This VW Beetle Is Actually a Toyota MR2 With an Audi TT Engine

Anything Goes

One of the coolest aspects of building your own car is when you don’t care what people think. There are those who come up with an ideal build and go for it. Some are crazy and over the top, but others are actually “aha” moments that turn out to be worthwhile and desirable. Drag cars mostly sit at the top end of the build spectrum, with low, wide, menacing stances and overpowered engines.

However, there are some dragsters built with restraint. One such build has just gone viral for an interesting collection of parts from three automakers.

VW Beetle x Toyota MR2 x Audi TT

The featured car was posted on Drag Media UK’s YouTube channel. Now we know that any stock VW Beetle won’t have the power to outdrag anything, so obviously this one’s been tuned, but at first glance you wouldn’t think that it was anything other than an actual Beetle. The short walkaround video reveals how very close to stock this car is; even the tires and rims carry the classic look. It doesn’t show the inside of the dragster, but you can get a peek in the video, which also reveals a basically stock interior apart from the steering wheel, bucket seat, and the roll cage.

Apparently, this car was originally a 3rd-generation Toyota MR2, which was built between 1999 and 2007. What makes this interesting is that the MR2 is a mid-engined car originally, but this Beetle was sent to Stav-Tech / Zurawski Motorsport, who performed an engine swap. Powering this dragster is a 1.8-liter in-line four-cylinder Audi engine from the TT sports car; the engine now sits in the middle-rear, meaning it retains some of the MR2 aspects. To accommodate the Beetle body, the owner cut off 50 mm from the MR2 chassis.

Serious Performance

No performance figures were mentioned in the report or the video feature, but based on the 11.1-second, 124 mph recorded drag time, this Beetle has got some serious oomph. Shown in the video is this car beating another modified VW Bug and an early 00s Audi A4. The Audi 1.8-liter in stock form produced around 150 horsepower in base form, and we can assume some mods were installed in this Beetle, which could easily push the power up to 300 hp.

Would 300 hp have been a strain on the Audi motor? Unlikely if done properly, because the track-focused Audi TT Quattro Sport Edition was already pushing out 240 hp, proving the motor has tuning capacity.