13:56

Also kj were you used to the car before you put the same width tyres on?

I think this could make a difference myself...

filcee · February 1, 2006, 14:00

Quote from: "kj"Try running Odd tyre pressures, 33 Front 27 Rear works for me

Quote from: "kj"I hate to throw a spanner in the works but like I say I'm running on 205's six months and its not that I'm particullarly brave or anything but its not as bad as everyone seems to beleve.

Your pressure set up (33 front 27 rear) is probably counteracting the relative decrease in grip at the rear of the car. Higher front pressures will reduce the contact patch thereby inducing more understeer. The understeer is probably occurring before the point at which oversteer would be induced, so you are being 'encouraged' (by the set up) to reduce speed or otherwise limit or restrict the use of the throttle pedal.

I suspect if you changed to stock pressures (26 front, 32 rear) this would change to a whole heap of excitement.

FWIW, and by way of an example, I'm driving around with shot fronts at the moment (still legal, but properly 'shouldered'). They need to be changed, despite the fact I *seem* to have learned to cope with the change in characteristics. The desire to change them was brought about by my wife driving home from the pub on Saturday. She was downright unhappy with the way the car handled - at one point the tendency to tramline nearly conned her into a big tank slapper on the dual carriageway. You are welcome to speculate about my current popularity rating s;-) ;-) s;-)

Bottom line - don't mess about with tyres and tyre wear. Toyota R&D budget is much, much bigger than yours, as is their insurance cover.

Anonymous · February 1, 2006, 14:00

Not Really, only had the car about two weeks when I changed tyres, Have always ment to change back for a week to see could I tell difference but never got around to It. Mind you I'm off this weekend so might try then

Anonymous · February 1, 2006, 18:29

Make no mistake, if you put equal size tyres on a brand new MR2 that you're not used to, you will have written it off within a week.

I drove 2 hours with equal size tyres on (205/17's too), and didn't drive the car for a week after I got home from picking the wheels up until I got the correct size tyres on the rear. It's dangerous as hell.

Oh, and you'll definately get rubbing issues with those wheels and tyres: I have exactly the same spec (17", 38 offset) and I get rubbing at the front, even after melting the offending wheel arch liner and bending it out of the way.

Anonymous · February 1, 2006, 21:58

Quote from: "roger"
Quote from: "markiii"
Quote from: "Slurpy J"That's what I'll do then, I'll use these for a while then change the width of the back ones in a month or two.

That's what you get for not checking here properly first I suppose!

bad plan

I would agree with Mark. Get back to the seller before you use them and get him to supply the right equipment before you end up in a ditch!

God, I couldn't agree more, when I bought mine it had the 'wrong' tyres on, they were brand new though so I thought i'd get a few months use out of em first, Exactly 31days later I spun and hit a wall. a couple of times. get em sorted before you regret it. s:)

s:)

Anonymous · February 1, 2006, 23:22

Interesting, I've read a lot of threads like this where people blame tyres either being mis-matched or mis-sized or them ending up "in a ditch". Makes me wonder why people only crash on roads with ditches.....

Seriously though, I've been driving on what must be the ultimate combo of bad tyres since I got the 2 about a year ago. Original yokos front drivers side and rear passenger side (both worn obviously) with a new BF Goodridge being the other rear tyre and (this is the best bit) a lovely "Roadstone" on the other front. They were the correct sizes on original wheels though.

I guess I was lucky as I just got lots of understeer with this setup (in the wet anyway, in the dry it gripped amazingly well). However is that I bought the 2 partly because it is rear wheel drive and as such can be made to oversteer! I now have Toyo Proxy T1-R's s:twisted: :twisted: s:twisted: on the front (thanks to the recommendations from people on here) but have left the rear as was. The result is fairly tail happy as you might imagine. But I know this and drive accordingly, only provoking it when its safe (ish).

My point is that people need to think about their driving. Of course proper tyres will ultimately offer more grip but bad drivers it seems, blame their tyres.

Ramble over, fire at will s:D

s:D

markiii · February 1, 2006, 23:38

which rather proves the point, mismatched tyres make it harder to control, nuff said s:wink: :wink: s:wink: