Good looking car.

"mkbruin, Atlas VP" (mkbruin) 01/20/2015 at 22:58 • Filed to: None

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I forgot how good looking the second gen MR2 is.

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > mkbruin, Atlas VP 01/20/2015 at 23:14

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Agreed.

wafflesnfalafel > mkbruin, Atlas VP 01/20/2015 at 23:22

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Arguably one of the best looking Toyotas ever. Better than both it's predecessor and what replaced it.

DanZman > mkbruin, Atlas VP 01/20/2015 at 23:23

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In regards to the yellow one. From that angle it looks a lot like a Ferrari of similar vintage.

beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard > mkbruin, Atlas VP 01/20/2015 at 23:35

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it's a pity I don't have any decent pics of my one on me.

Here it is making the 86 look massive.

TheHondaBro > mkbruin, Atlas VP 01/20/2015 at 23:50

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K20 it and you've got a serious track monster. 2JZ it and you've got a supercar killer.

Street Surgeon > TheHondaBro 01/21/2015 at 00:06

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2JZ.... In an SW20?

Street Surgeon > mkbruin, Atlas VP 01/21/2015 at 00:08

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Nice cars, UNBELIEVABLY small!

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > TheHondaBro 01/21/2015 at 01:04

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Fitting a longitudinal inline-6 (JZ-series engine) into a transverse-midengined compact car would be a neat trick.

People do put transverse V6s in them fairly easily, though, sort of like a 20 year predecessor to Lotus Evora.

TheHondaBro > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. 01/21/2015 at 01:06

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I'd do it if it kills me. Even if the engine is hanging off the end. With the twin turbos exposed. Yeah yeah like that.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard 01/21/2015 at 01:09

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Because all post-90's era cars have government mandated bloat. crumple zones, pedestrian crash standards, and other regulations, and then trying to maintain proportions with those swollen parts means that new cars are just enclosing more volume.

beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. 01/21/2015 at 01:23

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I think it's more to do with the MR2 being a small car no matter what decade it's from.

the 86 isn't any bigger than the JZA80 Supra from what I can tell

the Alfa Romeo 4C is similar, if not smaller than the MR2, so it's not impossible for a manufacturer to make a similar size sports car.. if not more difficult due to material and manufacturing costs.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > mkbruin, Atlas VP 01/21/2015 at 01:32

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Funny, I have been re-kindling my SW20 MR2 enthusiasm over the last few days.

I badly wish there were affordable mid-engined cars on the market.

Or that FactoryFiveRacing had actually designed a properly attractive body for the subaru-powered 818 kit car...

W30 MR2 Spyder was an unfortunate death-knell to that idea, with oddly square looks, and astonishing lack of trunk space of any kind. Choosing between 3 bags of groceries or your passenger is an unfortunate choice on the way home, and ensures that the MR2 doesn't leave the garage very often. At least SW20 and AW11 had basic minimal trunk space, as does a Miata.

If W30 had a trunk, and didn't have dimpled plastic interior panels, I might have one of those in my garage now, when we cross-shopped them in 2002. More than 12 years later, I still have and enjoy that Miata, and I still wish I had a mid-engined car from time to time.

Maybe I'll have to split the difference, and buy a 986 Boxster or something... better than W30, slightly roomier than Miata, more horsepower from a smooth H6, more practical with two trunks, and not more than 20 years out of production and importation into the US as MR2. Spare parts are beyond the 10 year re-supply timeframe for the SW20, which also sucked for the Subaru SVX I used to own also... so some spare parts are becoming unobtainium as they run out of inventory.

I really, REALLY wish FR-S had been an MR-2 instead... putting the subaru boxer BEHIND the driver's seat, like a mini, half-price, H4-powered Cayman alternative. They claimed the FT86 project was all about handling, which is why it doesn't have more power, nor the possibility of Subaru AWD... They could have used Subaru transaxles minus the center diff and aft driveshaft, like they did with 90's era FWD bargain Subaru models.

Truly superior handling would have been achieved as a new MR2, which is much more worthy of resurrection, IMHO, than the stick-axle E70-holdover AE86 that became famous as a bargain-basement RWD used car, not because it was Toyota's best. MR2, Celica (A60 and ST160 GT-Four), and Supra were all better cars.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard 01/21/2015 at 01:52

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No dispute that MR2 is a small car, even for it's day... but there is a bigger difference between interior and exterior volume on the FR-S/BRZ than a 90's car like MR2. MR2 obviously doesn't have any rear seat, but I would wonder if the front seat area of the MR2 would be similar, and perhaps even slightly less cramped than the FR-S... while FR-S is so clearly significantly larger on the outside.

There isn't nearly the spare void space captured between the bodywork and interior on the MR2 as there is on the FR-S. It just seems that cars before the early-mid-2000s seem to have less empty volume tied up under the bodywork, in general.

The G35 is bulkier as well, but might still be old enough that the interior might still be somewhat generous, at least for front seat occupants, compared to it's outward physical size, but is rumored to be short on cargo space and trunk volume, though. At least G35 has better looks, and more than 300hp from a V6, compared to the BRZ... making it a more effective road car and GT.

FT86 is a tiny car inside to try and fit into, yet JZA-80 Supra was a mid-sized car, more akin to the later G35, and maybe on the larger side of the scale compared to it's 90's era competition, like Z32 300ZX 2+2 or Stealth/3000GT... markedly bigger than FD-3S RX-7, the smaller DSM cars, and perhaps also a bit larger than Porsche 944/968.

Alfa Romeo 4c is composite, and quite expensive... probably moreso than the 2nd or 3rd generation Lotus Elises when new, and for some reason, without visual context, I would wonder if 4C would be a bit bigger than Elise, but perhaps not as long as Evora.

beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. 01/21/2015 at 02:24

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nah the MR2 interior is pretty tight, definitely tighter than the interior of the 86, but you're right in that the body work takes up more space with the 86. A modern MR2 built using the same materials as an 86/BRZ would be larger and probably less attractive for it. Toyota would need to use more expensive manufacturing methods.

It's been a while since I drove a Supra, but from my memory it felt more snug than the 86/BRZ.. but it has a longer bonnet and the wrap around centre console which could attribute to the sense of a smaller cabin space.. I'd have to drive them back to back to be sure.

can't speak for the G35 as I haven't been in one. They're a bit of a batty boy though.

Kailand09 > mkbruin, Atlas VP 01/21/2015 at 06:21

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it really is a nice looking car. Why the hell can't Toyota make decently interesting cars anymore???