That said, I was still a little anxious when it came to wet weather – at least until I joined a group of old friends for a blast around some roads I know like the back of my hand. Keeping up with the pack, I realised that I was more in tune with the dynamics than I had expected.
The engine weighs down the driving wheels nicely, giving great grip in the faster corners, while the limited-slip differential turned low-speed hairpins into minor hero moments.
It has been a long time since I’ve fallen for a car as much as I’ve done with the MR2.
Fresh Avons revitalise tyred Toyota
A little drive up to the Welsh valleys with some colleagues revealed the existence of a slow and irritating puncture on my Toyota MR2, with the tyre becoming almost completely flat by the time I reached our incredibly rural rendezvous point.
The tyre pump from a BMW M3 CS Touring saved the day, letting me limp home and figure out what to do next.
Inspecting all four tyres, I noticed that the tread was, while still legal, worn down fairly significantly. They hadn’t had too much depth on them when I bought the car. So naturally I decided it was time to treat my pride and joy to some new shoes.
After much deliberating, I settled on a pair of Avon ZV7s for the rear. I’d driven a few cars shod with them before (it’s the OEM tyre on the Morgan Plus Four, for example) and liked not just their grip but also the progressiveness with which traction fell away at their limit.
The tyre shop from which I bought them kept messing me around with the fitting date, so I had them changed by the brilliant people at AJU Motorsport in Poole.
So far, I’m impressed: traction is great and the manner of breakaway is just as I’d hoped.
