New Car Test - Toyota MR2 Spyder

9 April, 2002

One step away from rivalling the Mazda MX-5...

By Michael Knowling

The MR2 Spyder has the ingredients of an awesome little sports car - a 975kg MR convertible with slick handling, a generous spread of torque, 103kW and an assortment of trick bits. The legendary Mazda MX-5 appears well and truly licked - until you bring the Toyota's clutchless 5-speed sequential gearbox into the equation...

There's no normal 5-speed manual available; instead you'll need to get used to a clutchless gearshift. And unfortunately it's something that cannot be quickly mastered. It's difficult to accustom yourself to the time the system needs to engage a higher gear, and so when it's possible to get back on the throttle. With a little perseverance, however, your initial jerky, driveline-snatching antics should be overcome.

Mostly...

While a slow up-shift system can be largely tolerated under normal driving conditions, it's madness that the MR2's up-shifts don't get quicker as engine load and rpm increases. It's incredibly frustrating when you blast past 6000 rpm, request an up-change and - arrrgghhh - the gear doesn't engage for the best part of a second. It's even more frustrating - and dangerous - when you need instant drive to exit a corner...

On the other hand, Toyota has done a good job sorting other aspects of the trick gearbox. When you make a down-change on a fast approach to a corner, the system automatically blips the throttle to allow a more efficient gear engagement. Slowing down to - say - a stoplight, the gearbox will also automatically do the down-changes for you - this means you can 'go to sleep' without having to worry about dragging the engine down to a stall.

In addition to the sequential gear knob located on the floor, the up and down-change buttons on the steering wheel are very convenient to use.

But enough on the gearbox.

Beneath the fluted rear lid is an engine that makes the lightweight MR2 very lively. The all-alloy (but with cast-iron liners) 1ZZ-FE 1.8-litre four features DOHC, 16-valves, continuously variable VVT-i on the inlet cam (over a 43 degree range), a plastic intake manifold, hot-wire airflow meter, direct-fire ignition, sequential injection and a 10.0:1 compression ratio. This little gem produces a beefy spread of torque from idle to its 170Nm peak at 4400 rpm, and its 103kW max power output (achieved at an easily accessible 6400 rpm) gives enjoyable all-out acceleration - the little convertible can sprint to 100 km/h in the high 8s (despite the slow up-changes). Its power-to-weight-ratio - 106kW per tonne - tells the story.

Fuel economy is reasonable, with 8.8 litres per 100km consumed during our test. Emissions meet the California Research Board (CARB) LEV standard, so they are very good indeed.

As you might expect, handling is a strong point of the mid-engine'd MR2.

Turn-in is sharp, the chassis responds immediately to mid-corner inputs and you can go for wide-open throttle quite early on exit - the standard Torsen-type LSD puts the power down very well. Understeer will appear if you come in too hard but, really, there's no need to worry about mid-engine snap oversteer. The rear of the MR2 will step out only if you provoke it or, perhaps, if it's wet.

For those keen enough to look underneath, you'll discover the MR2 sits on MacPherson struts at the front and Chapman struts with dual unequal length transverse links at the rear. The front and rear swaybars are both ball-joint mounted and the centre of gravity is 10mm lower than the previous model. Despite the MR2's sporting nature, its ride is very comfortable - perfect at high speeds, though a touch jiggly over slow speed rough patches.

Toyota has done great job with the steering set-up on the MR2. Their electro-hydraulically assisted rack-and-pinion steering system is very nicely weighted, linear and is quite direct at 2.66 turns lock-to-lock.

Braking performance, too, is well up to standard thanks to a full set of ventilated discs and ABS-controlled single-pot calipers. It's claimed the current model stops in around 13 percent less distance than the previous model.

When you drive it hard, the MR2 is quite a noisy little beast. There's no buffeting with the roof down - just the mechanical clatter from the engine sitting immediately behind you. Fortunately, the MR2 features a very competent sound system - a double-DIN AM/FM tuner, cassette, single CD and 6-disc stacker, with 'splits' in the doors.

As we said, there are a number of trick bits to be found in the MR2. Standard fare is yellow, red or black trim, comfortable race-style seats, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, drilled sports pedals, white-faced dials (with a centrally placed tacho), a shiny gear shifter and eye-catching door grab-handles. Add to this the usual list of standard features - remote central locking, immobiliser and alarm, power windows and mirrors, LCD trip meter, variable intermittent wipers, dual airbags, seatbelt pre-tensioners and force-limiters - and you've got a very well equipped vehicle.

It's amazing that the MR2 can pack all these goodies and still come in at only 975 kilograms (which is, incidentally, some 231kg lighter than its predecessor!).

Occupant space is quite generous, though headroom is limited. If you're 6-foot or over, your hair will always brush against the cloth roof - even if you adjust the driver's seat to its lowest position. But, then, what's the point of a convertible if you're not going to drive everywhere with the roof down?!

The MR2 has a manually operated soft top, which - similar to the MX-5 - has two large grab-locks that hook the front of the soft top onto the windscreen header rail. Opening the roof is easy - release both grab-locks and lift the front of the roof back over your head. A clip is then used to secure the roof into its retracted position. As Toyota literature says, you can open or close the roof in less than 60 seconds. Oh, and note that there are only two folds across the fabric when the roof's retracted and the rear window is made from glass (not cheapo plastic).

The meagre 140-litres of cargo volume in the MR2 certainly limits its usefulness in day-to-day duties. There's a reasonable sized compartment behind the seats, a few small dashboard and console pockets and the 'boot' at the front. The boot is also home to a space-saver spare wheel, so there's fairly limited useable space. Forget about transporting anything bulky in the MR2 - our large camera bag, for example, wouldn't fit in any of the compartments.

Cosmetically, the MR2 is a weird mix.

The front-end is drop-dead sexy and shows signs of Porsche Boxster influence. The rest of the car, however, looks awkward at certain angles - the back-end is peculiarly upright (though this maybe helps achieve a 0.35 Cd). A near-flat under-body also aids the aero agenda.

Other eye-catching bits'n'pieces include side mounted air intakes, the fluted engine cover, a deflector lip behind the headrests (which, apparently, prevents occupants' hair being blown forward) colour-coded handles and mirrors. Filling the wheel arches are inoffensive 15 x 6-inch 5-spoke alloys wearing 185/55s at the front and big 205/50s at the business end. Either Yokohama A043s or Bridgestone Potenza RE0140 can be fitted.

Surprisingly - based on our recent Toyota test vehicles - the MR2 has couple of areas of questionable build quality. The interior light lens fits loosely and its switch feels cheap, the exterior door handles feel flimsy and - as seen here - the seatbelts cause wear on the seat fabric. These gripes aside, all panels fit well, paint quality is good and assembly is tight.

The MR2 comes with the standard Toyota warranty, which covers 3-years on mechanicals, 3-years on paint and 5-years on perforation. Note that nearly 90 percent of the body is made from galvanised steel.

Now let's get down to dollars and sense...

You can buy a Mazda MX-5 S-VT for $43,485, a MG-F VVC for $49,990 - or you can pick up a Toyota MR2 Spyder at a middle-ground price of $46,200. That's pretty reasonable value considering its generous standard equipment list. The only options are air conditioning, metallic/mica paint, or an option pack, which gives you a tan leather interior and tan soft-top. A Sportivo body kit can also be purchased.

So - forgetting price for a moment - is the MR2 a better all-round car than the king-of-the-hill Mazda MX-5?

Well, it is a fresher design, the engine feels livelier and there's more fun stuff inside. Ultimately, though - from a purist's point of view - the below-par performance of that clutchless gearbox puts the MR2 second to the MX-5.

Oh, if only we could get a conventional manual gearbox, or - at minimum - get those clutchless up-shifts happening faster...