Richard Casto wrote:
I think in that original article it mentioned the outside potential for Honda to do a mid-engine car. I don't know the details of how Toyota did this with the MR-2 and later MR_Spyder. I assume they mostly just dropped a front engine drivetrain into the rear. The clear advantage of this approach is that it is very cheap to do (pull from the parts bin vs. engineer a totally new solution). I think that approach could be a winner if done right. The problem is that you don't want to pull a "Fiero" in that you pick the worst from the parts bin and then after the fact realize you have to rework the solution, or just don't rework it. (Based upon your comment Donnie, Toyota picked the wrong engine).
So I could see Honda dropping in something like the Fit drivetrain into a small mid-engine car. But would enthusiast go for that or would they want something sportier (i.e. more power). I would be on the fence on that one. I like my Fit and I could see a cheap mid-engine using the Fit engine working and being a fun car, but it would clearly not be able to go head to head with other in the category it would compete against such as a Miata or BRZ.
Well, at the time of the Spyder's introduction, it was to be a direct competitor to the Miata. I think Toyota thought with more edgy styling (less "chick car") and mid-engine, all they needed was performance "on par" with the Miata to beat it. Unfortunately they forgot to market it AT ALL and the performance was almost directly equal. And somehow they just didn't appeal to most people like the Miata did, so the numbers were mediocre.
The funny thing is that yes, it's really just parts binned stuff. It's a Celica GT/Matrix engine and transmission (1ZZ). Interestingly, the 2ZZ is what's found in the Celica GT-S and I think even a fancy Matrix (and the Elise) and is a pretty easy conversion into a current Spyder now. In fact, I'm guessing there are more than a hundred and maybe a couple hundred hand-converted Spyders in the wild now. The only "problem" that keeps the conversion from looking and feeling stock is the tachometer as there's NOTHING that bolts into a Spyder's dash, looks stock, and has the proper range. You either put some aftermarket tach up there, live with the tach not working, or modify the current tach with a signal splitter so that it reads exactly half what it should and do the math in your head. Otherwise, they are pretty easy to do, and not very expensive either.
And like Les, I will never understand why they didn't just offer the car that way. If I had to guess I'd say they always INTENDED to do it, but probably got distracted with other things and thought it wouldn't sell. And maybe by the time they did decide it would work they may have had a deal with Lotus to NOT do that since they started supplying engines to them for the Elise and their car would have undercut Elise sales, potentially. It would have still been heavier and strut based, though.
I've thought many times about buying another Spyder and doing the conversion...
--Donnie
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