If you own one, then you'll feel the year you own is the best one, and the color you have is the fastest.

 

precat issue doesnt hit the 2003-2005 cars as often. all years of the spyder are pretty much the same. 03 and above come with a limited slip diff. personally i feel the additions of things like lsd and traction control reduce the fun. the majority of people tend to not even want one. just one more thing to go wrong in my mind. and i feel most drivers shouldnt need one.

03 and above have foglites and cooler looking tail lights. i personally prefer the front end of the 00-02. however the tail lights on the newer ones look cooler to me. the 00-02s look more beefy kinda like the front end of a 350z. the 03+ makes the car look like its smiling (read "girly").

00-01 only the manual was offered. in 02 a manu-matic was offered as a 5 speed. 03+ both were offered except for the manu-matic was changed to a 6 speed. leather was also available after 02. 03+ have chrome accents on some of the interior instruments. 03+ also was given slightly more structural rigitity by the addition of underside plates. you can also buy those plates and install yourself if u choose the older model.

obviously the 00-02's will be more affordible. and not just by a little bit either. when the changed 03+ came out the price of the original ones dropped drastically.

there are + and - of both styles. its really more about personal preferance based on the lookes of the cars. both cars are mechanically 99.9% identical. both cars also come with permagrin. hope this helps out a little. either way you go, you will fall in love with this one-of-a-kind little go kart of a car.

EDIT: not all cars 03+ came with LSD, of course. typo on my part.

 

Originally posted by spyderguy81
precat issue doesnt hit the 2003-2005 cars as often. all years of the spyder are pretty much the same. 03 and above come with a limited slip diff. personally i feel the additions of things like lsd and traction control reduce the fun. the majority of people tend to not even want one. just one more thing to go wrong in my mind. and i feel most drivers shouldnt need one.

03 and above have foglites and cooler looking tail lights. i personally prefer the front end of the 00-02. however the tail lights on the newer ones look cooler to me. the 00-02s look more beefy kinda like the front end of a 350z. the 03+ makes the car look like its smiling (read "girly").

00-01 only the manual was offered. in 02 a manu-matic was offered as a 5 speed. 03+ both were offered except for the manu-matic was changed to a 6 speed. leather was also available after 02. 03+ have chrome accents on some of the interior instruments. 03+ also was given slightly more structural rigitity by the addition of underside plates. you can also buy those plates and install yourself if u choose the older model.

obviously the 00-02's will be more affordible. and not just by a little bit either. when the changed 03+ came out the price of the original ones dropped drastically.

there are + and - of both styles. its really more about personal preferance based on the lookes of the cars. both cars are mechanically 99.9% identical. both cars also come with permagrin. hope this helps out a little. either way you go, you will fall in love with this one-of-a-kind little go kart of a car.

Great response...I appreciated it. I think I'm leaning towards an 04 or 05 at this point, but I'm not entirely sure. Also, I think yellow, so I hope it is the fastest.

 

For autocross, in stock class, drivers say the 2000-02 are the hot ticket. The 03+ got an extra 70 pounds of bracing and the general consensus seems to be the it's not worth the weight... even with the LSD you get.

Undoubtedly, the 03+ have fewer precat problems, but gutting them is a 2-3 hour affair for someone who's never looked under the car before, so you might as well get the piece of mind.... it doesn't even trip a CEL or anything.

The SMT (aka "paddle shift") versions generally are a touch slower on upshifts, but downshift beautifully. They're great for cruising and even for spirited driving, but if you want that last tenth of a second or so, get the manual.

Personally, I think the 2000-2002 taillights look the best, but of course opinions are like... well.. you know. But the 03+ body-color-matched side vents look nicer in virtually everyone's opinion. 03+ also got HID lights in a chrome-like housing. I think the chrome looks like crud, but the charcoal-black housings in the 00-02 versions are no beauty prize winners themselves. A lot of guys remove the plastic cover and paint the headlight housings to match their car.

Foglights on the 03+ would be nice for distance driving at night, but again, it's not the prettiest nose in the world.

 

Originally posted by AttorneyMike+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (AttorneyMike)</div>

<!--QuoteBegin-spyderguy81

precat issue doesnt hit the 2003-2005 cars as often. all years of the spyder are pretty much the same. 03 and above come with a limited slip diff. personally i feel the additions of things like lsd and traction control reduce the fun. the majority of people tend to not even want one. just one more thing to go wrong in my mind. and i feel most drivers shouldnt need one.

03 and above have foglites and cooler looking tail lights. i personally prefer the front end of the 00-02. however the tail lights on the newer ones look cooler to me. the 00-02s look more beefy kinda like the front end of a 350z. the 03+ makes the car look like its smiling (read "girly").

00-01 only the manual was offered. in 02 a manu-matic was offered as a 5 speed. 03+ both were offered except for the manu-matic was changed to a 6 speed. leather was also available after 02. 03+ have chrome accents on some of the interior instruments. 03+ also was given slightly more structural rigitity by the addition of underside plates. you can also buy those plates and install yourself if u choose the older model.

obviously the 00-02's will be more affordible. and not just by a little bit either. when the changed 03+ came out the price of the original ones dropped drastically.

there are + and - of both styles. its really more about personal preferance based on the lookes of the cars. both cars are mechanically 99.9% identical. both cars also come with permagrin. hope this helps out a little. either way you go, you will fall in love with this one-of-a-kind little go kart of a car.

Great response...I appreciated it. I think I'm leaning towards an 04 or 05 at this point, but I'm not entirely sure. Also, I think yellow, so I hope it is the fastest.[/b]

oh, it is. trust me.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

Great response...I appreciated it. I think I'm leaning towards an 04 or 05 at this point, but I'm not entirely sure. Also, I think yellow, so I hope it is the fastest.[/b]

It's the safest color, anyway.

 

White is by far the slowest color, but unless you're

that's the one you want!

 

IMHO 2005 is by far the best year...

why?

2005 is the year a bought my 2001

 

In my experience yellow is the least gay color.

That and you'll find insects hapily perched on your ride everytime you park. Don't worry though, the speed knocks them off.

 

My 2 cents...and keep in mind that I've only owned the car since Oct. 2005, so I have less experience than others....

I have a 2004 6-spd SMT without LSD. I prefer all the 2003-2005 appearance changes. I have seen evidence of only one case of a later model year having a precat problem. It was a 2003 in England I think. If you go the SMT route then buying a 2003-05 will get you the improved ECU, which ironed out some early SMT problems.

Two other minor issues with earlier versus later models that I can think of, but I am not sure these correspond to the 2003 changes. One is a problem with the engine cover release mechanism or cable. It sometimes fails on earlier models. Another is a stock antenna difference. Later models have power antennas. I don't think the earlier models had this, but I'm not 100% sure. Many folks replaced their anetnnas altogether anyway.

If you are going to race the car (which doesn't interest me) then bracing and suspension become issues. The earlier cars are about 1" lower. I read somewhere on here that the springs were lengthened in later years to conform to some safety regulation in Europe. (I can't verify that reason.)

As for the bracing added in later years - I love it. I had no idea that it added 70 lbs. It just doesn't look like it would be that heavy. Maybe. Early reviews of the car, circa 2000, often mentioned road vibration, although they said it compared favorably to what was on the market. In repsonse Toyota tightened up the baby with front and rear member bracing (I think). On top of this a lot of folks here add even more bracing or replace the stock 2003-2005 bracing with heftier bracing to help them with racing. So I don't understand this argument that you want to avoid the bracing of the later-year models. Unless they are counterbalancing the extra weight with power-boosting modifications.

Whatever. I added a Corky's breastplate to my already pretty stable 2004 and I am thrilled. It added maybe 5-7 lbs. Big deal. Well worth it.

A final note - my impressions of the SMT transmission. I loved it immediately because it was so nice in heavy traffic. My leg was wearing out on my long commutes with the clutch pedal of my old car. After a couple of months I did miss the involvement of the fully-manual shifting and I thought I could up-shift faster. But like LB says above, down-shifting the SMT is extremely fast and perfect every time. After about 6 months of driving it I no longer prefer the clutch pedal. It surprises me that I am still learning extremely subtle things about the feel of the SMT. I actually prefer it now under all circumstances and wouldn't trade it for a clutch pedal.

Hope this helps. And welcome to SC.

 

+03 did not get HID lights, they are "projector-type" lenses.

The LSD was an OPTION in '04 and '05 and difficult to find.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

Year-to-Year Changes
2001 Toyota MR2 Spyder: Because the MR2 Spyder had been launched late in the 2000 model year, nothing changed for 2001.

2002 Toyota MR2 Spyder: Technology took center stage for 2002, as a unique new transmission became available. Working without a clutch, the optional sequential manual gearbox had no conventional "H" pattern shift lever. Gears could be changed by moving a floor lever forward to upshift, or back to downshift. Or, the driver could use an optional pair of steering-wheel buttons to accomplish the same task. No automatic-shifting capability was provided, and no automatic transmission was available for the MR2 Spyder.

2003 Toyota MR2 Spyder: The sequential manual transmission was upgraded from 5 speeds to 6 for '03. Exterior changes included a reshaped nose, new headlamps and taillights, and color-keyed instead of black side air intakes. MR2 also got restyled gauges, chrome and metal-look interior trim, standard fog lights, and a power antenna in place of a fixed mast type. Wheel size stayed 15 inches in front, but grew to 16 inches in the rear, where slightly wider tires are fitted as well. Cruise control was a new feature with the SMT.

2004 Toyota MR2 Spyder: New for '04 is the availability of a limited-slip differential on the MR2

2005 Toyota MR2 Spyder: New for '05 is a 6-disc CD changer in the dash (US cars)[/b]

Regardless of what year you get, you'll enjoy it.

http://spyderchat.com/history.htm
http://www.spyderchat.com/features.htm

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

leather was also available after 02.[/b]

Not according to my sig.

Anyway, the "which year is best" question comes up a lot. It's almost moot now, since any Spyder shopper is going to be buying a used car. The standard issues pertaining to buying used are the big questions: How many miles? Was it garaged? How well maintained? That sort of thing. And if you get a newer model, you'll have to retrofit a short antenna unless you like the long metal whippy thing waving around and making you look like a dweeb.

 

Originally posted by oilfield_trash
In my experience yellow is the least gay color.

That and you'll find insects hapily perched on your ride everytime you park. Don't worry though, the speed knocks them off.

well incase you haven't realized white spyders dont have bugs on them ever... why ?? because its HOTT!!

 

Originally posted by darkday+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (darkday)</div>

<!--QuoteBegin-oilfield_trash

In my experience yellow is the least gay color.

That and you'll find insects hapily perched on your ride everytime you park. Don't worry though, the speed knocks them off.

well incase you haven't realized white spyders dont have bugs on them ever... why ?? because its HOTT!!

[/b]

Yeah.. that's I what I keep hearing all the

men say!!!!!

 

Originally posted by southerneditor
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE

leather was also available after 02.

Not according to my sig.
[/b][/quote]

My 01 also has the tan and black leather combo.

 

As most informed Spyder drivers know,
except for Corky\'s White
and comes with a generous helping of permagrin. They all do. BTW, 70lbs of bracing? Nope! Just a little more on the '03s, more on the '04 & '05s. All stuff that the earlier Spyders add anyway.

I agree that more important than year is what condition the car is in, care given, TLC, etc. The SMTs are cool & in traffic I can see that as a choice. The downshifts are amazing. The upshifts, well, that was covered above.

The MR2 Spyder is an able roadster & taking a test drive will answer your questions. You will know. Then go get one.
Good luck & keep us posted.

 

Warren O is right on. Looks and condition are the key. Obviously, if money isn't an issue, then I would have to admit that newer may be better. Figure 12-18 hundred difference per model year. Remember, that you can upgrade an ealier model to what pleases your eye. I have an 02, just added 03+ side vents, looking at fogs, and I'll be shi----- in tall clover soon. This site will give you more than enough info to make educated decisions.

 

Originally posted by ptmon+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ptmon)</div>

<!--QuoteBegin-southerneditor

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE

leather was also available after 02.

Not according to my sig.
[/b]

My 01 also has the tan and black leather combo.[/b][/quote]

There's a difference between "port installed - or distributor installed" leather and "factory option" leather.

Most Regional Distributors ripped the cloth guts out (I wish I could find those - probably in a big box somewhere) and installed aftermarket leather. You would've seen an Addendum sticker on the car that probably also included The ToyoCare Paint Sealant and Carbon Dash and maybe wheel locks - all designed to increase MSRP and profit to the distributor/dealer.

In 2003, "The factory option list includes a limited-slip differential, and tan and black leather-trim interior packages with matching-color convertible tops."

 

Originally posted by DaSpyda
There's a difference between "port installed - or distributor installed" leather and "factory option" leather.

Most Regional Distributors ripped the cloth guts out (I wish I could find those - probably in a big box somewhere) and installed aftermarket leather. You would've seen an Addendum sticker on the car that probably also included The ToyoCare Paint Sealant and Carbon Dash and maybe wheel locks - all designed to increase MSRP and profit to the distributor/dealer.

In 2003, "The factory option list includes a limited-slip differential, and tan and black leather-trim interior packages with matching-color convertible tops."

Interesting! Would the leather in a 2003 or newer look different than the leather in my '01? Just curious. I haven't seen another spyder around to compare mine to! My top, seats, the middle of the doors are tan leather, with small holes in them.

 

AttorneyMike,
Another point to keep in mind when shopping for a Spyder, is that the list of options on any year was short, while the list of Standard Features is long. Essentially, most stock Spyders for any of the production years are the same as others for that year except, of course, for the cars that came equipped with the SMT, LSD, or had the leather/tan top option.

Good luck!