[NEWS] MR2 sportscar replacement coming, but still years away

    Toyota Says A New Mid-Engine Sports Car Is Coming,
    But It's Still Years Away
    --------------------------------------------------
    Toyota goofed on the entire automotive world by teasing that it
    was unveiling a 'Mid-Engine, Two-Seater Car' at the Tokyo Auto
    Salon. Naturally, we all assumed it was an MR2 revival, when in
    fact it was a done-up Daihatsu kei truck. This royally ticked
    off a lot of people, but now it seems the automaker is making
    up for that switcheroo with the promise of more exciting things
    to come. Toyota's Gazoo Racing president, Tomoya Takahashi, has
    confirmed that a new mid-engine sports car will join Toyota's
    lineup, and they're not messing with us this time. That's huge,
    right? Well, it's still a long way off.

    Speaking with Automotive News, Takahashi said the proposed
    mid-engine sports car - which will likely be all-wheel-drive -
    is currently in the first of four engineering stages it needs to
    pass through before entering mass production, and that's a
    process that usually takes between four and five years to
    complete. Still, folks, we're getting a new Mister Two at some
    point in the late 2020s or early 2030s, and I - for one -
    couldn't be more excited. Just to add to the excitement,
    Takahashi says that Toyota is race-testing the prototype.

    "At the highest level, the chairman is determined to continue
    manufacturing internal combustion engines. And when we had this
    new 2.0-liter engine, we decided to mount it to a midship car,"
    Takahashi told Auto News back in November at the Fuji Speedway in
    Japan.

    Of course, the tiny MR2 first went on sale for the 1985 model year
    and then lasted three sick-ass generations before it was killed
    off in the U.S. in 2005. Global sales didn't last much longer,
    though - making it to 2007. While Toyota has renewed an emphasis
    on fun-to-drive cars with the help of the GR Corolla, A90 Supra
    and GR86, it has always had a two-seat, mid-engine hole in its
    lineup. Toyota also has other enthusiast-minded cars like the
    Lexus LFA, Toyota GR GT and even the mid-engined GR Yaris M
    Concept rally car in the pipeline.

    A new engine, a new car
    A new turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four developed by Toyota is
    what gave the automaker the leeway to build a car like the
    forthcoming MR2, since it's designed to be mounted in the front,
    middle or rear of a vehicle, and it can be aligned vertically or
    horizontally, according to Automotive News. That's a mighty
    impressive amount of flexibility. It's expected to make more power
    than Toyota's current tubo 2.4-liter inline-four while also
    delivering better fuel economy than the 2.0-turbo it currently
    builds. Its compact size certainly won't hurt things, either, being
    that it's 10% smaller in both volume and height than the 2.4-liter
    engine.

    Takahashi told AutoNews that Toyota is developing the engine to
    meet more stringent emissions regulations across the globe without
    the addition of electrification, but that doesn't mean a hybridized
    version of the motor is completely off the table, saying that it's
    "almost mandatory" to be able to combine the motor with hybrid tech
    if it's going to be used in a lot of different cars."

    He added that he felt that the turbocharged 1.6-liter three-cylinder
    motor currently found in the standard GR Yaris and GR Corolla wasn't
    going to cut it for the MR2 replacement, so that's why Toyota
    decided to go with the new 2.0-liter.

    Big things are happening in Toyota land, and I couldn't be happier.
    Sure, some modified kei trucks are cool, but this is what we really
    wanted all along.


    
<https://www.jalopnik.com/2082457/toyota-new-mid-engine-sports-car-years-away/>