[serialk11r]

They mentioned that there is going to be a car "above" the 86 (FT-1/Supra), and a car below it in price. It might be possible to undercut the twins by a little; the old MR2s all had off the shelf drivetrains for the most part which saves a ton of money.

The new Corolla drivetrains are actually pretty respectable, they have the 2ZR-FAE certified for the US market now in the Corolla ECO, and they have a new 6 speed manual in the US as well. This engine is WAY cheaper than the fancy FA20 and the transverse mount transaxle is probably cheaper than the longitudinal setup the 86 has, not to mention the standard LSD adding more cost. The question is of course the chassis. The ZZW30 was 23k new, which is not that cheap, but you see Honda selling CRZs for 20k so maybe it can be done.

The biggest problem I see is that a 1.8L Corolla powered MR2 would be quite a bit slower than a Miata with its 2L DI engine, which may be an issue lol. They might be able to fix this with some high compression pistons and requiring premium fuel.