Toyota has been teasing a new MR2 for a long time. On the way to the sports car’s eventual revival, the company’s top engineers took the GR Yaris and relocated its motor behind the driver’s seat in Renault Clio V6-fashion. That mule looked great, but there’s nothing about this test car recently caught blazing around Fuji Speedway that hopefully reflects what the company has in mind for the final product.
In these photos and the short video embedded below, courtesy of X User @You_SuiKoyoAZWe can see a compact coupe with large vents behind the doors and prominent box flares. The headlights and taillights look like GR Yaris units, further cementing that relationship. Yes, it has that “built-in-a-shed” vibe, but it still looks perfect. If Toyota literally put it on sale tomorrow, I wouldn’t mind.
Notably, in the video, the exhaust note you hear isn’t that of the G16E-GTS three-cylinder found in the production GR Yaris and GR Corolla, but a new, 2.0-liter four-cylinder that’s expected to pump out around 400 horsepower. This is the same mill that Toyota is testing as the “Concept M,” the aforementioned, mid-engine GR Yaris development car.
Like Toyota’s rally machines, the MR2 is also expected to deliver that power to all four wheels. Gazoo Racing engineering chief Naohiko Saito recently told UK Auto Express Such a layout is “new” to the company, combining a midship engine with all-wheel drive, but the team found in initial testing that such a pairing “provides the best layout for high-performance driving.”
If the GR Crew’s recent history is anything to go by, it’s quite possible that we’ll see this evolved version of the Concept M compete on a circuit (or rally stage), and maybe even enjoy a pseudo-public display or two before we see the final MR2 take the covers off. And it’s wonderful – it’s exciting to see Toyota developing these cars out in the open, showing that they are not vague concepts, but rather vehicles being refined and validated through motorsport. that’s the way it should be.
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