Toyota starts production of the GT 86

unkel

Only 200BHP and no turbo, so tuning is very limited. That said, the car is light and is RWD and the engine is a Subaru flat 4. Nice looking car too, I'd take it over a Golf GTI / Scirocco any day



Article

colm_mcm

About time

Ricardo G

RWD will sell it if nothing else , nice looking car without going over board on the styling

Chuck_Norris

Shame it's been watered down from the concept, although that was to be expected. STi version in the works I wonder? Subaru that is.

Frankie Lee

The Subaru version looks slightly better imo.

bazz26

The Scooby version:

AugustusMinimus

Fugly in my eyes

ottostreet

Will be sure to buy one in 14 years time.

Anan1

It's a pretty little thing, mightn't be macho enough for Paddy.

bazz26

I'd doubt we will see many of them on these shores.

maidhc

unkel wrote: »

Only 200BHP and no turbo, so tuning is very limited.

There will be a big aftermarket for tuners who fit turbos, if Subaru/Toyota have any sense they will have made the engine strong enough for it.

colm_mcm

You'd never know what Toyota enthusiasts would come out of the woodwork, we sold a new celica to a guy who traded in an 88 or so Celica.

Anan1

colm_mcm wrote: »

You'd never know what Toyota enthusiasts would come out of the woodwork, we sold a new celica to a guy who traded in an 88 or so Celica.

That's a good point, it does look like the kind of car that could gather a cult following.

colm_mcm

There's a lot of people out there that had twin cams in the 80s, don't want a BMW cos its showy, it's not an expensive car (relatively). I think toyota Ireland will sell a good few unless they get greedy with the price like they did on the iQ and Urban Cruiser.

unkel

How green has Subaru managed to make the boxer these days, anyone know? over 190g/km of CO2 and the motor tax is €1,129 - ouch

Scirocco TSI R is 265BHP and is just under that limit so only €677 motor tax

If Subaru can do that too, and the price is right, surely they will sell some? Nice to see some N/A petrol performance cars / hot hatches will still be around in a few years time amidst the massive herds of tractors

ottostreet

It's a '90s' sportscar in all but age!

L-M

if i was buying new in the morning, and they slightly facelifted the Scirocco there's absolutely know way i'd pick that over a 2.0 Scirocco.

Look at the back quarter, gammy angle and bad ET on the wheels make the GT an ugly car.

unkel

You're a VAG hoor though and you don't appreciate RWD

Chris_Heilong

Almost looks Mazda inspired, nice glad they are making something like this after all the Eco crap Japan has been outputting, RWD is good and 200bhp is enough for a light car, hope the price will be affordable to.

Edit: just saw the backend, not too pretty.

L-M

unkel wrote: »

You're a VAG hoor though and you don't appreciate RWD

i'm not a VAG hoor and i just appreciate a good looking car of which that isn't! There's too much going on front and back, it's like it's trying to be something it's not and taking bits and hints for loads of other cars and combining them into one meal that just doesn't taste nice!

unkel

I'll grant you the car has some bad points, the rear and the interior don't really work for me either and don't start me on the wheels, but overall it looks great imho. Very aggressive looking yet elegant. Very well proportioned

And that's just the look. A powerful boxer and RWD, would love to drive one and can't wait to read some proper reviews

But I guess we will have to agree to disagree

Chris_Heilong

it looks really nice here

Neilw

Chris_Heilong wrote: »

it looks really nice here

Looks like a lot of fun.

So around £30k, so how much in €? €35k? Still a fair bit of money.

Ferris

There has to be a large market for this. Its the only new cheap to run rwd coupe available. Its only competition in the rwd fun stakes are the larger engined bmw coupes which are far more expensive to buy and run. Its a natural replacement for 200sx/silvia/Rx8/s2000/mx5 drivers if they want a new car. I think it will become a cult car also.

Harris has likened it to a Caymen so thats praise enough. I think it will look better in the flesh too. If I had the cash I'd deffo think of getting one.

colm_mcm

Look how ugly the 1 series coupe is, that sells on what it does, rather than how it looks (luckily)
Same as an evo or impreza, they were never lookers. A scirocco wouldn't be the sharpest drive but it looks great IMO, this toyotabaru will appeal to someone looking for balance and simplicity over technology, cheap tax, and general golfyness.

unkel

Neilw wrote: »

So around £30k, so how much in €? €35k? Still a fair bit of money.

A lot more than €35k here, I'm afraid...

unkel

Wait, UK price is only £24,995 on the road. See here. So perhaps we'll get it for a bit more than €35k

Benchmarks: Scirocco 210BHP - €37k, 125i M-sport 214BHP coupe - €44k

knifey_spoonie

This is something ive been waiting on for a along time.Its been hailed as the best handling car this side of a caymen.:D:D

Your looking at CO2 of 160ish G/KM. I know the Irish launch is sometime around 22/23rd May. Price is still unkown, but being hinted between 35-40K, puts it near the Rocco .

L-M

colm_mcm wrote: »

Look how ugly the 1 series coupe is, that sells on what it does, rather than how it looks (luckily)
Same as an evo or impreza, they were never lookers. A scirocco wouldn't be the sharpest drive but it looks great IMO, this toyotabaru will appeal to someone looking for balance and simplicity over technology, cheap tax, and general golfyness.

The 1 series M coupe, nyom nyom.

Mycroft H

I love it!

If I had the money in the morning, I'd be out the door to buy it. Looks damn good imo.

Tea 1000

Limerick man wrote: »

The 1 series M coupe, nyom nyom.

You think that's good looking? That's pure kak looking. Ability by the bucketloads, looks to run a mile from.
And you'd want to be mad to buy a Scirocco ahead of the GT86. It's inferior in every way, even in the subjective department of looks! An elephant after sitting on a Golf isn't a style icon!
I also don't think the 1-series coupe is bought by everyone for it's ability. Many people can't see past a badge. The 1 coupe looks like an E92 that shrank in the wash unevenly.
The GT86 will probably turn out to be the best coupe for less than 50k.

unkel

knifey_spoonie wrote: »

Your looking at CO2 of 160ish G/KM.

Any link? 160g/km would be an excellent improvement / development from Subaru. We should see other Subaru petrols back again with those figures

The 2l 150BHP boxer in the current Impreza petrol (not sold in Ireland) produces nearly 200g/km

Vicxas

Awesome, cant wait to own one.... in 5 years time

Tea 1000

unkel wrote: »

Any link? 160g/km would be an excellent improvement / development from Subaru. We should see other Subaru petrols back again with those figures

The 2l 150BHP boxer in the current Impreza petrol (not sold in Ireland) produces nearly 200g/km

The engine in this though has a Toyota cylinder head, injectors and fuel pump and other modifications in order to improve economy and emissions though. I think it's a little more rev-happy too as a result.

Eireplates

When is the low emissions D4D coming out?

L-M

Tea 1000 wrote: »

You think that's good looking? That's pure kak looking.

You can't be serious. That thing looks Korean, if that had a Hyundai badge and half the price tag i guarantee everyone here would hate it.

it's too wide looking, as if the lights were off another car. i'm not talking about performance here, i'm purely talking aesthetics. Of which that car fails in many departments.

Leonard Hofstadter

It looks great (to my eyes), something I haven't been able to say about a Toyota since the Supra 20 years ago, it drives the correct wheels, it has a naturally aspirated engine for better throttle response and so you can rev it higher, hydraulic power steering, it's very light, it has a boxer engine (a reason on its own to buy one), and it is supposed to be less than €40k (Toyota Ireland say it will be "competitive" on pricing).

Despite the fact that the Toyota has a NA engine so in theory it should be dirtier than the VW etc, it is cleaner than the 2.0 TSI Scirocco as well, 160 g/km vs 172 g/km so lower road tax as well.

How anyone even remotely interested in cars could say that a wrong wheel drive turbocharged Scirocco with electric power steering could be better than this is beyond me.

It's a long time since a Toyota was even close to the top of the class, but this Toyota blows everything out of the weeds.

This is easily the best car Toyota made since the Supra was killed off - anyone want to lend me €40k? When you think about it, it is a really special car, there isn't anything out there for €40k that's got 200 bhp, is powered by petrol, is RWD and is naturally aspirated.

If the emissions are indeed going to be below the 170 g/km mark and Toyota Ireland stick to their word with the pricing then I can see it being quite successful here, this is one Toyota I want to see them selling lots of.

L-M

For the third time, i'm basing my opinion solely on looks.

L-M

Two of the nicest cars i've driven were a Fiat Coupe turbo and a Clio 172. Both FWD and one NA and one Turbo.

Darsad

captainspeed wrote: »

It looks great (to my eyes), something I haven't been able to say about a Toyota since the Supra 20 years ago, it drives the correct wheels, it has a naturally aspirated engine for better throttle response and so you can rev it higher, hydraulic power steering, it's very light, it has a boxer engine (a reason on its own to buy one), and it is supposed to be less than €40k (Toyota Ireland say it will be "competitive" on pricing).

Despite the fact that the Toyota has a NA engine so in theory it should be dirtier than the VW etc, it is cleaner than the 2.0 TSI Scirocco as well, 160 g/km vs 172 g/km so lower road tax as well.

How anyone even remotely interested in cars could say that a wrong wheel drive turbocharged Scirocco with electric power steering could be better than this is beyond me.

It's a long time since a Toyota was even close to the top of the class, but this Toyota blows everything out of the weeds.

This is easily the best car Toyota made since the Supra was killed off - anyone want to lend me €40k? When you think about it, it is a really special car, there isn't anything out there for €40k that's got 200 bhp, is powered by petrol, is RWD and is naturally aspirated.

If the emissions are indeed going to be below the 170 g/km mark and Toyota Ireland stick to their word with the pricing then I can see it being quite successful here, this is one Toyota I want to see them selling lots of.

Good points but remember this is not a Toyota its a Subaru built by subaru in a Subaru factory and badged Toyota .

Leonard Hofstadter

LIGHTNING wrote: »

All good points however just because a FWD car has a turbo doesnt mean it wont handle as a well as a n/a RWD car.

All very true, but if the reviews are to be believed, this is considerably better to drive than the current class leaders (RCZ or Scirocco), and so it should be because of the NA engine and RWD. A properly set up lightweight RWD car with a high revving NA engine is just going to be more fun to drive than FWD and a turbo no matter how good the FWD and turbo engined car is.

A turbo engine would involve less work in everyday driving because of the superior torque but when you want to have fun you want a high revving NA engine for the better sound, ability to rev it higher and of course the throttle response:).

There are plenty of good handling FWD cars around, but realistically in a car like this, RWD is just going to be better! And if they've made any effort at all with the engine, then it's going to sound awesome because flat fours always do !

L-M

And we all know Subaru are winning design wise lately.

Anan1

We already know what the new car looks like.

Leonard Hofstadter

Darsad wrote: »

Good points but remember this is not a Toyota its a Subaru built by subaru in a Subaru factory and badged Toyota .

The cars were co-developed, right down to the engine; the design is classic Subaru but the head was done by Toyota to improve the fuel economy. This is not just a Subaru with a Toyota badge stuck on the bonnet.

The current CEO of Toyota is a motor racing enthusiast, and wants to make all Toyotas good to drive, and this is the first car Toyota have put on sale under this plan. If they stick to their word, the next generation of Corolla, Yaris etc will be as good as their Ford counterparts to drive or maybe even a bit better than their Ford equivalents, which would be quite impressive really - you could then buy a Toyota with your head and your heart!

Tea 1000

Limerick man wrote: »

You can't be serious. That thing looks Korean, if that had a Hyundai badge and half the price tag i guarantee everyone here would hate it.

it's too wide looking, as if the lights were off another car. i'm not talking about performance here, i'm purely talking aesthetics. Of which that car fails in many departments.

It doesn't fail just because it looks like something Hyundai might produce. In fact, as far as run-of-the-mill estates go, I think the i40 looks good. And the Hyundai Genesis Coupe looks great. And this looks great too, like a proper coupe, of which there are very few on the market, the Scirocco is a hatchback at the end of the day.
I don't think it's possible for a car to look too wide either! To not like the look of it is one thing, but to say it fails aesthetically is another. And to think any 1-series is good looking is just wrong!

I did prefer the more aggressive front end of the concept, but stupid pedestrians exist, so that ended that.

L-M

Bah! i'm leaving this, opinions and all that.:D

Tea 1000

Limerick man wrote: »

Bah! i'm leaving this, opinions and all that.:D

Yeah... take your wrong opinion and shove it...

Leonard Hofstadter

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Well thats your opinion their are plenty of NA RWD cars that are pure ****e to drive. Just because a car is NA and RWD drive doesnt mean its automatically going to be a great drive.

What would you like to drive around a track in a Honda Civic Type R or a Mercedes E200 :pac:

Read what I said again:)! I said "properly set up lightweight RWD", not RWD is always better (that would be total rubbish).

An E200 isn't NA either since 1999 and certainly isn't light:)!

Anan1

Given that the Subaru flat four drivetrain is completely symmetrical, i'd expect it to make a better than average FWD car too.

Nonoperational

The pictures don't do it for me to be honest. I'll reserve judgement until I see one but I wouldn't be joining the Toyota love in so far.

gpf101

gpf101 wrote: »

The pictures don't do it for me to be honest. .............

+1

It looks quite poor tbh in some of these pics, the blue Subaru looks much better than the red Toyota.