[mr220v]

The 6.8 second 0-60 is what is widely quoted on the UK mr2 forums, and in the UK car mags. The first year came without a cat, later years had one, so performance dropped off a bit. The US 5sfe mr2 is rated at 8 seconds. All 0-60 runs were done by professional drivers I'm sure though.

When the gen3 3sge mr2's were released, some or all of them came with a shorter final drive (I'm not sure if it was european models only, or if it included jdm models as well). This made for easier high speed cruising and a higher top speed, but killed the 0-60. The 0-60 ratings on the UK gen3 3sge equiped mr2's was over 8 seconds. 8.4 I think. So the gearing change really put a damper on things.

The gen3's with the shorter final drive always looked a little disapointing. All 3sge's need to be able to rev to get off the line. It's actually common on the UK sites for people to use gen2 transmissions with their gen3's.

In your case, that gen3 transmission probably suites the 3vzfe better than it did the 3sge. It utilizes the lowend torque better.