NZ new 1994 MR2 - my future classic

[SDHARRISON]

Hey there. This is my venture into forum participation and will hopefully be of interest to a few of you, and be helpful to me.
TD4567 was sold new by North Shore Toyota in January 1994. To state the obvious ( many non MR2 people don't know..) it is manual, targa top, non turbo as were all NZ new MR2's.
TD4567 has now done 199850 km in it's 29 years, has faded paint and is Very original. My brother bought it nearly 14 years ago at 101000km but since April '22 it has been mine I have the original TNZ sales brochure for this exact car.
TD4567 has been owned by an MR2 owners club member in its earlier life and I'd be stoked to hear from anyone who knows this car.
Current / future plans include overdue maintenance, gradual improvements to its overall condtion as times and funds allow, keeping it as a classic car - it will be 30 years old next birthday ( cheap insurance , and Sunday drives. I have a genuine Toyota cambelt kit to be fitted soon at 200 000km and I'm aiming to cruise to Highlands @ Cromwell for the Toyota Festival at the end of March.
It is currently riding on a matched set of RE003's but unfortunately 225/50/15's aren't available. Can anyone tell me what matched sets of 205/55/15 and 225/50/15 tyres you have used... Falkens? or other?
TD4567 is my 3rd car so I need to keep convincing wifey that its an investment! My daily is an NZ new 2011 RAV4 Ltd manual that tows my Crewcut lawn trailer arounf the suburbs of Tauranga. Also sharing the garage with wife's 2020 CHR is my NZ new 2015 Yaris ( manual of course) that is used by the kids when they are home and is my preferred cheap intercity transport.
Cheers. Hope to meet you at Toyota Festival or an MR2 meet someday.
Shane

[Alsw20]

Hi Shane car looks good and very rare in NZ New. 3rd gen NZ New cars in good nick can command some good $$$$$.

You are right about cheap insurance, I pay $208 a year full comprehensive for my '92 G Limited with AA Classic insurance. Thats the same as three months of insurance for my daily driver Aqua Gs.

Sadly on the tyre front there aren't any options for the correct rear size. Plenty of options for the 195/55R15 or 205/50R15 fronts though. The last owner of my car got one of the last sets of Toyo T1Rs that were readily available in the correct sizes. If you want to keep the stock 15" wheels and want decent rubber you may have to play around with the sizes. RE003s are fantastic tyres and come in a 205/55R15 which is the same rolling diameter as the stock 225s, just 20mm less width. Michelin offer the Pilot Sport 3 in the stock 195/55R15 for the front, or if you wanted a matched set of RE003s Bridgestone do a 195/50R15 which is just a little less rolling diameter than the stock tyres.

[GDII]

Very good to see a nice NZ new example.

Tyres are always a pain for these cars on the 15s. I went 17s because of that.

[Ben]

I've bought some Dunlop Sport FM800s for my 2 after shopping around. I've decided to change to 17" soon though, let me know if you want my 15" tyres, they've got less than 1000Km on them.

[SDHARRISON]

Hey mate. Interested , I'll PM you.
Thanks Shane

[Gaz007]

Hi Shane great to see another MR2 in good condition. The red ones are faster than the others I am running 16" tyres on my car and find they handle well and look nice. A lot of tyre sizes are now hard to get in 14" & 15" to suit the MR2. Hope your restore goes well. Cheers Gary