They are slow for cars that are gt. At least the american versions. There are higher end trims overseas that include awd and turbocharged engines.

For gen 6 Toyota didnt send us the GT4/Alltrac but luckily toyota did send us the Celica Alltrac turbos from 88-93. The 7th gen had no AWD or turbo version.

It's not the fastest GT car, but the GT-S is almost as fast as the the MR2 GT and IMO it's a better looking car. like I said before, it's a fairly customizable car if you want better performance you can buy a supercharger, cold air intake, better exhaust, better breaks, and it's Japanese so that means you can buy carbon fiber everything for it. Plus they're cheap and fairly fun to drive.

The mr2 is a much better platform for tuning than the 7gc. Toyotas 3sgte is legendary and can handle great power. Or if you want to go an NA you can swap a v6 into the mr2. Also the 6th gen celica is better than the 7th.

I've never driven an MR2 so I'm really not that knowledgable on its handling/performance capabilities. However a friend of mine owns a 7th gen Celica, and IMHO it's a fun car to drive.