Toyota MR2 With 1,200 Honda Horsepower Does 0 To 60 In 2.5 Seconds

And it's completely street legal.

10:41

Jacob Oliva

By: Jacob Oliva

Jan 3, 2021 at 7:43am ET

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Much has been said about the Toyota MR2. The mid-engine coupe, which was arguably one of the most exciting machines that the marque has ever created for the road, was born in the '80s and ended its life in a sedate manner in the 2000s. But up until now, we still see several examples of the MR2 running around – most of them tuned to incredible numbers.

One of those surviving MR2s is this – a gray second-generation W20 that's obviously built for drag strips (check those wide drag radials). Featured in this video by That Racing Channel, it's owned by someone named Josh and it's carrying something unassuming behind the seats.

Josh's MR2 went under the knife of course, with an engine swap to a Honda K20 power plant, but that's not all. It's also boosted by over 50 PSI, which catapults the power output to 1,200 horsepower (895 kilowatts).

As mentioned, this MR2 is made for the drag strip, and that's the point of the video atop this page. The target, of course, is to do a quarter mile as quickly as possible, purposefully targeting the 8-second range.

The first try was already a success, hitting 8.99 seconds to complete the quarter-mile. The second attempt was even better, with the Honda-powered MR2 registering 8.87 seconds at 176.30 miles per hour (284 kilometers per hour). It was also on this bid where the MR2 did a zero to 60 mph (97 km/h) of just 2.56 seconds. That's even quicker than most supercars out there.

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Then again, the final shot was the best run, clocking in 8.785 seconds for the quarter-mile with a blistering speed of 180.60 mph (290.6 km/h) at the line. While this isn't the quickest MR2 out there – we've seen an 8.5-second run from a guy named Kyle (video below) – that speed at the end is the fastest so far from the mid-engined Toyota.

We're sensing a tough contest between these two.