Toyota MR2: Racer Waiting to Happen
Toyota’s 2000 MR2 Spyder is a car of possibilities, some realized and some not.
To be sure, it’s an easy car to like: light, quick, nimble and quite well-mannered, which is the rule with modern sports cars.
But this obvious competitor with Mazda’s venerable Miata--the two are fairly close on paper--has a different character.
In some ways this is good: More torque at lower rpm means the Spyder launches more quickly. And in others it is not: You’ll find even less storage space. Weekend trip? Better pack “Survivor”-light. Grocery store? Plan on going it alone if it’s anything more than milk and eggs.
Toyota’s answer is that the car wasn’t designed to be practical. Sports car first, utility wherever it fits.
In the interest of full disclosure, my daily driver is a 1994 MX-5 Miata. This fact will inevitably inform my take on the Spyder, but because my first-generation car differs from the current Miata (less horsepower, for one thing), I don’t propose a blow-by-blow, Mazda-versus-Toyota comparison.
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That said, this third generation of the “Mister Two” is an auspicious start after the model’s four-year hiatus. Toyota is marketing some aspects of the car for the enthusiast who wants to take it on a racecourse, but the Spyder is still a fine driver on the street. First-year sales of the made-in-Japan roadster are projected at just 5,000 vehicles in North America, so initially there won’t be a lot of them out there.
Where all three generations of the MR2 have been two-seaters, this is the first drop-top. Exterior styling is quite a departure from the previous model’s soft lines. The huge headlamps look as if they came off a Le Mans prototype racer. There’s a bit of Porsche and a dash of Ferrari. Aggressive without looking contrived.
Looks aside, the drive is what’s important here, and the MR2 doesn’t disappoint. If anything, the slight oversteer feels a little twitchy at freeway speeds, although I attribute that to the power steering’s dampening of initial input.
Why the car even has power steering is a bit odd. First, the steering feel is quite light because of the mid-engine design and a 45%-55% front-to-rear weight distribution. Second, for a car Toyota is marketing as worthy of racing, why the extra weight?
During a spirited trip along Angeles Crest Highway above La Canada Flintridge, the Spyder handled well. It was predictable and responded to throttle and steering adjustments without protest.
Although it didn’t feel like it could be tossed into corners, it also didn’t feel like it needed to be. The chassis is quite rigid, making it stable in bumpy corners. On two turns where the exit radius decreases sharply, more steering and throttle brought some squeal from the rear tires, but the car stayed in line. MacPherson struts proved more than adequate, coupled with the Bridgestone Potenza RE040 tires, 185/55s up front and 205/50s in back, all on 15-inch aluminum alloy wheels.
I’ll say more about “adequate”--versus what might have been--later. But the bottom line is that the MR2 goes where you point it and takes mid-turn course corrections, whether dodging squirrels or rocks, without unpleasant side effects.
Its all-new 1.8-liter twin-cam, 16-valve power plant, which the Spyder shares with its stablemate Celica GT, features Toyota’s VVT-i system (that’s variable-valve timing, with intelligence). The engine puts out 138 horsepower at 6,400 rpm and 125 foot-pounds of torque at 4,400 rpm.
The MR2 launches quickly and pulls strong past the torque peak. But not much is gained by going over 6,000 rpm, and trips to redline only benefit in keeping the engine in the power band after shifting up.
The power-assisted anti-lock disc brakes do a fine job of slowing the car quickly when approaching corners and provide smooth, controlled stops from speed.
The five-speed manual gearbox has a very smooth shift linkage but a somewhat long throw for a sports car. Grasping the shifter below the shift knob to shorten the throw revealed a more familiar “notchy” feel. Most enthusiasts I know would prefer the shorter throw, so perhaps the aftermarket will come to the rescue.
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For a roadster the MR2 is quite comfortable. With the cloth top and windows raised, it is surprisingly quiet. With top down, windows up, the cockpit remains calm and conversation and music can be heard without strain.
Lower the windows with top down and there’s about as much wind as one would expect in a car designed to be a roadster. Although there is a small rear wind block--about 2 1/2 inches high--it didn’t make much difference. Nice of Toyota to add this, but why go halfway? A more substantial and effective device could have been put in place.
Retracting the top, which has a glass rear window, is simple. Lower the windows, release the windshield header latches and push the top back. The top latches in place and doesn’t require a boot, because the interior portion isn’t exposed to the sun.
The car’s interior is fairly spartan, in keeping with Toyota’s stated minimalist approach. There are three white-faced gauges: speedometer, tachometer and fuel-temperature combination. (In one of several nods to the would-be racer, the tach is in the middle of the cluster; likewise the AM-FM tuner-CD-cassette unit is designed to be removed easily.)
Most of the other controls are logically placed and easily reached. One small bit of illogic is the dash-mounted power door-lock button. In our test car, you locked the doors by pushing “Open” and unlocked them by pushing “Close.” No power button exists on the passenger side. Another drawback is that putting anything in the cup holder blocks the radio. If you don’t surf channels, no big deal.
Steering is controlled with a proper three-spoke, leather-wrapped tilt wheel with thumb-rests at 10 and 2 o’clock. The sport-look drilled aluminum pedals are a nice touch, but the spacing of the brake and throttle pedals does nothing to ease heel-toe shifting, and the dead pedal, a.k.a. left footrest, is a tad too small.
The cloth seats--leather isn’t an option--are comfortable. The driver’s seat can be adjusted for height, although what moves is the back portion of the seat bottom. This means that lumbar support varies from good to nonexistent.
(I will make a plea here and now that car manufacturers provide adjustable lumbar support for both passenger and driver. In a sports car, this is even more important because comfort is traded for handling. On a weekend or day trip, the passenger shouldn’t be expected to adapt to the seat while the driver adapts the seat to his or her ideal.)
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In another move to attract potential racers, Toyota went so far as to bolt on the exterior body panels instead of welding them, so that modifications can be more easily made. That’s a pretty bold decision given that manufacturing expense is no small part of an auto maker’s pricing formula.
But why, then, did the engineers go with struts instead of the superior double-wishbone suspension that graces the Miata and other sports cars? The stiff chassis combined with better suspension would make the handling outstanding instead of just very good.
That’s not to say that a car with MacPherson struts can’t be competitive--many are. And to that end, Toyota Racing Development has developed high-performance aftermarket parts for the Spyder and brought them out at the same time as the car itself--a first, we’re told.
The TRD line includes body and suspension kits, but for those who recall the potent turbocharged MR2 that appeared in ‘91, you’ll have to wait awhile longer for a forced-induction option. Mary Harden, a marketing supervisor at TRD, says that although a supercharger or turbocharger are under consideration, there are no plans to bring one out.
Also left unanswered is when, or even if, options available for the current MR2 on Toyota’s Japanese home turf will appear Stateside--namely, an electronic six-speed sequential shift and a 180-horsepower motor.
For my money, if the Spyder remains a limited-production vehicle, then it should have limited-production performance. Even at a list price of $23,098--which puts it near the median price for new vehicles in the U.S. market--the MR2 isn’t so expensive that upping the performance would put it out of reach for many enthusiasts.
In any case, Toyota has succeeded in fulfilling the goal of a minimalist sports car. If performance--and the potential for more of it--is the top priority, then the MR2 Spyder meets the standard. If you need some trunk space in a roadster, look elsewhere.
I’m not ready to trade my Miata for an MR2, but I would certainly consider it as a second or third car, especially if Toyota brings the six-speed, 180-horsepower version to this market.
A few shortcomings aside, Toyota should have no problem selling the production run of this car to either daily drivers or weekend racers.
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Robert Beamesderfer is Highway 1’s news editor. He can be reached at bob.beamesderfer@latimes.com.
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
2000 Toyota MR2 Spyder
Cost
* Base, $23,098: includes five-speed manual gearbox, power-assisted four-wheel disc brakes with anti-locking system, power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering, air conditioning, power windows, power mirrors, AM-FM stereo cassette-CD player, dual front air bags with passenger-side cutoff switch, cloth top and glass rear window with electric defroster, 15-inch aluminum alloy wheels. As tested, $23,615: includes carpeted floor mats ($62) and destination charge ($455).
Type
* Mid-engine, rear-drive, two-seat convertible.
Engine
* 1.8-liter, dual-overhead cam, fuel-injected inline-4 with variable valve-timing system developing 138 horsepower at 6,400 rpm and 125 foot-pounds of torque at 4,400 rpm.
Performance
* 0 to 60 mph, as tested*: 7.6 seconds; manufacturer’s braking estimate, 70 mph to 0 in 167 feet.
* Fuel consumption: 25 miles per gallon city, 30 mpg highway, as estimated by the Environmental Protection Agency; as tested, 27.8 mpg. Fuel capacity: 12.7 gallons.
Curb Weight
* 2,195 pounds
* Average of best three runs, measured with G-Tech Pro accelerometer.
