This is a decent buyers guide but you forgot to mention the different Gens of 3sgte , gen4 and gen5 turbo swaps!! They are more common now than stock engine layouts. Mentioning how swaps play a role into the cost like the 2gr engine as well being a v6 NA. They are quite common as well! Good video keep it up man
@@mrsquirrel8079 yeah but as an mr2 owner with one of those motors, it’s the most common motor in an mr2 in the us next to maybe the NA motors. Gen4 and 5 were cheapest most accessible swap to a daily turbo MR2s. Just because Toyota didn’t do it factory don’t mean it’s not worth mention. As this is a buyers guide, it would be right to guide you on the fact that MOST mr2 for sale in the US are projects of someone else you’re taking on! Usually swaps
i got mine 96 sw20 turbo aqua marine pearl rhd a year ago and man do i love the it the mr2 has been my dream car since a child and to finally own one its amazing and the rarity is dope. daily it for the summers and its the best drive i ever had in a car plus all the performance mods i have been doing to it.
Missed the most common engine of the lot, the rev3 3sge in the rev3,4,5 mr2 NA. 172hp and 168 in rev4/5 due to egr valve. rev2 was first for door crash bars. rev5 was mostly the 168hp rev3 3sge. other than red stiching, red and chrome gauges the rev5 got the lightest wheels and light lug nuts, speed flaps and 4 way ABS. with only around 1000 cars being made with the Beams in Japan only. OEM roof seals are cheaper than 4 new tyres! The chassis code tells you if there is a diff (although swaps happen a lot). Early cars could have lsd as an option. Midnight Blue is quite rare and only on the later revs, sonic shaddow also only on later 4 and 5 rev cars.. but hey, at least this is some mr2 content
I’ve seeen so many mr2z in the last year people are importing them left and right! Just on the island of Oahu alone there is around 30 different mr2z that show up at local meets right now! Very cool to see the spaceship Toyota getting the love! Cheap power and fun for now $$$$$!
Owned the first and second gen and driven third gen MR2s my favorite is the 1st second has to be the third purely for handling and the least favorite to me driving wise was the second gen. The 91-92 pre suspension revision definitely was twitchy at the rear. Also felt the most detached from the road compared to the other two. The second gen definitely is the most beautifully styled subjectively but I still don't regret selling mine. (Edit) also sadly the US got the 5SFEs for the NA version not the 3SGE which is an absolute dog in the MR2, it's torque drives like a truck and just has nothing above about 4k. Definitely need a turbo or 2GR to liven things up.
My very first car was an OG 91 MR2 Turbo moonroof car in 2012 that my dad bought me as a bday present/HS Graduation present! It was stock with 172k miles besides a catback exhaust and Tein lowering springs! I still have it til this day and I'm still building it haha 😂 I can't wait until I get it to the point that I've had envisioned for it all these years because it still needs ALOT of work and money to get it there but that's all part of the fun and the journey ya know?!?! It now has a JDM 3rd gen 3SGTE, E153 LSD trans WITH ABS, Greddy TD06 20G Turbo, ECUMASTER EMU ECU, Kouki taillights, 93+ turbo brakes with stoptech rotors, dual 12" Spal engine lid fans, double staggered Volk AV 2 piece wheels (that I got for only $800 with brand new Falkens on them, and alot of other supporting and aesthetic mods. Has the blue interior and I wanna swap it to black and get the Recaro confetti 🎊 seats, needs alot of body work and a re-spray, Fortune Auto coilovers as their shop in VA is literally a 10 minute drive from my house, upgrade the fuel system more (just has stock 540cc injectors and a Warlbro 255 fuel pump (have a RacerX fuel rail for it and 1200cc injectors), do ARP headstuds, swap to coil on plug over the current distributor ignition system, and more haha! Hoping to make low 300whp on punp 93 and 375-400whp on E85 when I'm able to get it tuned hopefully within the next 6 months or so. Can't wait to make this childhood dream car a reality some day!!!
Basically a great car with considerable potential. A simple drive brings many a smile. Original owner 91T. Parts availability can be challenging. Have seen on UA-cam 23 model preview but electric or ICE is a question as well as pricing.
Same, but probably to a lesser degree. Mine was pretty shot by the time I got rid of it. I wasn't making much at the time, was divorced and paying child support, so upkeep wasn't much of a consideration. I do intend to get another one, though. Also had an '85 back in the early 90's. Man, was that car fun!
there was also a super rare sky blue color but I don't have popularity numbers on it, extremely rare though from what I remember. My first MR2 was turquoise pearl, I liked it, but would have preferred red...looking to buy another one very soon.
Obligatory comment i must leave on any MR2 guide like this, the snap oversteer especially on 93-95 SW20 can be completely solved with a bit of simple tuning. Instead of explaining it look into Steve "XHead" Hoelscher work on the matter, it should be archived on some forums and easy to find, and pretty well known in the NA autocross community in that at any major event you can often find a MR2 owner who has either done the changes or knows of it, part of this is that it was his suggested guidelines that lead to the SW20 making a huge return to many street tire classes, claimed many champion titles at national level for multiple drivers and owners. It completely transforms the cars. Said changes can be applied to any MR2, but 93-95 is a cool year because no modification to pick up points is required for it to really shine, just some basic ride height, spring, sway bar and potential tire size stuff. Despite it being well known within certain circles i never see it often discussed by many onlookers or new to the fold, and the changes honestly transform the car into a drifty (in a good way) motorboat that bonds with the driver rather then wild animal that tries to bite. Great video all around otherwise Hako
I had a SW21 NA with a sunroof it's a 1993 model in a special metallic light Blue the last year the MR2 was made in the USA and then I sold it! It was a very rare car with Blue interior.
@@hakosan86 I wanted a 94 Mustang with REAL air scoops then sold that to get a SAAB 90-3 SE then I sold that to get a E46 ZHP sedan and I still have that car today for 5yrs
Great Video few months ago I bought a 91 Turbo, original paint motor, turbo t-tops-no leaks no rust. I had to replace the brake pads all around and e-brake cables but nothing else. Oh and the radio comes on, CD player plays and cassette plays once I found the security code in the owners manual but "no" sound from the speakers? Any ideas what that might be? Amp maybe? Car has 110K original miles and original paint looks almost new.
I think my MR2 is or at least was Aquamarine pearl it’s a ‘91 NA T-Top (SW21). Wherever the paint still looks decent it’s a dark blue-ish green and you can see the blue pearl in it kind of like Honda’s Nighthawk Black
Driving this uphill on my sim is a lot of fun but downhill is where i started having the snap problem it wasnt bad, i started learning to drift it on flat ground but i need a different setup than the one i get and nobody is interested in making stock versions of this
I would say all those problems are nothing compared to rust,bought mine looked without rust with factory under body protection..after removing under body protection ended up welding 6 months ...a lot of rust is hidden on main chassis under air intake on quarter panels...in the end for non DiY guys could cost a lot to fix (10-20K)
The baby blue or aka Caribbean blue colour is a extremely rare colour I had one in a gts model coupe in 08. Someone stole it and I never saw it again😢. Now I've got a red one for a project
MR2 snap oversteer is really bad. I watched a video where MR2s are racing each other on the circuit, almost everyone had snap over steel somewhere along the race.
See i did that when i started doing these but the market is changing so quickly that if i put the prices in this video, it probably wont be correct in a couple months.
@@hakosan86 damn well hopefully in the future man cuhz these videos are dope! can u give a estimation for then like rn bro the a good deal. like good miles and price . for a budget ?
You can still get a clean NA car for under 8K, sold a 1991 one owner NA for 8K here in CA just about a month or so ago. Turbos expect to pay 10k+ for "ok ones" and 20k+ for show room nice ones. Imported models still can be had under 16k they are rather inexpensive still in Japan. If you privately import one you may even be able to find one under 10k.
Oh yeaaa!!! Now I will say the early-mid 2000's also had some amazing vehicles as well....I mean honestly we've had ALOT of great cars even through today's period in time, but yes, those the 90's and early 2000's cars were just real raw driver's cars! Some other amazing vehicles from the early 2000's that have that gnarly raw experience would be your 03-04 Terminator Cobras (I had a *bone stock 03 Zinc Yellow vert), the later year 03-04 C5Z06's, and a super slept on American (import style) car were the 03-05 Dodge Neon SRT4's! Those cars never got the praise they deserved in my humble opinion haha! They paved the way for Dodge being the first SRT vehicle that Dodge manufactured and is so well known for nowadays
I'd say he was a "newbee" MR2 driver & did the classic "oh shit it's drifting" & braked & steered "out of drift" too hard it just Yoyoed back & 4th till the "bottle top spin" took over....
This is a decent buyers guide but you forgot to mention the different Gens of 3sgte , gen4 and gen5 turbo swaps!! They are more common now than stock engine layouts. Mentioning how swaps play a role into the cost like the 2gr engine as well being a v6 NA. They are quite common as well! Good video keep it up man
Thanks man! I’ll add that next time!
Can u explain what gen 3sgte is best, im looking at buying an sw20 and some have 4th and 5th gen 3sgte’s idk the difference
No... this is an MR2 specific video. The MR2 only came with the gen 2 or gen 3... any gen after that came in other cars.. NOT the MR2
@@mrsquirrel8079 yeah but as an mr2 owner with one of those motors, it’s the most common motor in an mr2 in the us next to maybe the NA motors. Gen4 and 5 were cheapest most accessible swap to a daily turbo MR2s. Just because Toyota didn’t do it factory don’t mean it’s not worth mention. As this is a buyers guide, it would be right to guide you on the fact that MOST mr2 for sale in the US are projects of someone else you’re taking on! Usually swaps
i got mine 96 sw20 turbo aqua marine pearl rhd a year ago and man do i love the it the mr2 has been my dream car since a child and to finally own one its amazing and the rarity is dope. daily it for the summers and its the best drive i ever had in a car plus all the performance mods i have been doing to it.
Sw20 was in production from 1989.
One of my favorites.
People give it a bad rep because they don't know how to drive a mid engine car especially around corners.
Exaclty!!!
Missed the most common engine of the lot, the rev3 3sge in the rev3,4,5 mr2 NA. 172hp and 168 in rev4/5 due to egr valve. rev2 was first for door crash bars. rev5 was mostly the 168hp rev3 3sge. other than red stiching, red and chrome gauges the rev5 got the lightest wheels and light lug nuts, speed flaps and 4 way ABS. with only around 1000 cars being made with the Beams in Japan only. OEM roof seals are cheaper than 4 new tyres! The chassis code tells you if there is a diff (although swaps happen a lot). Early cars could have lsd as an option. Midnight Blue is quite rare and only on the later revs, sonic shaddow also only on later 4 and 5 rev cars..
but hey, at least this is some mr2 content
6:09. There is no "rear diff". The MR2 uses a transaxle, like a FWD car, and as such, the diff is buried inside the transmission.
Yep, exactly - perfectly put in words! Dumb ass mistake by producer of video. Quite a few other details missed also. Poor research.....
I’ve seeen so many mr2z in the last year people are importing them left and right! Just on the island of Oahu alone there is around 30 different mr2z that show up at local meets right now! Very cool to see the spaceship Toyota getting the love! Cheap power and fun for now $$$$$!
Wow thats really cool! I want one to haha
Seem to be gaining popularity in recent years.
Owned the first and second gen and driven third gen MR2s my favorite is the 1st second has to be the third purely for handling and the least favorite to me driving wise was the second gen. The 91-92 pre suspension revision definitely was twitchy at the rear. Also felt the most detached from the road compared to the other two. The second gen definitely is the most beautifully styled subjectively but I still don't regret selling mine.
(Edit) also sadly the US got the 5SFEs for the NA version not the 3SGE which is an absolute dog in the MR2, it's torque drives like a truck and just has nothing above about 4k. Definitely need a turbo or 2GR to liven things up.
My very first car was an OG 91 MR2 Turbo moonroof car in 2012 that my dad bought me as a bday present/HS Graduation present! It was stock with 172k miles besides a catback exhaust and Tein lowering springs! I still have it til this day and I'm still building it haha 😂 I can't wait until I get it to the point that I've had envisioned for it all these years because it still needs ALOT of work and money to get it there but that's all part of the fun and the journey ya know?!?!
It now has a JDM 3rd gen 3SGTE, E153 LSD trans WITH ABS, Greddy TD06 20G Turbo, ECUMASTER EMU ECU, Kouki taillights, 93+ turbo brakes with stoptech rotors, dual 12" Spal engine lid fans, double staggered Volk AV 2 piece wheels (that I got for only $800 with brand new Falkens on them, and alot of other supporting and aesthetic mods. Has the blue interior and I wanna swap it to black and get the Recaro confetti 🎊 seats, needs alot of body work and a re-spray, Fortune Auto coilovers as their shop in VA is literally a 10 minute drive from my house, upgrade the fuel system more (just has stock 540cc injectors and a Warlbro 255 fuel pump (have a RacerX fuel rail for it and 1200cc injectors), do ARP headstuds, swap to coil on plug over the current distributor ignition system, and more haha! Hoping to make low 300whp on punp 93 and 375-400whp on E85 when I'm able to get it tuned hopefully within the next 6 months or so. Can't wait to make this childhood dream car a reality some day!!!
I have my eye on a Solar yellow MR2 (twincam 16 3S-GE) down the road from where I live, glad to finally find some info about its generation.
Basically a great car with considerable potential. A simple drive brings many a smile. Original owner 91T. Parts availability can be challenging. Have seen on UA-cam 23 model preview but electric
or ICE is a question as well as pricing.
One of my biggest regrets was selling my 91 mr2. Now the market is 3x the price, but I will definitely own another one
Same, but probably to a lesser degree. Mine was pretty shot by the time I got rid of it. I wasn't making much at the time, was divorced and paying child support, so upkeep wasn't much of a consideration. I do intend to get another one, though. Also had an '85 back in the early 90's. Man, was that car fun!
there was also a super rare sky blue color but I don't have popularity numbers on it, extremely rare though from what I remember. My first MR2 was turquoise pearl, I liked it, but would have preferred red...looking to buy another one very soon.
I had the sky blue one in the UK. while doing work on it it got stolen outside the garage. It was the best one I had now got the red one
Obligatory comment i must leave on any MR2 guide like this, the snap oversteer especially on 93-95 SW20 can be completely solved with a bit of simple tuning. Instead of explaining it look into Steve "XHead" Hoelscher work on the matter, it should be archived on some forums and easy to find, and pretty well known in the NA autocross community in that at any major event you can often find a MR2 owner who has either done the changes or knows of it, part of this is that it was his suggested guidelines that lead to the SW20 making a huge return to many street tire classes, claimed many champion titles at national level for multiple drivers and owners. It completely transforms the cars. Said changes can be applied to any MR2, but 93-95 is a cool year because no modification to pick up points is required for it to really shine, just some basic ride height, spring, sway bar and potential tire size stuff.
Despite it being well known within certain circles i never see it often discussed by many onlookers or new to the fold, and the changes honestly transform the car into a drifty (in a good way) motorboat that bonds with the driver rather then wild animal that tries to bite.
Great video all around otherwise Hako
I had a SW21 NA with a sunroof it's a 1993 model in a special metallic light Blue the last year the MR2 was made in the USA and then I sold it! It was a very rare car with Blue interior.
What was the reason for selling it?
@@hakosan86 I wanted a 94 Mustang with REAL air scoops then sold that to get a SAAB 90-3 SE then I sold that to get a E46 ZHP sedan and I still have that car today for 5yrs
@@Ayixlia oh nice!
Underrated for sure!
Got myself a rev 5 with a purple colour stock from factory I believe they called it cosmo blue seems pretty rare but is it?
Would grip heavy, and slightly wider tires help with the oversteer? And does sway bars and new suspension work too?
Yes both would help with oversteer
3:20 are the new one plug n play if you have an MR2 with old one? Can i just change it if i want a new one?
You need a very fast pair of hands to be able to get to grips to understand the MR2s handling
@3:18 what tail lights are this. Would go great with my build
Did you ever find out ? I want to know as well
Great Video few months ago I bought a 91 Turbo, original paint motor, turbo t-tops-no leaks no rust. I had to replace the brake pads all around and e-brake cables but nothing else. Oh and the radio comes on, CD player plays and cassette plays once I found the security code in the owners manual but "no" sound from the speakers? Any ideas what that might be? Amp maybe? Car has 110K original miles and original paint looks almost new.
For the leaky ttops, Shin Etsu grease is readily available and will soften/expand the rubber and stop the leaks
Man I keep seeing the mr2 and the more I see it the more I want it
Buy one before it’s too late!
i have the 5sfe with the turbo exterior features. it’s slow…beyond slow but still fun
Hey man theres nothing wrong with having a slow car that looks fast lol as long as you have fun with it
I think my MR2 is or at least was Aquamarine pearl it’s a ‘91 NA T-Top (SW21). Wherever the paint still looks decent it’s a dark blue-ish green and you can see the blue pearl in it kind of like Honda’s Nighthawk Black
It really is a beautiful color
Driving this uphill on my sim is a lot of fun but downhill is where i started having the snap problem it wasnt bad, i started learning to drift it on flat ground but i need a different setup than the one i get and nobody is interested in making stock versions of this
@0:47 - Dealerships in UK still sold SW20's into 2000.
Thats sick!
can we get a 300zx buyers guide
Definitely!
I own one I am either going to get rid of or keep and try to fix up a lot of interest in it
what about the w20 with 3sfe engine i found one RHD here in spain and im buying it next month, is that rare enough?¿
and its aqua marine pearl as well.
3sfe was the worse engine to come in the mr2 but i’d still get it because an mr2 is better than no mr2
I would say all those problems are nothing compared to rust,bought mine looked without rust with factory under body protection..after removing under body protection ended up welding 6 months ...a lot of rust is hidden on main chassis under air intake on quarter panels...in the end for non DiY guys could cost a lot to fix (10-20K)
The stock suspension sucks. Have to get Wilhelm Racing Kit to correct the geometry otherwise handling is dangerous imo.
I want to see you do something on the lexus sc300
Doing that very soon!
The baby blue or aka Caribbean blue colour is a extremely rare colour I had one in a gts model coupe in 08. Someone stole it and I never saw it again😢. Now I've got a red one for a project
MR2 snap oversteer is really bad. I watched a video where MR2s are racing each other on the circuit, almost everyone had snap over steel somewhere along the race.
U need to put the price range and the miles for the car and what's a good deal! Pls
See i did that when i started doing these but the market is changing so quickly that if i put the prices in this video, it probably wont be correct in a couple months.
@@hakosan86 damn well hopefully in the future man cuhz these videos are dope! can u give a estimation for then like rn bro the a good deal. like good miles and price . for a budget ?
You can still get a clean NA car for under 8K, sold a 1991 one owner NA for 8K here in CA just about a month or so ago. Turbos expect to pay 10k+ for "ok ones" and 20k+ for show room nice ones. Imported models still can be had under 16k they are rather inexpensive still in Japan. If you privately import one you may even be able to find one under 10k.
I just bought a nice running 91 sw20 for $800, deals are out there
steel mist gray is the rarest color by far and its not even in the list?
Not a us color sorry
@@hakosan86 yes it is for 91-92
Really? Isn’t steel mist gray one of the more common colors? I have a 93 in SMG
Best years are the 90’s era cars
Oh yeaaa!!! Now I will say the early-mid 2000's also had some amazing vehicles as well....I mean honestly we've had ALOT of great cars even through today's period in time, but yes, those the 90's and early 2000's cars were just real raw driver's cars!
Some other amazing vehicles from the early 2000's that have that gnarly raw experience would be your 03-04 Terminator Cobras (I had a *bone stock 03 Zinc Yellow vert), the later year 03-04 C5Z06's, and a super slept on American (import style) car were the 03-05 Dodge Neon SRT4's! Those cars never got the praise they deserved in my humble opinion haha! They paved the way for Dodge being the first SRT vehicle that Dodge manufactured and is so well known for nowadays
4:21 what in the world was this guy on? Has to be the worst driver ever lol
I'd say he was a "newbee" MR2 driver & did the classic "oh shit it's drifting" & braked & steered "out of drift" too hard it just Yoyoed back & 4th till the "bottle top spin" took over....
@@somerandomgoogleuser3374 yea lol definitely a rookie
I had a 1993 MR2 with 156Pk. gen 2. EU, sold it
4:19
I’m actually watching it to learn what is snap means
Bro odfly specific😊
Mr2 in today’s economy: More than you can afford pal.
Advice: Don't oversteer into a family of 4 and their dog
The Turquoise Blue is by Far The Ugliest Color out of The Five
MAKE ULTIMATE BUYERS GUIDE in Toyota Celica 5th Gen,,
What wheels are those 😮 in the thumb nail
Thank you for the video. Your intonation makes it difficult at times to hear you…
Rare colors cuz they were so ugly.
I luv my Arctic White one. Hard top Gen 4 "Emanuel" transmission!!! Uber low mileage J.D.M
For the leaky ttops, Shin Etsu grease is readily available and will soften/expand the rubber and stop the leaks
Best way to stop the leaking is to buy a hard top 😆.
@@dylan4972 You aren’t wrong 😅
@@paulc.9871 Lol, I have the hard top but can't beat the t-top on a nice day for a drive. I'll give that Shin Etsu grease a go on the window rubber.
also there's modified eccentric guides (the plugs the tbar pins mount into) which offsets the mounting point slightly making the seal much tighter.