As soon as I saw that , I was like "What the flipping F____?!?!? Why? Looks like crap!" It's bad enough it's a effing Scion, but this? Come on, Toyota, get with the program! For the record, still love the car, but they kind of squandered the interior by Scionizing it. Subie it is, then.
Those cheap Yaris plastic dials just don't cut it for me. Subaru version is slated to be the upscale version that will closely resemble the Euro-spec and J-spec BRZ/GT-86 interiors including the dual-climate auto controls. No push button start in the Scion either. The BRZ is shaping up to be the car to get First modded GT-86 with 18 inch wheels:
WTH...why they line the scion up with the AE86 Trueno? I know it shares the GT86 has an 86 in the name and it's RWD, but that's it.
Scion FR-S by Greddy From SPEEDHUNTERS Along with the red production model, Scion also unveiled a modified version of the FR-S. Built by GReddy, this black example featured small, but significant, aftermarket additions. Although the body remained untouched, the GReddy FR-S showed a glimpse of the tuning potential of the FR-S. The RAYS Progressiv forged wheels measured 19x8.5 +45 at the front and 19x9.5 +45 at the rear. The front brakes were fitted with four-piston GReddy calipers. Now, Toyota and Scion have stated that they built the 86/FR-S with the enthusiast in mind, and on first impressions they weren't lying. Many of us will appreciate the lip of the rear fender, which is folded back. The +45 offset used on the GReddy FR-S were on the conservative side, so larger widths or lower offsets can be accomodated. GReddy's FR-S also had a twin-exit titanium muffler. This is what the factory muffler looks like... ...And this is the GReddy replacement. GReddy have also developed coilovers for the FR-S. In my opinion, just the ride height and wheel change have dramatically transformed the FR-S' appearance. The Scion still retains the 86 Boxer badge on the front fenders. The interior featured blue alcantara inserts on the seats.
From Japanese 86 borchure! Crawford Performance First team in the US to tap into the FR-S FA20 ECU! I think this car will have the best aftermarket surport as it is the most affordable true sports car.
Hot Toyota GT 86 planned - Autocar.co.uk Toyota is already hard at work evaluating a high performance version of the new Toyota GT 86 sporting coupe. Chief engineer Tetsuo Tada says that not only is a supercharged GT 86 envisaged, test cars have already been made and are being evaluated by Toyota Racing Developments, the Japanese giant’s in house tuning division. Tada-san favours the supercharger approach because it is simpler to achieve than increasing engine size and doesn’t wreck throttle response as turbocharging might. Indeed Toyota says that turbocharging along with four-wheel drive and wide tyres are what make sports cars boring to drive. Supercharging is also a key competence for TRD which has been offering this kind of forced induction as an aftermarket kit for Toyotas since 1998. He would not be drawn on what kind of power a supercharged GT 86 might develop but Toyota is known to consider the car’s chassis could easily handle an additional 50bhp to go with the 197bhp already generated by its Subaru 2-litre flat four motor, a view with which, having driven the car, we wholly concur. However he says the TRD is also looking at ways of modifying the suspension to cope with the extra power, raising the possibility of a still more substantial power hike. TRD’s most popular supercharger conversion is applied to the American market Tacoma pick up, boosting its 4-litre V6 engine from 233bhp to 301bhp suggesting that a 280bhp GT 86 with, critically, a massive boost in the low down torque the car currently lacks would be easily achieved. Even in the unlikely event that all the modifications added 100kg to the weight of the car, its power to weight ratio would still at least equal that of the 326bhp Nissan 370Z, a car capable of hitting 62mph from rest in 5.3sec and recording a top speed of 155mph. The standard GT 86 needs around 6.8sec and does 143mph. It is not yet known whether, if approved, the supercharged GT 86 would be offered as an aftermarket pack or as a model in its own right. Tada also confirmed that it was so important to his team that even the standard GT 86 drifted properly that special tests were incorporated into the car’s development programme specifically for this purpose, ‘the first time this has ever been done on any Toyota.’
I would wait for some larger displacement FA20, either from STI or any other tuner. What about Cosworth? That would be really nice.
Toyota/Subaru "ToyoBaru/FT86" Car Thread(Updated 12/3/11) - Page 64 - my.IS - Lexus IS Forum Full coverage from start to finish.
Evo Magazine first drive Driven: Toyota GT 86 Rating: We've driven Toyota's new GT 86 rear-drive sports coupe - and on first impressions, it's brilliant By John Simister December 2011 What is it? It seems like this car has been speculated over and reported on for years, but finally this Toyota coupe, and its Subaru sister, are here in final production form. Known in Toyota guise as FT 86 ('Future Toyota') up to now, the car you'll be able to buy from June 2012, with prices starting around £25,000, is now called GT 86. Subaru's version, the BRZ, differs only in the shape of the front air intake, trim details and some suspension settings. The GT 86 is that now-rare concoction, a simple, affordable, rear-drive coupé designed for pure driving amusement without being burdened by excessive technology – a sort of faster, sharper MX-5 with a coupe body. It uses Subaru-flavoured componentry, specifically a 1998cc flat-four engine and a platform derived from that of the just-launched new Impreza, but the idea of a front engine and rear-wheel drive is a welcome return to what used to work so well. GT 86 development engineer Yoshi Sasaki says the GT 86 is for those who are bored with cars that are too powerful with their turbo engines, have too much grip with their huge tyres and four-wheel drive, cost too much and don't let the driver do enough. 'A fun car,' he says, 'is a car that you control.' Technical highlights? There's 197bhp at 7000rpm on offer here, but the fact that the 152lb ft torque peak arrives at 6600rpm tells you much about how this engine is going to feel. It has both indirect and direct injection, switching between them as needed, and a high 12.5 to one compression ratio. The six-speed gearbox is borrowed from the Toyota Altezza (Japanese-market Lexus IS), or you can have a six-speed, torque-converter auto from the Lexus IS-F. Suspension is by struts at the front, double wishbones at the back, there's a Torsen LSD and – cue flash of techno-anxiety – the power steering is electric. Weight distribution is slightly rear-biased, total weight is 1190kg and the centre of gravity is said to be lower than a Cayman's. What's it like to drive? It restores your faith in cars. No excuses, no unsaid undercurrent that makes the best of the fact that cars are generally becoming more synthetic and less involving to drive. The GT 86 is a complete cracker. Here's why. Our encounter took place on the Sodeguara racetrack outside Tokyo, full of bends and dips and lightly coated with rain. You need a car with sensitive controls for a track like that, and within half a lap you feel completely at ease in the GT 86 as rush right up to its limits. Via possibly the best electric steering system we've yet encountered, with much more subtle sensitivity than the new 911's system and a more mechnically-connected feel about the centre, you can exploit a balance perfectly tunable with the tiniest throttle inputs. Take a corner briskly and there's stabilising understeer; accelerate a bit and the understeer vanishes as the tail starts to dominate. From there to a drift is a land of opportunity with abundant signposting. Seldom is a car so up for a friendly game. The brakes are similarly progressive, while the engine does its best work at high revs where it emits a beaty rasp somewhere between the sound of an Alfasud and a regular Subaru, but without the bass throb. Six closely stacked gear ratios make the best of the engine's peakiness. The auto alternative works well enough, if without quite the smappiness of a double-clutcher, but the manual is obviously the one to have. Obviously we will have to wait to get one in the UK to deliver the definitive verdict on how it copes with real, bumpy roads - but on first impressions, it's brilliant. How does it compare? It makes a Scirocco seem synthetic, an RCZ anaesthetised, a 3-series Coupé over-complicated. This is a pure driving device like an Elise or an MX-5 with sharpened sinews. This is how a proper sporting coupé should be. Toyota intended it to embody elements of the 1960s 2000GT and the 1980s rear-drive Corolla Twin-Cam (AE86), and it does. Anything else I need to know? It's a two-plus-two, but Yoshi Sasaki says hopes the rear space will be used to carry trackday wheels – it's that sort of car. The interior is functional and well-finished, with a low driving position and no unnecessary gadgetry. It's also the first front-engined, rear-drive, flat-four sports car since the 1950s Jowett Jupiter. Tell that to your mates at the pub. (On second thoughts, don't.) The car looks better in the metal than in pictures. And if you drive one, you'll want to own one. http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/evocarreviews/276016/driven_toyota_gt_86.html
Wow, talk about a glowing review, and from Evo, no less! Electric steering better than the new 911, that's really praise-worthy. Though, I did not realize the platform was derived from the Impreza....I thought i was all-new. So which one would I get? That depends... If this coupe was the only car in my stable, I'd get the BRZ. That is if what they are saying is true about the BRZ being a bit better equipped and more upscale. If I was so inclined, eventually I would then try do some mods to get power to about 220-240 hp. If I have another car I can use, then I'd get the Scion (as that might be cheaper), replace all the Scion badges with Toyota badges, strip out the all the frills except the HVAC, and do some more drastic mods than I would have for the BRZ. I would try to get the power to about 250 hp and try to get as light and balanced as possible.
What a review. I expect nothing less than a rational and objective review from arguably the best car magazine in the business - Evo. If the GT-86 had 240 - 250 HP from the same naturally aspirated without weighing more, it would have been the perfect car in every sense.
+1 Now I would just like to have an indepth review from Chris Haris, IMO best automotive journalist as he is objective and really knows what he is talking about and thinks a any true car enthusiast.
Press doesn't get more positive than this for a Toyota. You'd thi k that evo was driving a GT3 4.0 or something. This car is shaping up to be something. Sports car of the year 2012?
I really hope this and that this car will have success and push other makers to bring out new rivals. Thinking of: BMW Z2, Honda S2000, Mazda RX-(x), Nissan Silvia (?), Alfa Romeo,...
