The last two cars I bought—a Fiat Coupé 20v and a second-gen Mazda MX-5 Miata—were, to put it mildly, complete disasters.
Both were at the bottom of their depreciation curve because they were rusted out, meaning I spent way more on maintenance than I ever wanted to. Frustrated with the constant costs, I quickly sold them.
So, when my annual car-buying fever hit, I decided to aim for something in better shape this time. I considered another Miata, but I was ready for a change.
I looked at a BMW Z3 and even considered some classic British roadsters. But what I truly craved was a mid-engine, four-cylinder car with a curb weight under 2,200 pounds, a small footprint, and a removable hardtop. Since a Lotus Elise was out of my budget, I landed on this 2004 Toyota MR2 instead.
After weeks of scouring the classifieds, this one jumped out at me: it was in my favorite factory color, had under 90,000 miles, and looked clean in the photos. It was even better in person.
On top of that, seeing the seller's immaculate E34 BMW 5 Series gave me confidence that the MR2 had been well-maintained.
I knew on the test drive it was exactly what I wanted, and I’ve never been happier to hand over $4,200. It came with the essential hardtop—which, ironically, I have yet to remove—and some sweet TTE performance parts, including a roll bar and a throaty exhaust. I was in love from the get-go.
A drive on the rain-soaked back roads really cemented my love for this pint-sized Toyota.
To be honest, for the first few weeks, I was nervous about finding the car's limits. I didn’t have much experience with mid-engine cars, and I’d heard plenty of horror stories about this little roadster sending drivers spinning backward through a hedge.
View Price on AmazonBut plenty of drives on dry roads during my first month of ownership taught me how to respect this amazing car. I’d get home from work and immediately feel the urge to slip behind the wheel and head for the hills, pushing its 1.8-liter four-cylinder as hard as I dared. I quickly learned to adapt my driving style to explore the unique handling of a car with the engine behind me.
That said, I was still anxious about driving in the rain—at least until I joined some old friends for a spirited drive on some roads I know like the back of my hand. While keeping up with the group, I realized I was more in tune with the car's dynamics than I thought.
The engine's weight over the drive wheels provides excellent grip in fast corners, and the limited-slip differential turned tight, low-speed hairpins into little moments of glory.
It’s been a long time since I’ve fallen for a car as hard as I have for this MR2.
A drive up to the mountains with some colleagues revealed a slow, irritating leak in one of my tires. By the time I reached our remote meet-up spot, the tire was almost completely flat.
A tire pump from a friend's BMW saved the day, allowing me to limp home and figure out my next move.
Inspecting all four tires, I saw the tread was worn down significantly, though still legal. They didn't have much life left when I bought the car anyway. Naturally, it was time to treat my pride and joy to some new rubber.
After a lot of research, I settled on a pair of Avon ZV7s for the rear. I’d driven a few cars equipped with them before (it's the OEM tire on the Morgan Plus Four, for example) and liked not just their grip, but also their predictable breakaway characteristics at the limit.
The tire shop I bought them from kept giving me the runaround on the installation date, so I had them mounted by the excellent folks at a local performance shop instead.
So far, I'm impressed: traction is fantastic, and the car feels just as progressive at the limit as I'd hoped.
Source: autocar.co.uk
