• Toyota MR-S

The Toyota MR2 is a sports car produced by the Japanese automaker Toyota since 1984 in 3 major series:

The name is an acronym for MR2 which is not the meaning. The two most probable are: Midship Runabout 2 Seats and, alternatively, Mid-engine, Rear-wheel Drive, 2 Seats

What unites and gives, in fact, the name of this sport is the position of the motor (central) and rear-wheel drive 2-seater.

The first and the second series (respectively MKI and MKII) were produced in configuration Targa (central part of the removable roof) and coupe; the third series (MKIII) abandons this tradition develop into spyder configuration (with a canvas roof that can be opened).

The first 2 sets were marketed under aspirated and turbocharged engines, the latter feature was abandoned by the MKIII.

The first series, designed partly in cooperation with Lotus Cars was initially made available in coupe version, but just one year after the presentation took shape its structure and ultimately most successful car to "Targa".

The engines were provided with a cylinder capacity is low for a sports car, 1.6 l naturally aspirated and disbursing different powers depending on the configuration and the markets in which the car was addressed. The brilliance of the performance was guaranteed by its weight.

In 1987 he made his appearance on the first model equipped with a compressor with an increase in power that reached nearly 150hp.

The second set was completely redesigned into production in 1990 and had a line much more rounded with marked similarities to the Ferrari 308 and Ferrari 348 GTS.

It was not uncommon to hear precisely define as a "Ferrarina" and presented the cases of fans who have proceeded to an aesthetic tuning of the car to make it look like a Gran Turismo further Maranello in miniature.

In 1994, undergoes a makeover at the lights and rear spoiler.

Of the three series is produced that expresses the best performance, with over 240km/h top speed and acceleration from 0 to 100km/h less than 8 seconds.

Engines: 2.0 aspirated (175cv) 3S-GE, 2.0 Turbo (200cv and 245cv Japanese version) 3S-GTE, aspirated 2.2 (135cv) 5S-FE.

The MKIII was imported in the Italian market since 2000. This third series is inspired by the Ferrari, but no more than the Porsche Boxster and perhaps for this reason in Italy did not have a big commercial success. Undergoes a makeover in 2003 to finish his career in the Italian 2005; all without ever having overly attracted to the customer italics, as opposed to the big success that this car has had, and continues to be, the rest of Europe and the world.

In 2003, the MR2 MKIII undergoes a makeover in order to stay abreast with the times, the changes were:

Unlike previous models there is only one version that features the new 1794cc engine, all-aluminum 1ZZ-FED called. Like its predecessors, there is a dual overhead cam, 16-valve with VVT-i Toyota adjusting the valves. This engine produces 138hp (104 kW), but in spite of the difference in power compared to previous generations, this new MR2 is able to offer the same excellent performance. This thanks to the weight content of only 975kg (manual transmission) and 997kg (automatic transmission), and also thanks to a 6-speed manual transmission that can reach 100km/h in 8.0 seconds. In the version with sequential transmission (SMT) 6-speed gearbox, this time increases to 9.3 seconds.

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