Cars&CoffeeTalk - Discuss amongst yourselves... I'll give you a topic:

"BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast." (boxerfanatic)
01/29/2020 at 14:47 • Filed to: MR2, Toyota, YouTube, JayEmm on Cars, #classics

Is MR2 “like buttah”, and the perfect car, and if so, why won’t anyone build anything like it anymore?

Pardon me, I’m getting a bit verklempt... I’ll rejoin you in a moment, in the comments.

DISCUSSION (10)

gettingoldercarguy > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
01/29/2020 at 15:22

I had an aw11 supercharged mr2 when I was younger. I miss it. T-tops rule.

slipperysallylikespenguins > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
01/29/2020 at 15:49

Everyone would complain about the lack of power today. If you gave it more power it would get more expensive and people would compare it to a Cayman/Elise/A110. They would still be charging at least 40-50k for a little Toyota sports car.

I would love to see a few companies collaborate on a compact MR chassis.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > slipperysallylikespenguins
01/29/2020 at 17:26

FT86 should have been that car from the drawing board, like an affordable 718 YEARS before the 718.

Maybe Porsche would have kept the 6-cylinder in those cars, if there was already a car in that space for barely more than half the price... and Subaru would have had something interesting, instead of selling the STI unchanged for the last 15 years.

Toyota could use some of that RAV4 revenue to flip the Rav4 PHEV drivetrain around, with some transposed Corolla and Camry bits... in a TNGA platform swapped end-for-end.

Mini- Cayman or m ini- i8... either way, they should be able to sell it for a similar MSRP to the ~35K that RAV4 Hybrid costs, even if it would take some cashflow management from the lucrative CUVs to underpin the costs of the sportscar.

Plus, if it were a MX5 RF-like folding hardtop spyder, best of coupe and convertible, it could approach the versatility of the t-top MR2s, and do BETTER than the ZZW30 MR2 Spyder.

There are Unique Selling Propositions all over that... affordable, mid-engine, performance PHEV, folding hard-top, and not much competition between $ 20-32K Miata and $ 60K+ Corvette/Porsche/BMW/Supra... because 370Z isn’t holding up that market segment, as-is, and the only thing selling in that segment now, are used water-cooled Porsches out of their warranties.

T he only other things in that price range are de-contented Muscle Cars, even if they might be pretty good, they aren’t 2-seat mid-engine sports cars, and certainly not performance PHEV.

Jesus Arias > gettingoldercarguy
01/29/2020 at 18:18

T-tops are the best. Also did you ever experience snap oversteer with it? Genuine curiosity.

gettingoldercarguy > Jesus Arias
01/29/2020 at 18:20

No, mine was an '88 without the rear sway bar and I believe was less susceptible to oversteer than the '89 models

Jesus Arias > gettingoldercarguy
01/29/2020 at 18:26

Ah, I see. I was considering on getting an MR2 as my first car but the snap oversteer thing made me back away.

gettingoldercarguy > Jesus Arias
01/29/2020 at 18:28

I don’t think it is as bad as people say. Are you looking at an aw11 or sw20?

Jesus Arias > gettingoldercarguy
01/29/2020 at 18:31

I was looking at SW20s.

slipperysallylikespenguins > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
01/29/2020 at 18:50

That would have been a really good idea to have just made the BRZ/86 mid engine from the start, since they had so much to develop on that car anyway. It would probably sell better especially now with all the Corvette Mid engine hype.

Interestingly the 1992 MR2 retailed for about $33k in 2019 prices.

You lose me at the PHEV part, I want none of that on my sports cars and wouldn’t even consider it. Also, the PHEV would probably make a manual not viable. If you want to sell a car to enthusiasts it better have a manual option. All out track cars can make the excuse that a manual is slower, but that doesn’t mean anything for a car that is meant to be enjoyed on the street. Every car this could compete with has a manual option besides the A110/4C.

I am curious to see how the upcoming mid engine Hyundai hatch will shake things up. It’s been reported that it will be in the ballpark of 50k, which is too high. But I am wondering if it could bring even more attention and excitement to the mid engine category.

The only way it could possibly be built is with a partner though, so who would it be?

gettingoldercarguy > Jesus Arias
01/29/2020 at 19:46

Ah, that'll happen with the early rear geometry, updating to the 93+ helps it out a bunch.