The weights that folks are listing for MR2 Turbos sound a bit high to me. I
used to own a '94 MR2 Turbo loaded with every available option. I had it
weighed in autox trim (1/8 tank gas, T-tops removed, spare tire & tools
removed, muffler replaced with straight pipe) and it weighed 2795 lbs. A
friend's '93 Turbo hardtop with A/C and power steering and ABS but without
the other power goodies weighed 2730. My '91 Turbo hardtop with zero
options weighed 2795 in road race trim, so I figure without the cage and
muffler it would be around 2670. An A/C system would add about 50 lbs. to
that and put me essentially the same weight as the friend's '93 hardtop. So
from my experience an MR2T in autox trim should weigh between 2670 and 2800
lbs., depending on options. Toyota lists the weight of a '94 Turbo at 2888
which sounds about right for a car in street trim. Pretty heavy for such a
small car.
In '93 the side impact bars in the doors were changed from a corrugated
steel type to a tubular type which weigh less. And the '94+ one-piece rear
wing looks to be quite a bit lighter than the earlier style, although the
'94+ taillights weigh a bit more. So the later cars end up weighing about
the same as the earlier ones. It's hard to find later ones that aren't
loaded with options, though. In '93 there were maybe 14 hardtop Turbos
imported to the U.S., and every '94-95 car I've seen was loaded with all
options.
Toyota seems to like to build their sports cars heavy and solid, unlike
Mazda who likes them lighter and flimsier. And then there's Lotus who
builds them ultra-light and fragile.
Brad Burns
'91 MR2T hardtop, 22K miles, A-stock
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