That Toyota car with updated lights would have been so good in today's market, probably even with hybrid option. My 24 year old son just bought a 2019 Mazda MX-5 Miata base model excellent condition under 50K miles last month, it is his first car ever. He had been using my old 2015 Honda Fit EX before he got his own car.
I mean that's what the Honda S2000 was, a newer version of Honda's old S_00 convertibles, but I don't think Toyota needs a big engine to do that since the 2.4 boxer 4 already covers Toyota's old boxer sports car engine wise What we need is another car similar to the rear drive Starlet with a truly small engine, no bigger than 1,600cc MAX to cover the featherweight nimbleness aspect
That is a nice looking compact sports car. I used to get that model and tune up to race in gran turismo game. I think with the 1.6 turbo from the GR Yaris, it would be fast.
Kirk, Just when I thought I would never shed another tear over this monumental, lost-affordable-sports-car opportunity from Toyota, you had to do a full video on the S-FR and open up all those old wounds. 😂One thing is for sure, I have ZERO interest in a Toyota sports car contaminated with Subaru or BMW components. The GR Yaris and GR Corolla prove Toyota does not need help from anybody to build a performance car. Bring on the sensible, affordable 100% Toyota S-FR!!!!! Just make sure that unlike the Miata, those of us over 6 feet can fit inside🤩🤩🤩🤩
Even though I drove it's conception on the PS GT Sport game.. It seem like it would have been a great car to drive on the real. I definitely would have love to have seen it go into production. The specs on it was on point and it would have been a hit in the aftermarket segment.
I was actually keeping tabs on this idea of a car ever since the concept got announced. Ended up with the MR-S instead since it was one of the closest attainable cars to a SFR. I think I would've loved an updated car such as the SFR, but I love the analog feel of my MR-S.
I think there's more going on behind the scenes than we know. Akio Toyoda brought us the Supra, GR86, GR Yaris and GR Corolla. Why couldn't he make the SF-R happen? Timeline wise, the CH-R was being developed around the same time, so by the time the CH-R released, the SF-R should have been right behind it for possibly a 2017MY release. My guess is that no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't pass crash safety ratings with what is essentially a kei-car and weren't willing to compromise on styling or weight. But Mazda got the ND to pass crash safety tests. Why didn't Toyota use the ND platform like Fiat? So many questions. I hope Kirk can ask a Toyota engineer at the 4Runner or Camry press event.
Really enjoyed this segment Kirk! I remember this vehicle in Gran Turismo and was excited to think Toyota was possibly going to release this vehicle in America. Depressing to think they never pushed forward with it.
This car still looks funky, and dare I say, timeless. It's just the sort of car I would want, doesn't have too much power, small, light, of course I'd just end up buying a Miata in our reality. But here, this is a big what if, and I would definitely be interested in getting one.
Re-design the front end, get in the 150-165 hp range for the base, and give it a 200 hp variant, and I'm in--unavoidable buy if it revs to 7500rpm or above.
SFR wow nice!! Good job Kirk... keep the good work coming with concept reviews and all. I wonder if you got insights on Toyota's Hydrogen Combustion Engine!! I think it's coming and it'll revolutionize the auto industry - internal combustion side plus put a damper on EV's too!!
Ill never own an EV. However i would enjoy a gnat attractant paint job that is easy to see in a parking lot. That vehicle seems like something up my alley.
So what you do in the time gap between Toyota news is dig around for what we missed in the old news.👍👍👍This thing we missed here should’ve made it to production.😢
At the time of planning the next NE Roadster in collaboration with Mazda, which is an alliance partner, the possibility of a revival using components is not zero.
I like the gaping grill, it's somehow cute fugliness was literally what drew me to it! (along with being an actually small nimble machine) In fact it was the only "new" car I was willing to buy. But after rumors it'd never show stateside, out of spite I bought a pair of R1s with the money I'd saved up to stick it to Toyota, only to later learn that Yamaha is basically an offshoot of Toyota's old engineering arm prior to TRD's existence so I still didn't vote correctly with my wallet
If I had to pick a world with either the MX-5 and the 86/BRZ or the MX-5 and the SFR, give me the world with the 86 in it. The SFR looks really cool, but I doubt Toyota would make both it and the 86. And I like that the 86/BRZ competes with the MX-5 while still being very much it’s own thing.
On Grand Turismo, it is a fun little platform to drive, so I would love for this to come out on the road. I believe it is on the Grand Turismo Sport and is not the last version...
1:24 Wow, that lil' Copen looks like one of Nissan's crazy 'Pike' cars from the early 90s. You should make a video about those, for the young 'uns who weren't around at the time.
If it had a manual steering rack option or hydraulic steering rack option I would pick it over the Miata with the EPS.....even though the Miata looks better.
Out of all of the toyota teases, FT1, GR yaris, etc, this was the one I was bummed about the most. I really wanted to see this in the States!😔 especially the racing concept version!
I'm a Toyota and Nissan girl. And i would love to have that car. Drop in the corolla 3 cylinder and some force induction. Looking cute and fast dricting doen the mountain I'd ❤ it 😊
Honestly? I think I would’ve preferred this over the FRS/GT86 (I’m trying to say the first gen). Sure with the engine it has it seems more of a parts bin kinda light coupe/convertible but at least it’s all (or mainly idek) Toyota made
Rereleased original HachiRoku or Corolla GTS and have the customer sign a stack of release forms and sell it as a farm implement. I want no bs original rwd hatch!
Would have been a fun car but would have lost to the Miata and more importantly money. I say that as a fan and owner of small underpowered lightweight Japanese cars.
Terribly missed opportunity by Toyota offer as coupe ,1.5, 2 seater, no frills, low cost , lite weight, LSD , manual or auto , monotone paint in bright colors and priced under an MX5 ...$25 to 30k
There is really no point from a financial standpoint for Toyota or Honda to spend the time, money and effort to put out a sports car since they won't promote and therefore popularize the model--which you need to do, by definition, to get healthy sales and at least recover your R&D investment. And hopefully make a profit. It would simply not be good PR in this hemisphere to push a sexy sports car since Toyota and Honda already dominate in many meat-and-potato markets like compact and midsize sedans and SUVs, which is already four segments. Better to look 'boring' and not rouse a backlash. This is one reason why the NSX, Prelude and S 2000 sales were okay at first but then diminished quickly over a few years, despite amazing reviews: they got the enthusiasts and people who really do their research when shopping around. But beyond that, you need more typical people who simply want a sporty car. To get them, you need to aggressively promote the car. But it wouldn't look good for Honda and Toyota to do that. Since Mazda and Nissan do not dominate like Honda and Toyota, they have a little more latitude to put out "exciting" cars, hence the Miata and Z. When Nissan was doing better, they had to be careful: I remember Jay Leno mentioning that Nissan had a Gentlemen's agreement when it came to horsepower, back in the 1990s, so their sports cars were underpowered by American standards. But then they had trouble and were bought by Renault in '99. This made it politically more feasible to put out a performance car. And that's exactly what happened, in the early 2000s with the 350 Z.
They probably heard that everyone already compared the FRS to the miata, and the miata was better. So they stopping making an even more inferior miata and starting working on the 2nd gen brz, which is finally an actual competitor to the miata, just a little bit more roomy.
Looked too "cute". The MX5 didn't look so cartoony. Looks like a Mini Cooper and a Miata RF had a one night stand and then they shrunk it in a clothes dryer.
My guess is because it looked too similar to the Miata but looked like a Chinese knockoff version, so Toyota was embarrassed...and they did not bother to redesign it. That is my conspiracy theory.
The front end kinda reminds me of a Yaris, this screams modern day Toyota Paseo, especially if was going to be based off of the design of the Yaris iA and power trains, as the Yaris was the Tercel and the Tercel had the Paseo companion coupe.
The one car that made it to the game, but with the wrong drive line was the Honda Del Sol. I believe this could be brought back... ... If laid out with a transverse hybrid engine, it would SCORE BIG if aimed at the 18-25 first buyers & 65+ retired empty nesters. I'd buy one.
