Gas 2.0

I have many a fond memory of my friend’s old supercharged Toyota MR2. The peppy two-seater was a rarity for its day; an affordable, fun, mid-engine sports car from the generally conservative Toyota. We used to whip around parking lots, burning rubber, and raise a ruckus… until the car wound up on its roof due to, uh, mysterious circumstances.

So the news that Toyota might be considering bringing back the MR2, as a hybrid, fills me with mixed emotions, but mostly hope that the ‘yota might be making a comeback to old-fashioned fun [Ed. Note: Toyota could do for a good dose of that these days, what with all the recalls, lawsuits, and generally bad karma].

Now this is pretty much pure speculation on the part of Japanese magazine Best Car, but, with Toyota’s crosstown rival Honda bringing their hip CR-Z hybrid to market sometime in the next year, Toyota might be wise to deliver a competitor. Honda’s CR-Z recalls its CRX roots; why shouldn’t Toyota bring the MR2 out of retirement?

Reportedly, the car would be called the MR-S (Can someone explain to me why most modern cars lack proper names? Would you like to drive a Mrs.? Er, on second thought, don’t answer that) and would use a reworked version of the Prius hybrid synergy system. As I like to remind my readers, electric motors provide 100% of their available torque at 0 RPM, making them an excellent choice for performance applications. An MR-S with an electric torque dump could prove quite the competitor, though the rendered styling could use some help. It reminds me a little too much of an Audi TT.

With many customers focused on fuel economy—yet still demanding performance—a line up of quick, fuel-efficient cars should sell well.

Source: Best Car vis Car Scoop

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