TOYOTA MR2

WE TELL THE BACKGROUND STORY ON HOW TOYOTA BOTH SPOILT AND THEN FIXED THE MR2

-  ANDY ENRIGHT

AS SCREAMER headlines went 'HOW TOYOTA SPOILT THE MR2' is right up there. Accompanied by a series of pictures of an SW20 MR2 spinning on track, the cover of CAR magazine's May 1990 edition stuck the knife into Toyota's box-fresh sportster with 100-point all caps.

In today's torrent of clickbait, such a headline would barely raise an eyebrow. It'd likely elicit a Jeff Lebowski shrug of 'that's just your opinion, man' before scrolling on. Back then it was enough to permanently cast a shadow over the SW20 MR2's legacy. But was there any truth to it? Toyota reacted. Stung by the criticism, it brought a Revision 2 version of the MR2 to market in January 1992. The suspension was altered, wider tyres were specified and JDM models got the option of traction control and, for the Turbo, a viscous LSD.

The turbocharged version was never officially imported to Australia. We had to make do with the atmo 3S-GE 2.0-litre four that had previously seen duty in the Celica SX. Subtly altered valve timing and compression had squeaked a few more kilowatts out of the 16-valve lump though, peak power rising by 14kW to 117kW at 6600rpm and peak torque climbing by 17Nm to a presentable 190Nm at 4800rpm. Curiously, Toyota then undid much of that good work by saddling the five-speed manual transmission with a taller final drive.

Wheels' first taste of the SW20 in Australia came in March 1990 when Michael Stahl claimed it to be "easier to drive, significantly faster, stops harder, hangs on better and is more forgiving" than its predecessor. He did sound a note of caution, however, claiming that the Japanese press had found their home market Turbo version to be almost uncontrollable in the wet.