Is the SMT on the MR2 Spyder any good? (Toyota Sequential Manual Transmission)

Is the SMT or sequential manual transmission any good on the MR2 Spyder? Should you buy an SMT equipped MR2 or MRS? The SMT seems to get a lot of hate online, but it's actually pretty good. Like and sub for more MR2 Spyder videos!
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Video Index:
0:00 - Intro
0:43 - Consider Subscribing
1:10 - My personal experience
4:25 - Things you should know
6:00 - Verdict?
6:23 - Updates/Outro

Camera Equipment:

[citrusjuicebox]

Paul will probably correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you generally want to put the car in neutral during prolonged stops to reduce stress on your throwout bearing. Leaving the SMT in gear while stopped is basically the same as standing on a clutch pedal with a manual.

[Hawkeye]

I bought a 2003 new and now have over 176k miles on it. The SMT pump failed about 6 years in and had to be replaced. Over the past year my pump has developed a leak. When the fluid get low it will not have enough pressure to change gears. Its about a 10 - 15 minutes process to remove the air filter box and get to the reservoir to add fluid. A rebuilt pump from Toyota is $3600 plus labor to swap. At this point I'm going to keep driving and fill up the reservoir as needed.

[paulshibbs]

Your “slipping into neutral” is not a common problem. It sounds like you figured out the problem though. A weak battery will definitely cause problems with the SMT system. Just one more correction.
The prefacelift and facelift cars have exactly the same SMT system.
The only difference is the transmission. Later cars have 6 speeds instead of 5. I get a little aggravate by folks that can’t manage to fix a system other than rip it out. The system is 20 years old now. If you can’t be bothered to replace worn parts, you should stick to brand new cars with warranties. Leave the classic sports cars to folks who appreciate them and will replace parts to keep them running.

[darylhatherrley]

When anyone buys an SMT Mr2 need to get familier with how the Smt works ie the GSA unit and HPU, once familiar then problems with the system are easy to sort, youll also need Techstream sofrware and a laptop running Windows XP as any work you do on the SMT side will need a relearn.

[guitarmuse]

Thanks you for this information. I am looking to buy an MR2 soon and one I was looking at has the SMT.

[Snarky_Queen]

Nothing against the manual, but this smt seems alot cooler to have. Driving not only the only mid engine rwd convertible toyota, but it having a unique transmission like the smt to me makes it one of a kind.

[feralmr]

I bought a smt spyder, it wasn't functioning when I 1st got it. Fixed it and got it running, I enjoyed driving the smt system. But it started playing up, I couldn't be bothered trying to fault find and replace parts etc knowing that it will only fail again later on, so just did a manual conversion instead. If the system was more reliable I would have kept it.

[igneil]

if you have an OBD reader, you can do erase codes during driving and it will rest the smt and allow you to switch gears if you have that thing happening during highway drive. Also you might want to consider and clutch swap too. old/bad clutches will cause shifting problems or inability to go into reverse from time to time. I swapped out my SMT to manual after 293k miles. 3rd hand. clutch was surprisingly still OEM, swapped that out to for the manual swap.

[footage_]

I was looking for a detail vid with up/down shifting button. appreciated.

[heathero]

I love my SMT. Nobody likes it and say manual is better but I know how to drive a manual car so I have nothing to prove.

[miltonrivero]

Just to let you know I use to have the same Mr2 spyder and it’s not the battery and it’s not the wire system, it’s the transmission at least it was for my Mr2 because I was the 2nd owner the first person was a rich guy and he did know how to shift when to shift at the right moment going up in gears you have to reach 3, 000 RPM then shift up in gears to move up to 2, 3or 4 even 5, 6 gears this is very important to know when to shift up or down at the right moment.

[jhonlugo]

I just bought a 2005 but it doing exactly what you said, i thought it was the transmission, but i am thinking now to change the battery, would you recomend that??

[rotarygod]

I bought my 2003 smt in 1-2016 (130K), my car stuck in N when I got the car, found out there's fluid leaks from the gear shift actuator pump, fluid dripped to one of the GSA position sensor,
after replaced clutch and sensor, the car run fine, I like the SMT a lot ! but in 11-2017, the maf sensor and SMT TCU got problem, I stuck in gear and can't start the car, I feel tired on the SMT system, I swapped to Manual

[andy]

Does it down shift by itself when you come to a stop?

[archemity]

my 2001 spyder with the 5 speed manual died at 155k miles, my toyota matrix with the 5 speed manual died at 171k miles.
I've had a few hondas and none of their transmissions died even after 200k miles.
There's a 2004 Spyder near me with a SMT, I'm hesitant to buy it.

[screenarts]

Get the 5 or 6 speed manual. Smt full second slower 0 to 60, and lots of maintenance lower resale value. Learn to drive with a clutch it's not hard, girls have no problem either.

[ryanjade]

Does it creep forward like a traditional auto? Does it roll back like a manual? Ive driven bmws with the smg and it feels just like a manual without the clutch and i was wondering if this car is like that.

[jacquelineperry]

Transmission fluid pressure switch on the 2005 mr2 we’re can I get the sensor

[nurmustafa]

Would you swap the transmission to full manual?

[damonleeb]

Nice mask in a convertible car driving at 45 mph