Who is Mr.S? — Toyota MR-S, 1.8 liter, 2003

I have a car a little over a year, so you can share your impressions. The review is divided into 5 main blocks, so let's start.

DESIGN. Bright and memorable. It has some family traits with other Toyota models, for example, a central hood stamping for an air intake (as on the Toyota Celica T23, I will mention it more than once), or triangular inserts in the rear bumper (there are similar ones on the Vitz RS in a new body).
The car looks great with or without a roof (topless, so to speak :-). On this instance, there are two roof options: a folding soft top and a removable plastic roof. A little about each separately.
Folding soft top - installed from the factory. The roof mechanism is driven manually.

If you get used to it, then it can be folded / unfolded in a few seconds. The raised top is fixed with two latches in the area of ​​​​the sun visors. The roof material resembles a tarpaulin, there is a small heated rear-view window (which is rare for this type of body).

Hardtop (hardtop) is an option.

It is a one-piece plastic roof, which is attached to the body with 4 latches and 2 loops.

Can only be installed with the soft top folded down. It is most convenient to install / remove together, but, in extreme cases, you can do it alone.

The rear view window on a hardtop is much larger than on a folding soft top and is also equipped with heating (connected with a separate chip).

As befits a Japanese car, the MR-S is airtight with both hardtop and soft top - tested by Karcher :-).
In city traffic, the car stands out. To be honest, I used to be skeptical about the stories of the owners that people react emotionally to the appearance of a car. From my own experience, I have found that this is true in many respects. Moreover, these are positive emotions - smiles of pedestrians, greetings from fellow car owners. It's nice that the car pleases not only me.

INTERIOR. Inside, not everything is as stylish as outside. No, individual elements look great, for example, white easy-to-read instrument dials with amber backlight, a comfortable steering wheel, pedals with aluminum lining, and, of course, a chrome-look gear selector with a convenient metal “ball”, like on Altezza with Automatic transmission and Daihatsu Copen.

But in general, there is no sense of balance, completeness (for example, as in my favorite Celica in the last body). In addition to everything else, hard plastic with different surface textures was used in the interior decoration (it was intended that way, but it didn’t turn out that way :-). In general, there is a desire to finalize the interior, and there are some ideas.
As for ergonomics, everything is easily accessible and located in the usual places. There will be no problems finding the right button if you know about some of the features of this model. For example, that the front hood opening handle is located (wherever you think) in the glove box, and the power window keys, like in the Celica, are on the console between the seats.
The audio system on the S-edition consists of a 2DIN CD/MD receiver and component speakers in the front doors. The antenna is automatic telescopic. All this plays ... in general, only the antenna will remain from the factory components of the audio system over time.
A few words about the landing / disembarkation. Considering the so-called “low” seat slides, the process is different from conventional cars. But when you sit down in a comfortable seat with “civilian” (in the sense, not like a racing “bucket”) lateral support, you feel that there is enough space, and the landing itself is comfortable. By the way, today I just noticed that the seat covers themselves are removable (on 2 zippers).

Together in the car, there is no discomfort, there is enough space for any seat setting. Forward visibility is good, thanks to the special shape of the front fenders and the hood, the front dimensions of the body are clearly visible.

There are no complaints about the rear-view mirrors either, but the rear view with the soft top up is just a tragedy. With a hardtop, visibility is better, because. the rear window is much larger.
Behind the seats is a compartment for luggage (50 liters).

There is also a glove box, which will include just 2 pairs of gloves and some other little thing.

ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION. The engine is one of the most common Toyota, 1ZZ, with a setting of 140 hp. Located in the base - between the seats and the rear axle.

The gearbox is 6-speed (before restyling there were 5-speed), located next to the engine. This car has a sequential sequential shifting gearbox (SMT - not to be confused with an automatic or CVT) - this is a conventional manual gearbox with a hydraulic clutch unit. Gears can be switched both with the buttons on the steering wheel and with the gear selector. The "Drive" mode, as on the automatic transmission, is not here.
Under the front hood are engine and air conditioning radiators, a vacuum brake booster with an ABS unit, a fuse box and a spare wheel. From above, all this economy is covered with a plastic cover, but in my case it is absent, because. additional Cusco brace installed.

SUSPENSION and BRAKES. Front and rear McPherson Strut suspension. In general, there are a lot of all kinds of spacers here in stock, and there are no tuning options at all.
Brakes around disc, ventilated, 1-piston. The braking dynamics (sorry for the pun :-) suits, but after a series of intense braking (especially in hot weather), the efficiency decreases significantly, which is why I decided to install 2-piston mechanisms - I wrote more on this topic in a separate blog entry.

DRIVING PERFORMANCE. This car is just made for cornering. One by one, bundle by bundle. Handling is simply gorgeous - it really is different from cars with a front engine. It often happens that the feeling of self-preservation is stronger than the real possibility of passing the turn at the maximum possible speed. At the same time, the car forgives many mistakes - it is difficult to break the MR-S into an uncontrolled skid. The sliding itself starts smoothly with all 4 wheels and is easily corrected by the steering wheel and gas pedal.
The comfort is specific - the suspension travel is small - it seems that literally a couple of centimeters for rebound / compression :-), rolls are minimal. I really like this “comfort”, because. makes the car feel better. The steering wheel is moderately sharp - from lock to lock 2.5 turns.
Accelerating dynamics is quite decent, because less than a ton of curb weight accounts for 140 hp. The car exchanges the first hundred in just over 7 seconds. The open top and the soundtrack of the TRD muffler enhance the impression of acceleration. By the way, a comfortable driving speed with an open top is up to 90 km / h (with the side windows and rear screen raised). Aerodynamics are designed so that the wind almost does not blow into the cabin. It is quite comfortable to ride without a top and in cool weather (today I went, it was + 9⁰С), you only need to adjust the microclimate unit: temperature controller - max hot; blowing speed 3; flow distribution - to the position "on the windshield and at the feet."
A few words about SMT - upshifts are fast enough, although, of course, an experienced driver will be able to switch faster; there are no complaints about downshifts at all - everything is very clear and fast, even when it is necessary to “throw off” several gears at once with an active drive. It is convenient that if you were driving, for example, in 5th gear, then you start to stop, then the box itself will switch from 5th to 2nd gear (at a speed of about 30 km / h), and then to 1st (at a speed of about 10 km/h). You can also move from second gear, simulating the "winter" mode.
As it was written in one of the reviews, when preparing the restyled version, changes were made to the operation of this unit, which made it possible to get rid of the “childhood diseases” of SMT.

So after all, Who is Mr.S? For me, the MR-S is perceived as an entry-level sports car that does not burden the cost of maintenance (it costs like a Corolla). As it should be according to the law of the genre, it has just the necessary features, such as a specific fit, the absence of a trunk as such, or “fun” with the search for wheels of different and rare dimensions (I remind you, on the rear axle 215/45 R16), but all of them are a continuation of the advantages , which are many. The main one is driving pleasure.

PS: as a "bonus" today, a couple of photos with a brand new UAZ Patriot Sport neighbor in the garage.