Brand association is usually the surest sign that a product has resonated with the market and achieved undisputed success. When you think of fizzy drinks, you think of Coke. Sticky tape? Scotch. Similarly, when you think of fast, expensive supercars, Ferrari is the brand that anybody would first name. A Dodge Viper would immediately bring to mind its thumping NA V10 mated to a manual box. An Elise would conjure up the nimblest and rawest of driving experiences served with the most delicious of steering feel. When it comes to this week's "Poor Man's Ferrari" however, the image- no, the scenario that first comes to mind is somehow, a 2 litre bottle, about half full, and horizontally sashaying about, the water within violently and uncontrollably sloshing back and forth in the process.
As well known a fact in the auto industry as "never unscrew a coolant cap when the car is hot because it's a surefire way to get horribly injured" is that driving a second generation MR2 is a surefire way to die from having one's butt ferociously and unpredictably introduced into a randomly selected tree with snap oversteer, best represented by the half full bottle of water sloshing about. Toyota engineers were so obsessed with the idea of bringing the joys of rear mid-engine motoring to the masses in a relatively cheap package, that they didn't stop to ponder if they should, instead of just whether they could. What we end up with is a car that has a short wheelbase and rear springs that wouldn't feel out of place in a Camry. Mid corner, you get a choice of understeering into a tree by not lifting off the gas, or oversteering into a tree by lifting. Either way, death is sure to result. And if that's not grandiose enough for you, the GT-S grade of the MR2 lets you add turbo lag into the mix, which is akin to a firefighter spraying gasoline from a fire hydrant into a fire. I mean... they're professionals, right? They had to have known what they were doing, right? They set all this up consciously and knowingly, right? Some committee would've had to greenlight this, right? So how the hell was this the end result?
In Gran Turismo Sport however, the car is... surprisingly pleasant, mild mannered, and easy to drive. There isn't even a hint of the horrific snap oversteer or lift off oversteer that the car is so notorious for in real life and in earlier Gran Turismo titles. What we end up with then, is a cheap car with stunning good looks, a rear mid-mounted engine, a manual gearbox, a stylish wing, and even pop up headlights! What's not to love? I daresay that it handles even better than the NSX-R in this game, which makes me wonder if lift off oversteer is even programmed into the game. Without the car's Achilles' Heel, it's actually a superb drive, though it's a little hard for me to fall in love with it just because of that, because that's akin to saying that cheating on your spouse is great if the risk of them catching you and you contracting an STD were magically removed from the equation. On some levels, I'd still hesitate to get involved in the act, in the same way I'd hesitate to get emotionally invested in the MR2, because I've been conditioned for years to think that those are bad things. I feel as if liking an MR2 would be the equivalent of knowingly unscrewing a coolant cap when a car is hot.
If I've any complaint against the car, it's that the engine in this sounds as uninspired and has the same drone as a typical econobox car, which is a bit of a turn off for me. Otherwise, it's brilliant.
Apologies for the shorter write up. The past few days have been really crazy for me. I still want to be part of Car of the Week guys I'm a good person I swear I just want to be loved and accepted.
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