Hi Guys, Im New!

[UKPulse]

Just a thought... there's a '91 Soarer 2.5TT going thru a dealer (not Lexus) for £6495 and another going privately for £3495. The private one has done 70K miles, and the ad says it's in excellent condition. Not sure about the mileage on the one from the dealer.

What would you expect to pay for a '91 2.5TT then? Is the dealer creaming it, or is the private one really a moose?

[ColinBarber]

Thought an MR2 would be a bit of fun compared to the IS300's "waftiness", but now I'm thinking that the novelty of 90 mile round trips to Portsmouth in an MR2 would eventually wear off and become a chore!

Not in a MR2 Turbo it wouldn't. The MKIIs are comfortable and the Turbo is just great fun. '94+ ones are the best as they have the 245PS engine. The most fun car I have ever had, above the Supra TT.

[UKPulse]

The problem I have is that I set a budget of around £3½-4K for a second car (preferably including the first years insurance). Tempting as the MR2 turbo is, a half decent '94 is going to blow the budget big time :(

[ColinBarber]

Even the 220PS 91' models are going to be fun, should be able to get one for £4k these days. Much better than the NA ones and you can get an extra 20bhp+ for a few £s worth of mods.

[Steve]

you really have to weigh up the difference with the MR2 and the soarer...

MR2 is a Mid Engined sports car

Soarer is a Sports cruiser.. but can handle itself very well and is quick... the MR2 turbo is a tad quicker... i had the choice over the MR2 a while back but my legs are too long and they were round my ears... just was not that comfortable.

Soarer is a coupe... rear seating is restricted... large people will not fit in the back.. but you get tons of room in the front and lexus luxury.

4K is abot right for a 91

I picked my 92 manual in silver for £4895 and it is immaculate!

[Micelis]

Welcome to the club!

man you're one lucky guy, that's what i call a bargain! if you spend some money on fixing the problems you're having you'll still have a great car for a £1000 or so! you'll be making a nice profit selling it!! :D

whats your secret eh!? I always seem to do it the other way round, buy one at a high price cause i think itll be good, find out it's crap and spend a fortune on fixing it, then only to find i cant afford it any longer and having to sell it at a loss!

[UKPulse]

Well went and looked at the MR2 this evening. Fun but I need to try out the Soarer too. Gonna try and view it this weekend B)

[Steve]

oh.. remember that the soarer has the 1JZ GTE engine in it.. very similar to the supra but tad smaller engine

these are very strong engines to upgrade on... modders dream!

had it again today... came out of the tyre place and 3 blokes looking round the car... "nice car mate"

I smugly said "cheers" .... i nearly had to ask if they could help me get my head in the door it was so big! :P

[Daverb]

I was looking at it again last night, really is some machine!

I was noticing the subs and speakers in the rear, wired up through amps! The petrol tank in the boot! The seats are all clean with no burns or cuts! The engine bay is immaculate, really has to be the best bit about the car! Some engine though, I just stood and looked at it for about 5 minutes going round all the different bits and bobs, must be easy to work on!

Ill get some pics guys!

Cheers,

Dave.

[o0O555O0o]

Funny I ended up buying mine after originally looking at buying a T-bar. Its not until you research the Soarers you realise just how lacking the MR2 is under the bonnet

The Soarer has to be one of the most underrated cars out there. It costs a third of a new LS200 with much more power, sophistication and added extras.

Someone mentioned the TT v the V8 - well the production statistics quote the TT's 0-60 at 6.5 and the V8 around 6.9. However the TT is very moddable and it shouldn't be hard to get times of well under six seconds with decent boost. I personally prefer the V8 to the earlier TT's because I don't want to have to worry about turbo maintenance and just love the added extras in the V8 Limited edition. But thats not to say the V8 is slow, it easily canes most cars off the line that cost ten times more.

Lets face it probably the biggest thing putting most people off is the insurance or cost of maintaining the car, i.e. a car that is JDM spec not UK. For my age its hella expensive but I look at it this way. I'm only 23, Driving a V8 supercar, and I paid under £8 for the privilige. The up front capital saving on the car means even after repairs I'm still winning!

[Steve]

probably one of the only cars in the toyota range to hold its value very well too!

[o0O555O0o]

The Soarer was originally for sale at around £45,000 marketed during the Japanese boom period. People had money to burn and were willing to spend it on top luxury cars like the Soarer. Sure its depreciated a lot since the early nineties but if you buy it now, you buy at the bottom of the curve with zero depreciation. In fact any investments you make e.g. ICE, body kits, mods, will raise the value of the car. I take great comfort in that when I see people in their 50 grand cars knowing I bought one at a fraction of the cost but is just as good inside (and out) if not better.

I can't understand why anyone would by a brand new car, why pay the depreciation!

[Steve]

good point there mate

:)

[nickmoul]

Soarers are great and now are less unusual than 10 years ago when I had mine for 4 years. I found then 2 problems

1. Police watch you alot, alot alot.

2. You need traction control if you're going to use it in icy weather. We get that here in yorkshire and I nearly wrote off my 2 day old one (Jap Import) on a straight road doing 40 mph. it went thru a hedge backwards and cost 000's to repair (thanks for insurance). I found the lack of confidence that no Traction control creates was a a real bore, especially in Winter.

3. Back is quite good, esp for a coupe

4. Mechanically I loved the V8, it was ssssoooooo faassst.

5. I remember boot wasn't too bad either?

I'd be interested in a V8 fully loaded in good nick at under £5k.....

[Steve]

must say traction control is needed... mine does not have it but i do intend on sticking on some really decent tyres in the winter

i was traveling down a dual carriageway doing about 60.. wanted to over take and put my foot down.. turbos cut in and the wheels were spinning leaving me all snakey... was good fun... but dodgy when you dont expect it

I would like to try the V8 though... has more refinement.

luckily Bournemouth does not get too ICY... so wont be too bad.

[ColinBarber]

Its not until you research the Soarers you realise just how lacking the MR2 is under the bonnet

Someone mentioned the TT v the V8 - well the production statistics quote the TT's 0-60 at 6.5 and the V8 around 6.9.

'94 MR2 Turbo 0-62 is around 5.5 seconds. I wouldn't say that is lacking under the bonnet.

[o0O555O0o]

I'd say the 2 litre UK spec one is.

Traction control is definitely useful in this tail happy petrol monster, I had two options when I bought mine, car w/trc @ 5750 wo/trc @ 4400 I decided the TRC wasn't worth £1300 but I changed my mind after spinning 360 degrees into a ditch in icy conditions. Driving this car properly needs a major adjustment in driving style (and ability?)

Steve the TT is even more tail happy so be gentle to start with :winky:

Apparently aftermarket TRC is available from racelogic for around a grand but thats far superior to the stock TRC toyota provide.

[ColinBarber]

Yes, the Racelogic traction control is very good plus you can get options (launch control, full throttle gear changes, adjustable slip control etc)

http://www.racelogic.co.uk/traction.htm

[UKPulse]

Well I had a look at this '92 MR2 T-Bar (non-turbo). I liked the syling, the semi-convertible feel of the car, the mid-engine rear wheel handling (chuckability). I did'nt like the (relative) lack of shove, the intrusive engine noise at 70/75mph, the fact that this was an imported non-turbo model. Probably what spoiled it the most was that it wasn't a very good example - badly scuffed alloys, paint flaking off the rubbing strips, lacquer peeling of the bonnet edges, discolouration (oxidation) on the front wings, and a very very tired interior. Add to this the fact that it had done 62,000 miles & he hadn't had the cam belt changed yet!

Tomorrow I'm going to look at a '92 Soarer 4.0 V8 - dark green, leather, electric everything - and the lady tells me it's got a reversing camera and TV...??? (Would that be an aftermarket add-on?). I'm told that it's been garaged for the last year & just kept 'ticking over' so to speak, but I'm guessing that shouldn't be a problem.

I was angling towards the 2.5TT thinking it would be a bit sharper, but the above example is only 10 miles down the road from me (Worthing, so not far from Bournemouth eh?) so it would be rude not to check it out. At £5995 it's a bit more than I wanted to pay, but if it's a fine example then I'll be sorely tempted!

Talked to a mechanic down at the local Lexus dealer yesterday. He couldn't praise it enough - "Helluva lot of car for yer money mate! Gorgeous cars!". Said the only issue was parts availability.

So will I regret having not test driven an MR2 Turbo then? Should I really try out a 2.5TT also? My trouble is I like my creature comforts as well as my fun....... :winky:

[ColinBarber]

I think most of the 4.0 soarers have the reversing camera and tv screen. I think the 2.5TT is the way to go though. But test drive an MR2 T. Even just to elliminate it, you will always wonder otherwise.

[mudzs]

Probaly a silly question but is the engine in the 4.0 soarer the same as the LS400 engine.

[Steve]

yes

[Steve]

Well I had a look at this '92 MR2 T-Bar (non-turbo). I liked the syling, the semi-convertible feel of the car, the mid-engine rear wheel handling (chuckability). I did'nt like the (relative) lack of shove, the intrusive engine noise at 70/75mph, the fact that this was an imported non-turbo model. Probably what spoiled it the most was that it wasn't a very good example - badly scuffed alloys, paint flaking off the rubbing strips, lacquer peeling of the bonnet edges, discolouration (oxidation) on the front wings, and a very very tired interior. Add to this the fact that it had done 62,000 miles & he hadn't had the cam belt changed yet!

Tomorrow I'm going to look at a '92 Soarer 4.0 V8 - dark green, leather, electric everything - and the lady tells me it's got a reversing camera and TV...??? (Would that be an aftermarket add-on?). I'm told that it's been garaged for the last year & just kept 'ticking over' so to speak, but I'm guessing that shouldn't be a problem.

I was angling towards the 2.5TT thinking it would be a bit sharper, but the above example is only 10 miles down the road from me (Worthing, so not far from Bournemouth eh?) so it would be rude not to check it out. At £5995 it's a bit more than I wanted to pay, but if it's a fine example then I'll be sorely tempted!

Talked to a mechanic down at the local Lexus dealer yesterday. He couldn't praise it enough - "Helluva lot of car for yer money mate! Gorgeous cars!". Said the only issue was parts availability.

So will I regret having not test driven an MR2 Turbo then? Should I really try out a 2.5TT also? My trouble is I like my creature comforts as well as my fun....... :winky:

parts availability is not bad.. 2 day wait for parts for mine.

the v8 is only half second behind the TT 0-60... but you feel the punch of the turbos

first off you should drive the v8 just so you can feel how comfortable they really are.

Also this v8.. is it Air, coil or active suspension?

[UKPulse]

parts availability is not bad.. 2 day wait for parts for mine.

the v8 is only half second behind the TT 0-60... but you feel the punch of the turbos

first off you should drive the v8 just so you can feel how comfortable they really are.

Also this v8.. is it Air, coil or active suspension?

2 days? That's good!

The lady didn't mention suspension, said that she didn't know too much of the technical detail but that hubby would be able to explain all when I visit the car tomorrow. I knew there were air/coil variants, but active!? A la Lotus, Citroen Activa, etc? Bet that's nice, although the simplest set up (coil?) is presumably the cheapest/most reliable?

Sounds like the V8 and the TT are close in performance terms, so does it come down to running costs & reliability? Maybe the V8 will cost more to run, not least because there's more "toys" to go wrong!? Do the V8's have TRC as standard? My Nissan 200SX was bad enough, now these stories of stepping the back out so easily are alarming me :o :winky:

1992(K) LEXUS SOARER 4ltr v8, 100,000 (approx) miles, £5,995ono, Green, Automatic, ABS, CD Player, Cruise Control, Air Conditioning, Stereo, Electric Windows, Alarm, Power Assisted Steering, Alloy Wheels, Remote Central Locking, Electric Mirrors, Immobiliser, Exc cond inside and out, E/seats, Reversing Camera & TV, Full leather interior & new MOT.

Also available, but a lot further away from me is...

1993 LEXUS TOYOTA LEXUS SOARER 2.5 TWIN TURBO, 52,295 miles, £5,999, Drk Green Metallic, Automatic, ABS, Cruise Control, Air Conditioning, Stereo, Electric Windows, Central Locking, Power Assisted Steering, Alloy Wheels, Electric Mirrors, Grey velour interior with absolutely no wear. The rolling chassis based on Lexus LS400, and the engine same as Toyota Supra. Professional electronic conversion from km to mph, some Japanese service history also available, MOT March (2004), Tax August (2003) Any questions answered. More pictures available. A WHOLE LOT OF POWER AND LUXURY and in excellent condition throughout.

[Steve]

no different to an MR2 back end.. dont forget the pendulam theory with a mid engined car

the problem is the amount of power to the wheels.

Myself i would not care if i had a v8 or a TT

V8 would sound awesome with a straight through exhaust!

But traction control is available on some models.. you can tell this by a switch under your left knee.. left of the steering wheel... if there is a blank plate then it does not have TRAC