Toyota 86

Say HELLO to the new Toyota GR 86, a heavily revised version of the brand’s back-to-basics sports car. Once its Subaru BRZ twin had been announced, it was only a matter of time before the Toyota broke cover – but thankfully reports that its reveal had been delayed to the end of 2022 have proved wide of the mark. Local pricing, specification and timing are still to be confirmed, but a number of technical details have been released, as well as confirmation of the car’s new name. Now known as ‘GR 86’, the new coupe moves under Toyota’s Gazoo Racing umbrella to sit beside the GR Supra and GR Yaris.

SECOND-GENERATION SPORTS CAR TO GET BIGGER ENGINE, LIGHTWEIGHT PANELS

Like the Subaru, the 86’s familiar horizontally opposed four-cylinder engine remains, but an 8mm bore increase has upped capacity to 2.4 litres (2387cc). This has increased power by 21kW and torque by 38Nm for totals of 173kW at 7000rpm and 250Nm at 3700rpm. That torque peak is not only higher but it occurs earlier in the rev range, the extra capacity hopefully solving one of the original 86’s greatest shortcomings, a lack of mid-range grunt.

The story gets better for those who prefer that the car shift its own gears.While buyers of the previous automatic-equipped 86 have had to make do with lower outputs (147kW/205Nm vs 152kW/212Nm), the full whack is now available in both six-speed manual and automatic form.

The extra capacity will hopefully solve the 86’s lack of mid-range grunt

No performance figures have been announced, and straight-line acceleration has never been a priority of the 86, but we would expect the 0-100km/h dash to fall from the current 7.4 seconds to around the 6.5sec mark. While the body and suspension package are very similar to the previous car, the adoption of an aluminium roof and guards lowers the centre of gravity.Torsional rigidity is claimed to have been improved by 50 percent for greater handling precision.

The familiar silhouette is differentiated by significantly revised styling front and rear, while inside there are new seats, digital instruments, rotary air-conditioning controls with digital displays and a revised dash design. Happily, the old-school manual handbrake remains in place. After all, it would be blasphemy to ditch it. Australia has been one of the biggest markets for the Toyota 86, its 20,800 sales accounting for around 10 percent of global production. Local timing for the GR 86 is still to be confirmed, although it has been reported that both Toyota and Subaru are expecting their new sports coupes to arrive in the second half of this year. We will bring you further details, including local pricing, as it comes to hand.