Educate me on cheap mid engine transportation

Mostly out of boredom I was on craigslist looking at cars with the search criteria of Rwd, $1000 max price. I noticed something I never noticed before, lots of cheap mr2's and fieros. I have no personal experience with either of these. What are they like to drive? In my mind I picture mad understeer followed by mad oversteer. Is one vastly superior to another? I thought a fiero would be a great place for a supercharged 3800, but I can't think of a good option for a manual trans. I know literally nothing about the Toyota, except that a lot of people love them. How are these cars at autocross? Rallycross? What should a complete ignoramus know about these cars?

Commuter? No fire-os. Me2 for instant gratification.

The MK1 MR2 is one of my favorite cars of all time, had several. Think of them as go karts capable of highway use. Extremely nimble, light and tossable. Not fast in a straight line, but "slow car fast" fun. Dead nuts reliable. They will push in autox, but can be prone to snap oversteer as you would expect. Numbers are getting things on the ground due to rust and kids trashing them. Clean ones are going up in value, I would be weary of a $1000 example.

Fiero, in the early years, can't compare. Lots of cheap parts bin GM junk. Still fun cars but not close to the MR2. Later models were really good, but now command good money.

Toyota previa.

I loved my mr2, it was a 2nd gen turbo that loved to oversteer before you could think. I didnt die

99-04 911 Carerras can be found around GRM HQ area from as low as $12k. I was recently on the hunt for one but opted for the S2K instead. More rear engined instead of mid but close enough.

The Answer. Mid front, RWD, how did 5 people respond and not say that?

Mid-rear, MR-2 is about it for inexpensive, 914 if you are a masochist, but they are getting to be not cheap.

Toebra wrote: The Answer. Mid front, RWD, how did 5 people respond and not say that?

"Mid-front" or "front-mid" or whatever is a marketing term and not a vehicle layout. It's about the same as "road hugging weight" on the marketing BS-o-meter.

Mid engine means the engine is between the passenger compartment and the rear wheels. "Front-mid" just means the front axle centerline was pushed forward a couple inches.

In reply to Knurled:

I generally tend to agree with that though I would grant a few exceptions...the Bill Thomas Cheetah, for example. The engine is closer to dead-center in the wheelbase than it is in any MR2, Ferrari, etc.

Probably nothing with a truly committed "front-mid" setup for anything close to a grand, though. And at least around here the $1000 MR2s and Fieros are total rotboxes anyway...

Trackmouse wrote: Commuter? No fire-os.

With the Fieros pushing 30 years old, all the ones that were going to catch fire already have caught fire, leaving us with just the safe ones. It's like automotive natural selection. Besides, it was only the carbureted 4-cylinder cars that had the fire issue, which should be avoided anyways.

So it sounds like

Mr2>fiero, do we all agree on that?

I would like some more input on the driving experience as a fun car (not a commuter). Above it's described as a street legal go cart, I like the sound of that. I know, I know the answer is the answer, but there's something about miatas, they just don't do it for me.

I had a turbo 2nd gen MR2, loved it and yes the sudden snap throttle oversteer did not kill me, but tried on several occasions. I inherited a 1985 Fiero GT with the V6 and automatic, drove it for several months, broke the 3 speed autobox, ended up installing a 4 speed auto (love GM parts interchangability) and quickly sold it before I broke it again. No where even close to the refinement of the MR2.

I hear you on Miatas, they never did anything for me either (perhaps my British car snobbery) but after driving a friends MX5 and now owning one, it is by the far one of the most entertaining daily drivers I have ever owned. I took it to the recent TRF summer party and despite hearing jabs from my British car friends all weekend, they could not believe how fast it was and were astonished by the handling (I have added Mazdaspeed springs, Bilstein sport shocks and RX8 sway bars, all found on Ebay cheap). My friend who owns a 944, TR6, TR8 and TR250 said he never should have drove it.

gearheadmb wrote: Mostly out of boredom I was on craigslist looking at cars with the search criteria of Rwd, $1000 max price. I noticed something I never noticed before, lots of cheap mr2's and fieros. I have no personal experience with either of these. What are they like to drive? In my mind I picture mad understeer followed by mad oversteer. Is one vastly superior to another? I thought a fiero would be a great place for a supercharged 3800, but I can't think of a good option for a manual trans.

Maybe im confused here but they came with manual trans that will bolt straight to the 3800, so im not seeing the issue. From what i remember i think the 4 speed manuals can handle good power along with the 5 speed that was behind the v6, i think its the 5 speed 4 cylinder fiero's that you want to avoid if you plan on adding more power.

Also on the topic of MR2's, once you get use the the snap oversteer you can almost predict it and react accordingly. Autocross is a great and safe place to do this to learn the feel of the car. Once you experience it a few times and learn to handle it its not really an issue.