I think that when one collects there new car from the garage, its one of the best feelings on eath, especially as a driving enthusiast. Its also a dreaded feeling. Knowing you have commited to pay finance for the next tens of months, or significantly reduced your bank account for a machine which you only spent a limited amount of time driving rather conservatively, it leaves a lot to be expected. When I collected the MR2 today I really hoped to god I would be satisfied with it. It needed to handled well, feel punchy and also bring driver enjoyment. You cant know for sure if what you are buying will achieve all this. All you can do is make a judgment from the conserved short drive with the saleman when you had a test drive.

At least the sun was out which aint bad for December. I’m sure this was a sign from the car gods (it is a convertible). After handing the keys over for the Civic Type-R I felt alittle sad inside. The MR2 was mine now. I remember thinking to myself “is this the right thing to do?”. I suppose I would find out on the way home. My sister climbed into shiney new MR2 which looked so small next to my now ex-Civic. We looked about the cabin and checked the cubie holes, pushed the buttons and finally placed the tax disc. Excellent we was on our way home. I took one last look at my old Milano red civic, and hoped its replacement would bring me as much fun and take as much care of me as the Type-R did.

Becoming familiar with the MR2 on the 20 miles trip back home I noticed a few things. First, my sun visor was loose, annoying yet a simple fix for when I get home. Secondly I am pleasantly surprised with the engine. It pulls extremely well, with a more throaty sound. As I go along I am now in my own time able to feel the car more and enjoy the drive more so that the test drive. Thankfully I was pleased. Its instantaneous handling and precise steering is exactly to my prefrence. Its much more fun that the Elise I test drove. Braking has a good firm pressure to the pedal and works perfectly in conjuntion with the steering feel. You can really feel which tire has how much grip, this in my eyes is how every drivers car should be. But strangly enough the steering and brakes was lacking in the Type-R, So having this information been fed through my body was welcomed. It was like switching from 56k to broadband, I was feeling so much more, and all this from mundane city driving.

Adventually we hit the motorway. Time to open the throttle abit. Although the engine sounds quite muted in comparison to my type-R which screamed at everything, it did have abit of a grunty burble at about 5000rpm. Speed in all gears seemed very reasonable, its not Type-R fast but its no slouch and could definatly keep up with my old Fiesta ST. Another thing you notice is the lower down driving position, even “Small” cars like Corsa’s, Fiesta’s and the like all look large and heavy, and they are heavy, and you can just sense by the way they move that the MR2’s must have massive agility in comparison. Further down the motorway my sister finally persuades me to pull into the service station to take the soft top down, and with that I fear the cold winter child been blasted into my head as I drive at 70mph down the M62,

Suprisingly enough though no cold entered the cabin. There was no wind in the face. Just a steady warm breeze from the heater. Outside air only touch the very top of my head and that was no hassle what so ever. So my first top down motoring drive was a pleasant experience. Fifthteen minutes later I pull up outside my home with my little 4 year old brother, my nan and my other 12 year brother waiting on the pavement for my arrival. They all liked the look of my car especially Coen. I took the “MR2 Passport” which is basically the manual and took it inside for a read. Through-out the day I took my mum, auntie and nan for a drive. Even let my mum drive it herself.

My nan got a drive all the way to Hollingworth lake. This was a great driving for me as I got to drive on country roads where the MR2 really excels and I’m convince would challenge the Type-R. I visited the petrol station and my nan put £10 worth of fuel in for me. All I got back was great praise for the car. Good to be in and great to drive. And that’s exactly my thoughts. To say I’m saving so much money and still having so much fun driving, I’m a happy bunny indeed. I’ve not got the chance to push it today due to driving other people who was excited to check the car out. But what I did achieve was a basic understanding of the cars dynamic set up and ride. Handling and driver enjoyment is the MR2’s priority, I can sense this. Theres still a lot to discover and much much more potential to unlock.

Tommorow I will have a drive to visit Chris and introduce him to my new machine. Also no doubt I will get to push the MR2 abit harder and see how it will cope.