Toyota GT86

MarkN

I was offered a week long test drive in the new Toyota GT86.

It's a €40,000 car. Is it worth €40,000? I don't know. If you're loaded and you want a toy that's a bit different then yes maybe it is.

Car has bucket seats, 18s, bi-xenons, 6 speed manual, dual climate, electric windows and touch screen entertainment system. And that's about it. It's clearly setup like this with weight saving in mind and if you understand this you won't feel short changed. Toyota sell this as a 53:47 weight distribution.

For a small car it has a lot of road presence, people look at it, their heads turn as it goes by etc

Handling wise it's very impressive. It feels quite like a Cayman S in terms of handling and even the overall chassis. Obviously it lacks the punch of a Cayman but to be able to begin to compare it is impressive. It undoubtably has a very raw feeling, you won't get away with going for a lazy drive. It wants you to push it on and when you're sitting just a few inches from the road you'll feel it as soon as you do progress a little bit more than you should. It has a limited slip differential.

It's got a nice raspy exhaust note, particularly at lower revs. They go to 9,000 by the way.

I've literally had it for a few hours so I'd need to cover more distance but if you have the money for a Lotus yet want a Toyota, you could do worse.

Some more pics!

georgefalls

How'd you manage to get a weeks's worth..? I can't even get an hour drive, despite them promising me a test drive since last November..

antodeco

^^ MarkN is special

Have you had a chance to carry passengers in it yet? Any view on mpg?

R.O.R

In the right hands, these things can be made to dance beautifully.

Bit of phone video from Mondello

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXkachwxd1s

Got a lap being thrown around like that, and the way it can just be held right on the edge is brilliant. Also got to do a couple of laps, but not knowing the track and the weather being a bit icy/damp meant a bit more understeer than oversteer - more likely down to me than the car though.

Indricotherium

antodeco wrote: »

^^ MarkN is special

Have you had a chance to carry passengers in it yet? Any view on mpg?

LOL

Does it have isofix too??

Drummerboy08

I've driven one around Mondello and drove/passo in one across the UK at the weekend.

Even at the Autosport show with a lot of very nice metal in the carpark it got so much attention.

I think they're great value for money.

furtzy

Was beside/behind one the other day in traffic and wasn't that impressed. €40k could be better spent elsewhere. Maybe it drives and handles well but looks wise nothing special. Should be popular on the second hand market in a few years though

Tea 1000

furtzy wrote: »

Was beside/behind one the other day in traffic and wasn't that impressed. €40k could be better spent elsewhere. Maybe it drives and handles well but looks wise nothing special. Should be popular on the second hand market in a few years though

For a real petrol head, looking at new prices only, then no... €40k cannot be better spent elsewhere.

ARGINITE

Tea 1000 wrote:

For a real petrol head, looking at new prices only, then no... €40k cannot be better spent elsewhere.

If you can live with terrible MPG buy an RX8 with a dead engine and get a rebuild, similar car for €6000 with four door and back seats adults can use.

langdang

furtzy wrote: »

€40k could be better spent elsewhere.

Go on... give us an example? If the answer is a lardy ass Paddy Prestige motorway muncher then you should be beaten with dodgy DMF...

Drummerboy08

ARGINITE wrote: »

If you can live with terrible MPG buy an RX8 with a dead engine and get a rebuild, similar car for €6000 with four door and back seats adults can use.

Doesn't handle as well, doesn't drive as well, eats oil and fuel, doesn't have the same road presence and doesn't have anywhere near the stated power figures in reality.

That and you can't really compare buying a brand new car with a (well) used one.

furtzy

Well excuse me for not liking the GT86 Guess I'm not a " real petrol head"! Just saying I'd spend my €40k elsewhere if I had it. Apologies I meant second hand options as well.

langdang

furtzy wrote: »

Well excuse me for not liking the GT86 Just saying I'd spend my €40k elsewhere if I had it.

No - it was a genuine question! As long as the €40k is apples for apples I'm interested to know!

furtzy

langdang wrote: »

No - it was a genuine question! As long as the €40k is apples for apples I'm interested to know!

No fair point...new v new theres nothing to compare. Just not pushed on the looks. It just doesn't look like €40k's worth

07Lapierre

Indricotherium wrote: »

LOL

Does it have isofix too??

Yep it sure does!

Indricotherium

07Lapierre wrote: »

Yep it sure does!

Joking aside a salesman did actually tell me that it was perfect for someone with young kids!!

MarkN

George - I work in media so they are trying to spread the word of the car at the moment. Maybe email Toyota Ireland and say you're finding it hard to get a test drive?

I've had one passenger in it, I'm not sure the rear seats are worth talking about, a bag of shopping in the back looked overcrowded yesterday.

It really is strange coming from a 520d to one of these. It's so much lower down, it obviously handles totally differently. I'm getting older anyway - it's an enjoyable car to drive but there's a bit of me that misses the auto box, the heated seats, nice thick steering wheel etc... I'll get the pipe sorted soon. If there was spare cash for a toy though, you really could do worse.

I turned the traction off last night and gave it a quick blast and it will happily step out and play along very easily. With traction on, it will let you have fun but also sort you out and get you pointing the right way in a very short space of time.

Seems to be around the 100km/L mark at the moment - I also can't seem to find a range reading. There isn't any real sort of on board computer as such also the touch screen is good if you like fiddling with buttons.

07Lapierre

Indricotherium wrote: »

Joking aside a salesman did actually tell me that it was perfect for someone with young kids!!

Oh Yeah...6 months or younger i'ds say. Once there too big for a child seat, forget it.

My Son is 18, My biggest problem is keeping him out of the drivers seat!

07Lapierre

MarkN wrote: »

George - I work in media so they are trying to spread the word of the car at the moment. Maybe email Toyota Ireland and say you're finding it hard to get a test drive?

I've had one passenger in it, I'm not sure the rear seats are worth talking about, a bag of shopping in the back looked overcrowded yesterday.

It really is strange coming from a 520d to one of these. It's so much lower down, it obviously handles totally differently. I'm getting older anyway - it's an enjoyable car to drive but there's a bit of me that misses the auto box, the heated seats, nice thick steering wheel etc... I'll get the pipe sorted soon. If there was spare cash for a toy though, you really could do worse.

I turned the traction off last night and gave it a quick blast and it will happily step out and play along very easily. With traction on, it will let you have fun but also sort you out and get you pointing the right way in a very short space of time.

Seems to be around the 10km/L mark at the moment - I also can't seem to find a range reading. There isn't any real sort of on board computer as such also the touch screen is good if you like fiddling with buttons.

Stop looking...there isn't one

Drummerboy08

Getting old now mark! :-)

There's a crowd in the UK that do a supercharger kit for them up to 290bhp. Add in a remap, and a Miltek system and it's well over 300bhp.

Not much would touch it at that kinda power.

Paddy@CIRL

Just two small corrections to the OP - they come with 17" wheels and are rev-limited to 7,200RPM

Apples for apples, as someone else suggested, there is nothing else out there at present to match the GT86 - 2.0, RWD, LSD. Anyone who has driven one hard will probably agree that they don't really need anymore power, as half the fun of the experience is keeping them on song.

Although personally, I don't think I could ever justify the €40,000+ price tag (although that's mostly made up of VRT so can't blame Toyota) I just think that €40,000 could buy you an arsenal of cars elsewhere...

bazz26

Any ideas on pricing of Subaru's BRZ version?

knifey_spoonie

@ GeorgeFalls, do you have any interest in buying one or just hoon around in someone else's car for an hour and hand it back ?

MPG wise I did a bit of driving over the weekend reset the tip before I started, Motorway MPG was around 7.6l/100km so about 37mpg, was sitting between 130-140 km/h all the way.

Paddy@CIRL

bazz26 wrote: »

Any ideas on pricing of Subaru's BRZ version?

Not available in Ireland but start at £24,995 in the UK (same as GT86).

ShadowHearth

The only car i could out against it would be Mazda mx5. though mx5 would be less hp, cheaper and cabrio.

This car is amazing, worth every penny, but it is not worth its price + "irish bend over and take it in" tax.

ION08

MarkN wrote: »

Seems to be around the 100km/L mark at the moment

Wow 281 mpg is fairly impressive!

Head The Wall

Does she have twin cams?

knifey_spoonie

Head The Wall wrote: »

Does she have twin cams?

She's no Twin Cam, shes a Quad Cam;)

ION08

What they need to do is fit the 300BHP Turbo version of this FA20 engine into the car as found in the Japanese Subaru Legacy.

MarkN

Some more pics!

MarkN

ION08 wrote: »

Wow 281 mpg is fairly impressive!

Ah you know what I mean

Matt Simis

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

There's a crowd in the UK that do a supercharger kit for them up to 290bhp. Add in a remap, and a Miltek system and it's well over 300bhp.

Not much would touch it at that kinda power.

Thats EUR7000 fitted though... its now a near EUR50k car!?

Anjobe

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

Getting old now mark! :-)

There's a crowd in the UK that do a supercharger kit for them up to 290bhp. Add in a remap, and a Miltek system and it's well over 300bhp.

Not much would touch it at that kinda power.

ION08 wrote: »

What they need to do is fit the 300BHP Turbo version of this FA20 engine into the car as found in the Japanese Subaru Legacy.

Not sure this would be such a good idea - from what I have read this car was deliberately engineered with not too much grip, so that it could provide on the limit handling fun with a relatively modest power output.

Tea 1000

Matt Simis wrote: »

Thats EUR7000 fitted though... its now a near EUR50k car!?

Not quite... what it is then is a 300bhp RWD car with an LSD and a light body for €1000 cheaper than a diesel TT.

tossy

Matt Simis wrote: »

Thats EUR7000 fitted though... its now a near EUR50k car!?

And for 50k you could buy many many many cars that would stay with it and pass it you could do so for 40k

Impressive car on the move though,however if i had 40k and wanted something a hoot to drive the it would 911 all the way.

unkel

MarkN wrote: »

It really is strange coming from a 520d to one of these.

You've been taking it a bit too handy since that disastrous test drive, Mark

MarkN

unkel wrote: »

You've been taking it a bit too handy since that disastrous test drive, Mark

Well I had an M3 for a year and half after that but ever since, the maddest I've had is 630i but that's gone now.

Ferris

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

Doesn't handle as well, doesn't drive as well, eats oil and fuel, doesn't have the same road presence and doesn't have anywhere near the stated power figures in reality.

That and you can't really compare buying a brand new car with a (well) used one.

A bit unfair on the RX8 but like you said you can't compare old and new.

Actually the two cars are similar in ethos, light weight, rwd coupes with more emphasis on handling than power which is why the gt86 is such a great car.

Deffo a consideration for the future, especially with Toyota (subaru) build quality.

MarkN

Ferris wrote: »

A bit unfair on the RX8 but like you said you can't compare old and new.

Actually the two cars are similar in ethos, light weight, rwd coupes with more emphasis on handling than power which is why the gt86 is such a great car.

Deffo a consideration for the future, especially with Toyota (subaru) build quality.

What's the story with the Subaru V Toyota is it literally the same car except for badges?

Ferris

MarkN wrote: »

What's the story with the Subaru V Toyota is it literally the same car except for badges?

Pretty much. Might be some trim differences but its built by Subaru I think.

Drummerboy08

Matt Simis wrote: »

Thats EUR7000 fitted though... its now a near EUR50k car!?

Yeah but it would be a very special and individual car, and would be snapped up if a time ever came to sell it.

If I was in the market for something totally useless at anything other than being a great driver's car, I'd seriously consider it.

I'd probably buy one and mod one over buying an M3, simply because there's so many around.

Or else I'd just wait for the new Supra in a few years....;)