Jonty's MR2 Turbo

The MR2

A bit of history

When the MR2 first appeared in 1984 (UK was 1985) it was Japan's first 2-seater, mid-engine sports car. In fact, it was Japan's baby Ferrari and put performance and handling into the hands of whoever wanted one. Designed by Seiichi Yamauchi, over twenty years on and it's still going strong and, at the time of writing, currently in its third generation.

There are a number of interpretations as to what MR2 stands for including: Midship Racer 2-seater, Mid-engine Read-drive 2-seater, and Midship Runabout 2-seater. My personal favourite is Midship Runabout 2-seater.

The MkI

The MkI was in production from 1984 to 1989. In the UK there was just the naturally aspirated 1.6 litre, twin-cam, 16-valve engine whereas in Japan and America there was also a supercharged model. The standard power-plant was capable of 122 bhp pre-1986 and 124 bhp thereafter. The Japanese supercharged version had 145 bhp.

Without a doubt, armed with its mid-engine layout and rear-wheel drive the MR2 was a true sports car!

The MkII

In 1989 the MkII took over and its reign continued up until 1999. It was bigger and heavier but equipped with a larger 2.0 litre power plant which came with different power levels. From 1989, an economical 120 bhp engine was available up until 1991 (with an automatic transmission option). At the same time a sportier 154 bhp engine was available which was hiked to 174 bhp in 1994.

For the more power-hungry driver, turbocharged models were released in Japan and the USA and Canada. With 200 bhp in the US, Japanese models had 220 bhp until the end of 1993 when the 3rd revision was unveiled -- it packed 240 bhp due to a number of mechanical changes in the engine bay.

The MkIII

The MkIII replaced its bigger brother in 1999 and was much more like the original MkI -- smaller and lighter. Both UK and Japanese models are currently armed with 1.8 litre, 16-valve engine producing 138 bhp and technology such as variable-valve timing and sequential manual transmission. Only released in Japan (and also rare), VM180 TRD models exist which push out 155 bhp.

Trivia and country variations

Models and specification of the MR2 can differ from country to country. In the US for example, the MkI had a lesser output of 112 bhp. With the MkII, models in the UK were the Coupe, GT and GT T-Bar whereas Japan have the G, GT, GT-S, and G-Limited. Air conditioning is standard for Japanese models yet optional in the UK. The MkIII in Japan is badged the MR-S.

The Turbo model was never released in the UK, nor was it officially imported -- so any such examples found will be grey imports. In France the name 'MR2' doesn't actually exist -- it's called the Coupe MR since saying "MR2" in French sounds familiarly like "merdeux" which means "sh*t".