Well, seeing as you're only young once, I went for it and in December '96 I bought a Red Mk2 MR2 - and every time I've driven it since then its put a huge smile on my face.

The car isn't blistering fast as it has the 120hp 3S-FE engine in it, but it still does the 0-60 sprint in under 10 seconds. Strangely, recently test driving the '94 UK GT Coupe with the 3S-GE 174bhp engine, I didn't notice any difference in performance between the cars upto 5,000 rpm - above there, the GT red lines further around, giving it the bhp advantage, but to drive in normal conditions you wouldn't notice the difference.

What really makes the MR2 amazing is the awesome handling of the car - it just hangs on in there. I've not yet been able to push it hard enough to loose the back end in a big way, but then again I'm not that keen for it to happen!

One of the best things I've done since I bought it was to change the nearly new Goodyear Eagle NCT-2 tyres fitted on the front of the car for a pair of Yokohama A510's. I was finding that the NCT-2's had very poor road grip on the light front end of the MR2, resulting in frequent wheel lock-ups and slides when braking even moderately on wet surfaces. Yoko A510's on the other hand have been marvellous - tons of grip, and never a worry even in the wet.

Since I bought it I've fitted a Pioneer CD RDS stereo, which took me a couple of days to do over the Christmas holidays of '96. In order to replace the standard speakers, I had to take most of the interior panels out so I could add chunky speaker wiring, but in taking the car apart I could appreciate how well it has been constructed.

If you're thinking about buying one, in '96 I found the Exchange and Mart web site very useful for getting prices of MR2's in East Anglia - but since then, other UK sites such as Autotrader have arrived, making on line hunting for the perfect MR2 much easier !

If money were no object, I'd be seriously interested in getting a 235BHP Turbo MR2 imported from Japan - the only problem with this car being getting hold of parts in the UK, as it was never sold here. Otherwise, I'd like a '93 or early '94 in the light Metallic Blue - but in the meanwhile, I'm more than happy with my coupé.

  Back to my MR2 Turbo page ..