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Rumormill: Toyota MR2 to be reborn with hybrid power
by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) on Nov 26th 2009 at 4:33PM


Tell us if this sounds familiar: Hybrids will kill the driver-oriented sportscar. It's the line taken by no small share of enthusiasts, and some of them are among us here at Autoblog. But the skeptics were silenced – or temporarily hushed, at least – when Honda took the wraps off of its CR-Z coup concept. After all, anything that could bring back the CRX hatchback with added oomph at no extra cost at the fuel pumps has to sound good to anyone's ears, right? But you didn't think Toyota would let Honda have the fun all to itself now, did you?

It's far from official, but reports out of Japan suggest that Toyota may be working on a reborn hybrid sportscar of its own. The company once known for its sports-coupes recently unveiled the FT-86 concept, and could be set to follow up with a gasoline-electric resurrection of the cult classic MR2. The budget-friendly mid-engine/rear-drive sportscar had a big following who led the legions of the disappointed when the third-generation model was discontinued two years ago. But if the latest reports are to be believed, Mr. Two could be back – in hybrid form.

Details are scarce, but according to Japan's Best Car, we're looking at a two-seat two-door coupe with a gasoline engine mounted amidships behind the cabin, coupled to an electric motor in a more performance-oriented version of the Toyota Synergy Drive popularized by the Prius. Reports suggest it could adopt the MR-S nameplate, which is what the last MR2 was known as in Japan, so there's just as good a chance that it could wear the MR2 nameplate on this side of the Pacific. That's about all we've got for now, but if we all (Toyota included) play our cards just right, Japan's beloved budget mid-engined car could be coming back...with a charge.

[Source: Best Car via CarScoop]

spwolf

not so sure that MR2 would be hybrid, or at least hybrid only... FT is not, so i dont see why MR-2 would be.

btw, why did you quote comments as well?

mmarshall

Unlike the Miata and the CR-X, though, the first go-around with the MR2 was killed in the mid-1990s, due to poor sales (less than 1000 for its final year in the American market (a friend of mine bought one of those final turbo versions). The second go-around, a few years later, with a lighter, less-powerful, all-drop-top successor, was killed off in 2005 with its brother Celica. That was partly Toyota's fault.....they foolishly (IMO) limited MR2 production to some 5000 per year, even though demand could have handled more. And where did those customers go who wanted new MR2s but couldn't get them because of the production limit? Yep....you got it.......right across street to the Mazda shop, to get a Miata instead.

(Paul, that might not have been the case with you, but it was with a number of Miata buyers)

The original CR-X was not necessarily sales/production-limited, and it had an intense loyal cadre of followers...they worshiped the car like a cult. Honda decided, in 1992, just for the sake of replacing it, to bring out the Del Sol....a roof design type which it had very little experience in, and the Del Sol was plagued with roof-integrity problems from Day One....body flex, rattles, squeaks, leaks, etc..... To this day, some 18 years later, Honda marketers STILL are getting complaints for dropping the CR-V.

So, this time around, my strong advice to Toyota is.......if another MR2 is coming, THIS time build ENOUGH of them to meet demand and DON'T drop the car just for the sake of dropping it.

ISFAIL

Not a fan either way (old or new) but I'm sure the boy racers are stoked

(Cj)

If Toyota is gonna make a hybrid sports car I would think they would make a production ft-hs/supra hybrid successor not a mr2 hybrid.

tmf2004

iTrader: (15)

I thought Japan already had spy shots of the next Supra..

I8ABMR

Bring it !!!!!!!!! The MR2 was and still is a great little sports car. They are a decent tuning base as well and damn light so you can feel your hp gains easier

Xavier6162

The MR2 was in continuous production from 1984 through 2007. It was a very popular car world wide with the exception of within the US market where the production allotment was interrupted at least twice.

For the US market the MR2 just didn’t have enough HP for our mostly straight, Mustang dominated, straight roads. Some owners swapped the 140HP Toyota Corolla engine for the 180 HP Celica GT engine. The extra 40HP made the 2100lb MR2 faster than the S2000 in the 0-60 and ¼ mile runs. Because of it’s low weight and mid-engine the MR2 was also faster around tight turns and corners than higher end cars like the S2000 but would lose out once the course became straight.

During a comparison test during a Japanese motorsports show, "NA vs. Turbo", the MR2 Spyder, out drove several more powerful cars. However, the driver of the Spyder, Manabu Orido, allowed the other vehicles (a much higher powered S15 Silvia, S14 Silvia, and Amuse S2000) to catch up (in an effort to demonstrate the difference between NA and turbo) and ended in the MR2 Spyder losing to the higher powered S15 Silvia. If Toyota had given the MR2 that Celica GT engine it would have continued in the US through the series ending 2007 model year.

By-the-way, the MR2 had a longer production run than the now super-famous Miata. If it comes back I'd buy one in a heart-beat.

ST430

Curious, where are you basing information on the MR-S from? Since being an owner of this fine vehicle, I've done some research and found sales figures of:

2000: 7,233
2001: 6,254
2002: 4,705
2003: 2,934
2004: 2,621
2005: 780

The reason they killed it wasn't because they couldn't build enough, it was because demand faded....

mmarshall

MR-S......you mean the 3Gen MR-2 Spyder?

Toyota's own marketing policy was to build a maximum of 5000 a year for the American market, so I'm not sure of where that 7,233 sales figure for 2002 came from. And then, they didn't do much to promote even those. It almost seems like they WANTED the car to be a sales flop. One reason why MR-2 sales figures are so low (like I said above) is that Mazda, wisely, built the Miata in plentiful numbers, and it was much less of a hassle to find and buy one.

(Cj)

His numbers were the global numbers, so you're point remains and is valid for the US

Mister Two

The MR2 is supposed to be lightweight and affordable so I really hope they don't go the hybrid route, or at least not make it the only available powertrain.

MR_F1

And a hybrid can't be both because?

FisforFast

+1... I don't get it. Yes, batteries are heavy, but there are plenty of ways to save on weight.

bruce van

Any sportscar for Toyota is a good sportscar. I think the big mistake Toyota made with the last MR2 was styling it too similarly to the Porsche Boxster.

This time around, they should let the folks over at Calty go crazy with a new MR2. It will be hard to play catch-up to the Miata, but I think Toyota can create something different if they offered something sporty with a hybrid powertrain that drove well.