1989 Toyota MR2 SC

Meet Emma, my 1989 Toyota MR2 (AW11) Supercharged.

I’ve owned this car for 2 1/2 years now and without a doubt I can say that she’s the greatest car on the planet! Toyota only sent a handful of first-generation supercharged MR2’s to the US back in the 80’s. Powered by Toyota’s legendary 4AGZE 1.6L 4-cylinder boosted to 8psi by a tiny Roots-type supercharger, this engine was good for around 145hp from the factory with 140 lb-ft of torque. While that may not sound like much, it propels this 2,700 lb car from 0-60mph in around 6.5 seconds! Acceleration was so good back in it’s day, it was one of the fastest cars you could buy from 0-30mph, FASTER THAN A FERRARI F40!! (gotta be the best at something) All of this performance was tied to a wonderfully set up chassis done by none other than Roger Becker, an engineer with Lotus. His work helped the AW11 achieve Car-of-the-Year when it was first introduced in 1984!

A car of this greatness is also matched with a fantastically styled interior which not only features fighter jet styling, but also focuses it’s ergonomic layout on the needs of the driver! Every button is perfectly placed within the reach of the driver, and the gauge cluster features a light which illuminates when the supercharger is engaged.

This MR2 has had a few upgrades over the years: an HKS exhaust designed specifically for the SC MR2, BC Racing BR coilovers, Recaro LX-C seats, and the perfectly-fitting Enkei Apache II’s are the major notable upgrades.

The driving experience can only be described as automotive perfection! The steering is light despite being unassisted, and the added power from the supercharger gives the car excellent low-end grunt to shoot the car off the line and to it’s 135mph top speed (untested of course).

At the end of the day, I’m just glad to have the chance to own a fantastically-made, head-turning, performance car which checks all the boxes for an automotive icon.

Here’s to you, Emma!