Cars have less and less spirit. Fun has been eaten by efficiency, and it is curious that Toyota is in charge of signing and producing the Toyota GR86, a small Japanese sports car that brings out your most primitive side.
Sometimes I think the world has lost some of its joy, or at least some of it. It is curious that Toyota was the forerunner of a change that today has reached a new level with the electric ones. Toyota changed everything with the introduction of hybrids. Since its arrival on the market, a great wave of ECO awareness has led to the loss of many essences behind the wheel. The new Toyota GR86 seeks to recover a drive from another time. A car that comes from another era, not from the future, from a better one; last.
For the last 20 years, Toyota has been positioning its hybrid technology as the best in the world. No one can cough them up on that field, but that transition came at a price. Along the way were sportsmanship and fun. We are not going to fool ourselves, hybrids are not the most fun cars on the market. However, the Japanese have not forgotten to make cars with high doses of passion and joy. The GR range proves it.
In just 3 years, the Gazoo Racing family has added units that have returned us to an entertaining world with the purest taste for the automotive industry.. The Toyota GR Supra was the first. A car that has had as many followers as detractors for its BMW genetics. As I said at the time, it seems like a great car to me, there are brands much worse than BMW with which to associate to develop a prototype. Unfortunately, the GR Supra is a very rare and rare car, as good as it is.
The second has been the Toyota GR Yaris. WHAT A CAR! Simply the best in its category. A sports utility vehicle that leaves hybridization behind to embrace fuel consumption in an obscene way. If you haven’t tried it, you have to. What joy, what driving and what of everything. Except for its crazy consumption you can not put a single hit. A Racing car with which to exploit the most trivial, basic and childish vein of what a good sports car has to give you.
And we come to the latest and most recent model in the GR range, the GR86, which replaces the GT86. Once again Subaru and Toyota have shaken hands to bring together a development as attractive as it is sporty. It is the most classic way of presenting a sports coupé. Front engine, manual gearbox and rear wheel drive. The recipe for success that, no matter how many years pass, is still perfect. The Toyota GT86 had a lot of light and some shadow, but the GR86 is all about lighting. I’m still looking for a weak point.
In fact, I would say that its weakest part is the aesthetics. While I can’t say it’s ugly, I find it too neutral for a car with that positioning and focus. A small Japanese sports car has to be like the GR Yaris: muscular, powerful and with some rough edge. The GR86 however is smoother in its lines, although it does feature a tapered nose, prominent sidewalls and wide rear wheel arches.. For me the best part of the car is the rear. An ass that is clearly reminiscent of the latest Subaru prototypes that clearly shows two striking exhaust outlets.
Due to its measurements, the GR86 is located within the utility category: 4.26 meters long, 1.77 meters wide and 1.31 meters high. You don’t realize how small it is until you stand next to it. 2.57 meters in length are allocated to the wheelbase, which translates into an interior for four passengers in a classic 2+2 layout. The front seats are generous in habitability, even tall passengers can be comfortably installed, now, it’s time to say goodbye to the rear seats. The rear bench seat is only suitable for children or very small people.
The two seats are practically useless, so if you are thinking of family use, forget it. You will have to buy separately a Toyota Corolla or a RAV4. Leaving aside the issue of space, the truth is that the GR86 has everything you could need. Although the equipment will not be the main reason for purchase, Toyota provides technologies such as partially digital instrumentation, an 8-inch touch screen multimedia system, connectivity for mobile devices and discreet safety equipment and driving assistants such as the rear view camera. parking.
The GR86 focuses on what’s important, on driving. The GT86 was a very fun car, but it was missing “something”. In the era of turbos, an atmospheric car with almost no lows requires driving at too many laps, which hampers day-to-day usability and, above all, consumption. The GR86 features a new four-cylinder boxer engine with 2,387 cubic centimeters of displacement, 16 valves and direct injection. Without the presence of a turbo, it manages to develop 234 horsepower at 7,000 revolutions and a maximum torque of 250 Nm at 3,700 revolutions.
It’s a much livelier engine at the bottom of the rev counter. The recoveries are much better even circulating in high gears. So yes. Coupled to the engine is a six-speed manual gearbox with a lever a tad longer than ideal, but with short and precise transitions. that manage to make the most of the engine’s performance. What used to be the weakest point now becomes the best element of the car.
Obviously, Toyota has improved many more things. THE GR86 is 50% stiffer than the GT86, it is also lighter thanks to the use of materials such as aluminum on the roof and on the front wings. All this favors a lower center of gravity that is evident when driving. Finally, we have a new suspension setting and a different track width on each axle; 1.52 meters in the front and 1.55 meters in the rear. All this contained in a weight of 1,346 kilograms.
At the wheel of the Toyota GR86
During the international presentation, Toyota has prepared two playgrounds for us: the Monteblanco Circuit and the wonderful Huelva mountain range with the impressive Riotinto mines as a background. We start with the most common scenario, the road. What I liked the most about the GR86 is its comfort and usability on a day-to-day basis. The GT86 was harsh, uncomfortable and impractical. All those problems are fixed in this new and improved version. Despite having gained structural rigidity, the GR86 is a car with which to face long road trips without any problem. Something that, for example, in the GR Yaris is more compromised.
Toyota engineers have struck a fine and delicious balance between toughness and stability. Although it is a soft sports car that does not seek maximum precision, it is not necessary to rush every tenth of the time to feel it. The GR86 is not pure speed, it is pure sensations. On a road with curves like those of the Sierra Huelva, you quickly get in tune with the car. Coupling with him, his engine, his clutch and his gearbox is a very natural process. It is enjoyed as much or more doing a normal, but happy driving, than going something more animated.
Its rear is quickly insinuated and thanks to an extraordinarily noble chassis it is not difficult to control or “make it dance”. The steering responds quickly, and the gearbox has both a nice and precise feel. Not having extraordinary power, you can go fast without the fear of having an accident. Not like in the GR Supra that with so much power you don’t get to take advantage of it in many moments. In this case, yes. It is a joy to stretch the gears above 6,000 revolutions, to see how the engine turns up and also how it sounds through a very sincere exhaust with a pleasant melody.
The trickiest thing is the brakes. As standard, the GR86 mounts ventilated discs, but not perforated, with two-piston calipers. Optionally, Toyota offers us two packages. In a first level of improvements we find the Touring Pack (+2,500 €) which includes Pilot Sport 4S tires measuring 225/40 R18, GR brake pads with red calipers and 18-inch alloy wheels. Above is the Touring Pack (+4,100 €). In that case, the braking system is improved with ventilated and perforated discs front and rear with four-piston calipers on the front axle and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires mounted on 18-inch forged wheels.
The packages are available from the factory request and also as aftermarket material. In other words, if once you have bought the car you want to improve performance with any of the packages, it is also possible., although it will cost you more because you have to pay for the installation and also the homologation. On the contrary, assembled from the factory, the packages are already approved and assembled, so you should think carefully about whether to mount them or not. My recomendation
As I have already told you, the GR86 is not pure precision, nor does it claim to be. On circuit he brings out his most thug and carefree side. The GR86 is always like this as there are no driving modes possible. The only possibility is to alter the behavior of the ESP, releasing constraints while increasing rear slip. It is a car with which it is tremendously easy to skid. You don’t have to have particularly skilled hands to control oversteer, although you do have to know what you’re doing for safety reasons. Hence, if we are looking for that, the best thing is to enter the circuit and be able to explore the limits with controlled risk.
In any way and in any scenario, the Toyota GR86 will make you enjoy. His driving is from another time, a better and more fun one. And best of all, it’s cheap. At a time when the price of cars is as absurd as it is high, Toyota has set a starting price of 32,900 euros for the GR86. I’m telling you, don’t look for anything similar for that price because there isn’t. The GR86 is unrivaled neither for sensations nor for price. The fact of adding a package is possible, that already or you have to assess yourself, but taking into account the price they have, they are not unreasonable. The best thing is the improvement of the brakes, so you can still consider making an improvement in that field without getting into other areas.
Conclusions
There is still half a year left for the Three Wise Men, but if you have behaved well at the end of the year you should ask for one of these, although it is better that you anticipate the arrival of their Majesties because considering what it offers for the price it has, it is not I think they will last a long time on Toyota shelves. Production is not limited, but With the change in regulations in 2024 and the increasingly delicate state of the market, I have no doubt that the GR86 will become a car that hardly loses value over the years.. A delight on four wheels that will make you forget about electric, low emission zones and other stories.