By Paul Gover.
It’s been more than a decade since the Toyota 86 arrived in Australia to prove the T brand could do more than just whitegoods-on-wheels cars like the Camry.
The two-door sports car was a personal passion project for the president of Toyota, Akio Toyoda, who was series about putting emotion back into his family company.
The 86 looked good, had old-fashioned rear-wheel drive for cornering fun, and was compact and relatively affordable.
But the slack was in the engine room, where a collaboration with Subaru – the only way the car could be made – meant it was fitted with a wheezy four-cylinder engine that was better suited to the compact Subaru XV in the SUV space than something for sports car fans.
Now, thankfully, Toyota has injected real gusto into the 86 with the introduction of a GR version of the 86.
It’s one of four GR models in the Toyota Australia line-up – joining the Yaris, Supra and Corolla – and, for anyone interested in Gazoo Racing and why it exists, it’s Toyoda’s personal performance brand.
So, what does a GR badge mean for the 86?
There is more power and torque from a new engine, more rigidity in the suspension, bigger front brakes, and work to cut weight.
In short, it means the GR 86 can sprint to 100km/h in as little as 6.8 seconds.
That’s not going to rival a battery-electric Tesla, but for the price and class it’s a good deal. And, according to an independent dynamometer test to measure horsepower, the GR86 has a whopping 30 per cent more power than a non-GR car. With a big whack of extra torque as well for serious pulling power.
Toyota trumpets a bigger eight-inch infotainment screen but, in reality, it’s a disappointment. The clarity is not great, the sound system is mediocre, and trying to connect my iPhone with CarPlay was an ongoing disaster. There is probably a solution, but I couldn’t find it.
Even so, it takes less than 100 metres at the wheel to understand how the GR upgrade has fundamentally changed the 86.
It’s now spritely and responsive and even the asthmatic response of the flat-four Subaru engine is gone, along with the thrashing dim approaching the redline on the tachometer.
The GR86 is genuinely swift from the stoplights, has huge mid-range torque for overtaking and tight second and third-gear corners, and is keen to rev.
The new engine pairs brilliantly with the six-speed manual gearbox, where I would have been happy to settle – and that’s the right word – for the six-speed auto in the non-GR car.
The GR86 also has grippy tyres, bigger wheels and brakes so – unlikely the early 86, which used low-grip rubber from the Prius hybrid to inject some driving fun – it’s a car to really enjoy.
I
t’s a play toy and a good one – now.
The price is pretty good, too, when you consider a Mazda MX-5 is now priced from $38,460 and the Toyota feels more complete, more substantial, and has the punchy performance for Sunday fun runs.
After less than five minutes, I’m spoiled and happy. Everything after that is a bonus.
TOYOTA GR86
Position: affordable sports car
Price: from $43,240
Engine: 2.4-litre flat-four petrol
Power: 174kW/250Nm
Transmission: 6-speed manual or auto, rear-wheel drive
Plus: punchy performance, sporty package
Minus: underwhelming cabin, rubbish CarPlay
THE TICK: definitely a winner
Score: 9.5/10
