It has been too long since this boy was on the road.
Rach & I set off Saturday morning from our place in Sandwich, through the twisties to Bexhill to collect him. Rach is not a 'morning person' so let me drive F'Anni - we had a nice gentle run, with the weather looking threatening. Getting into the W. Sussex end it brightened and was tempted to pull over and get the t-bars off (maybe helping Rachel's muggy head) but thought better of it.
As we pulled into Patrick's yard, there he was. Gleaming. Eager. Ready to go. I could not contain the grin, it was from ear to ear
. We parked up and Patrick got the coffee on. Talked through a few things about him, what's left to do and what wasn't working. Fuel gauge 
.. I guess one or two things are going to defunct themselves when sat for 6 1/2 years. No trouble, I have spares at home.
So after a coffee and 45 minutes Patrick says with a puzzled expression "Are you gonna take him fro a run or what??" My shiny car sat there waiting for me to drive, he was confused why it wasn't the first thing I did - which I do understand but, to be honest, I was a little overcome with excitement and emotion. Another 'journey' with him to get him where he is now, closing old chapters and starting a new.
A briefing from Patrick (which I had guessed would be the case anyway), the brand new brakes need bedding in and the clutch shakes the living daylights out of the car when you pull away. It's a 6-puck clutch, great for power transmission - not so smooth and a bit heavy on the left leg. I turn the key for the first time while in the drivers seat.. Immobiliser on the alarm stops me briefly (I'm glad it all still works), blip the alarm and try again ... He fires up. The start up on a 2GR sounds different even though it's the same motor, it sounds more like a sports car. The 3S is a chug-chug-chug fire, the 3VZ was the same. This is more refined, balanced, adult, a whizz-whurr fire.
To hear the exhaust note for the first time live is beautiful. I can look beyond the baffle rattle (which we are fixing this eve) and hear a gloriously rich sports car note. No thumping deep tones here, this is all mids and highs.... I couldn't have done it better if I made it myself .. oh wait?!?
I gently raise the revs, the DBW throttle pedal is extremely sensitive, it'll take some miles to get fully accustomed. Gingerly raising the clutch to find the biting point - LURCH - THERE IT IS! Ok - so it's more of a switch
.. To be fair it's more operator error than the car - though it is bedding in. I'm used to the 330d which has a lot of travel and feel, this is just 'more' (it has settled the more miles I've put on it which is good )
Rolling out in first I head for the petrol station around the corner and brim the tank. I'd rather be certain than running dry. Heading out of Bexhill to a bypass I get my first experience of 2GR-Kermit...
How is this even possible? On Falken 225s in second, a hard rolling pull and I am thrown into the back of my seat - Neck-snappingly quick acceleration with no tyre spin. I am mightily impressed. After a couple of miles I turn back and return to Patrick's where he and Rach are waiting with baited breath and nervous faces. The fact my grin arrived a couple of seconds before the bonnet put all fears to rest! I've driven many quick cars, this is not the fastest car I've driven, but boy have I spent my money right. Bang for buck is out of this world
Monsieur leFrog arrived for a bit of remedial work on T2 and - as always does with MR2 owners - much chewing of the fat ensued!
. Tony departs, Rach and I talk through a few more things with Patrick and we head off home..... I begins to rain. 
Not heavily but enough to keep me in-check.
Luckily, as we get to my favourite section between Westfield & Rye the weather breaks and we're graced with some drying road and no traffic... How does it handle.... To be completely honest, it handles like a brand new car. It's poly-bushed, HSD coilovers, custom droplinks and a full geo setup. The dampers are a couple of clicks in from fully soft and I can honestly say it is as comfortable as brand new stock suspension. No crashing, banging or bumping - a slightly stiffer than stock feel without the harshness that coilovers generally bring. This is MR2 motoring eutopia.
Getting a feel for feeding the power on through linking lefts and rights and how the weight distribution has changed comes very quickly though I am not using full beans just yet. I reserve that for straight, open roads. Having only just got him back I do not want stupidity, over-eagerness or my ego to bin him.
After a couple of miles we're back behind traffic again and I can settle and appreciate what I have achieved here. I feel reunited with an old friend, one that gave me nothing but grief but still loved him like a brother all the same. He's the one in the pub, standing on the bar, pants around his ankles doing a 'helicopter' making woo-woo noises. Or he was. He used to be that shouty 'look at me' character and in certain respects he most definitely still is but now he's graced with a more civilised approach to life.
So looking beyond my hyperbole what do I mean? Well, Kermit of old was loud ... VERY LOUD! Motorway cruising was bad, he just droned and droned. Don't get me wrong, drop a couple of cogs and nail it he was superb but shouty. Now, with this new engine and exhaust combo I (we) have created something special, something that can sit at 80 .... err ... 70 and still hold a conversation - and that's before I refit the firewall carpet!
The exhaust for me is the greatest achievement and ticks nearly every box (I'm planning a mk2 but not just yet). I'm a bit more grown up these days, I can't have something silly that makes me look like a daddy-chav ... actually that should be grand-daddy-chav. I need something that can cruise on a motorway without furrowing my brow through noise, something that I am not afraid of upsetting everyone should I need to leave home at 4am. But importantly, when I want to release my inner child, I can drop it 2 cogs and nail it... THAT'S when it needs to be noisy
Now - that is exactly what he does.
HE'S BACK!
