My FH5 Log: Remembering the MR2

The Toyota MR2 is one of the most iconic Toyota sports cars ever made because this car marked the first time Toyota made a midship sports car that can rival the most established ones from Europe.

Forza Horizon 5 featured the first and the last MR2 generations, with the latter being the one I won from the Japanese Automotive series update's Storm Season Playlist. With these cars gathered, it's time to have a quick word with the first one and the last one.

Launched in the summer of 1984, the MR2 is a mid-engined sports car that won the Japan Car of the Year award when it was launched. At launch, it was powered by a choice of either a 1.5L 3A-LU or a 1.6L 4A-GE petrol engine, mated with either a 5-speed MT or a 4-speed AT. Using know-how from a Lotus expert, the MR2 behaves just like the little sportscars from the past despite its heavy weight due to the structural bulkheads. Two years later, a supercharged variant is offered and it's based on the 1.6L engine with 147PS of power and 186Nm of torque.

Launched in October 1989, the second generation is styled to look like a Ferrari, hence coined as the poor man's Ferrari. Using the same platform as the Celica, the SW20 MR2 uses every know-how learned from top racing drivers to make it more agile and better to drive than its predecessor and it did with relatively superior results. It is powered by a 2.0L petrol engine, in NA and turbo guise, and mated with either a 4AT or a 5MT. Production ended in 1999 when it got replaced by a stylish but less powerful MR-S roadster.

Now that we got to know about the two MR2 generations, it's time for a hill-climb battle between the first-gen and the last-gen, finding out how much the MR2 has evolved from the first generation to the final generation before it got replaced by the MR-S, the last of its kind. Oh, and don't worry, no corner-cutting involved just like that one guy who challenged the Hachiroku to a race. Rings a bell, huh? Anyway, let's roll the VTR.

After the hill climb attack, here are the results;

MR2 SC - 4m12.419s

MR2 GT - 3m42.339s

It took around thirty seconds to evolve the MR2 from the first generation to the final generation, which is rather impressive for Toyota's first midship-engine sports car.

From the AW11 to the SW20, the MR2 is definitely one of the all-time greats because of its compact sizing, midship layout, and classic fun-to-drive Toyota character speedo boys can't get enough of. 

It's a shame Toyota won't make a successor to this model at this moment in time because they got their hands full on their electrification and crossover nonsense.

Forza Horizon 4: MR2 all the Toyotas speedo boys love

The last Horizon Playlist of Series 23, the Horizon Spring Playlist, brings back the first and the last MR2 generations in Forza Horizon 4 as prize cars and now that I got my hands on both MR2 generations, it's time to have a word with these two.



Let's begin with the first-generation MR2, the AW10/11 model of course. Launched in the summer of 1984, the MR2 is a mid-engined sports car that won the Japan Car of the Year award when it was launched. At launch, it was powered by a choice of either a 1.5L 3A-LU or a 1.6L 4A-GE petrol engine, mated with either a 5-speed MT or a 4-speed AT. Using know-how from a Lotus expert, the MR2 behaves just like the little sportscars from the past despite its heavy weight due to the structural bulkheads. Two years later, a supercharged variant is offered and it's based on the 1.6L engine with 147PS of power and 186Nm of torque.



Lastly, the second and final-generation MR2. Launched in October 1989, the second generation is styled to look like a Ferrari, hence coined as the poor man's Ferrari. Using the same platform as the Celica, the SW20 MR2 uses every know-how learned from top racing drivers to make it more agile and better to drive than its predecessor and it did with relatively superior results. It is powered by a 2.0L petrol engine, in NA and turbo guise, and mated with either a 4AT or a 5MT. Production ended in 1999 when it got replaced by a stylish but less powerful MR-S roadster.



After having my little chat about the two MR2 generations, let's give these midship Toyotas a quick drive to see what's it all about.

Toyotas are Toyotas.

Enjoy your new rides!