New Toymota "sports" Car

[Cowboy1600]

It's calle the '86' an it's...conservative to say the least. The obvious link is to the AE86 and that thing is an absolute cult classic. What a great way to stuff all that up.

http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-news/toyota-reveals-86-sports-car-20111127-1o131.html

It's powered by a boxer engine, and not just any boxer but an actual Subaru boxer...WTCF?

Great way to completely destroy a car. Boxers are horrible pieces of boat anchor and should be confined to Porsches and Kombis.

Who in their right mind decided on a friggin' boxer over a "new gen" JZ or 21st century 4AGZE? Seriously. Someone at Toymota needs an honoring.

Toyota reveals 86 sports car

Toyota has confirmed its new two-door sports car will be called 86.

Toyota's long awaited new sports car has been officially unveiled in front of an estimated crowd of 20,000 at Japan's Fuji speedway.

The new car, simply named the 86, was driven down the main straight of the circuit by the company's president, Akio Toyoda, who has been a driving force behind attempts to shed the company's dowdy image.

The rear-drive coupe, co-developed in an intriguing partnership with Subaru, is designed to be a hero car for the Toyota range, which in recent years has developed a reputation for making reliable but dull cars.

Toyoda posed beside the car in front of a huge media throng, wearing a fireproof race suit.

The driving enthusiast, who has competed at the Nurburgring 24-hour race, said the car was the result of a 10-year project to rediscover the company's sportier past.

“All the automobile lovers are waiting for this kind of car,” he said.

“This is to say thank you for the patience of the car lovers because they are going to enjoy our compact sports vehicle.

“To me, for the last 10 years I have been part of the development of the vehicle so I really feel like my new baby is coming out,” he said.

Toyota describes the car as one that has been “designed by passion not by committee”.

The coupe, powered by a 2.0-litre, 147kW Subaru boxer engine that sits low in the car to reduce the centre of gravity and improve handling, will arrive in Australia in June.

The car's name comes from the AE86 Corolla of the 1980s which has been a popular drift car with younger generations.

It also fills a gap in the company's line-up that appeared with the demise of the Supra, Celica and MR2 sports cars.

Purists have complained that the bean counters have taken over the company in recent years, producing vanilla cars that have been designed to appeal to the masses.

The company now faces increasing pressure from brands with sportier images, including Mazda, and in more recent years, Volkswagen, which appeals to a younger crowd with its hot hatches based on the Golf and Polo small cars.

In recent years Toyota has also had to deal with multiple global vehicle recalls that have tarnished its image.

[mad082]

It's calle the '86' an it's...conservative to say the least. The obvious link is to the AE86 and that thing is an absolute cult classic. What a great way to stuff all that up.

http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-news/toyota-reveals-86-sports-car-20111127-1o131.html

It's powered by a boxer engine, and not just any boxer but an actual Subaru boxer...WTCF?

Great way to completely destroy a car. Boxers are horrible pieces of boat anchor and should be confined to Porsches and Kombis.

Who in their right mind decided on a friggin' boxer over a "new gen" JZ or 21st century 4AGZE? Seriously. Someone at Toymota needs an honoring.

well considering that toyota doesn't have a motor that resembles anything like a JZ or 4AGZE, and it would cost them an absolute buttload to either get an old engine to meet emissions, or about as much to design a whole new engine, it was never going to happen.

plus the fact that it was designed in conjunction with subaru. i'm just hoping that subaru bring out a turbo version. if they don't though, it shouldn't be that hard to either bolt on some turbos, or even upgrade the engine to a 2.5L turbo motor from a subaru.

[madbung]

Looks like they've taken some mazda 3,6 and rx8 added some zed car then thrown in a boxer to cover all bases. well done toyota as innovative and dull as ever.

[zebra]

well considering that toyota doesn't have a motor that resembles anything like a JZ or 4AGZE, and it would cost them an absolute buttload to either get an old engine to meet emissions, or about as much to design a whole new engine, it was never going to happen.

.

They have the direct injection 1JZ still in production, and the vvti turbo 1jz too as far as Im aware.

and the 1G-GEU, or hell even the 2.5 Lexus V6

[Doobs]

well considering that toyota doesn't have a motor that resembles anything like a JZ or 4AGZE, and it would cost them an absolute buttload to either get an old engine to meet emissions, or about as much to design a whole new engine, it was never going to happen.

plus the fact that it was designed in conjunction with subaru. i'm just hoping that subaru bring out a turbo version. if they don't though, it shouldn't be that hard to either bolt on some turbos, or even upgrade the engine to a 2.5L turbo motor from a subaru.

I read that the subie gets turbo and AWD.

[boiracer]

the main part your totally missing is that FR layout, and relatively small size hence the 86, sure the engine wouldnt be my first choice (despite loving most things Boxer), and apparently they were looking for a 50/50 weight distribution. either way i would pick this over a Rolla or Zuki Swift or similar.

As mad said it leads to many wonderful high powered versions.

I say bring it on. there hasnt been a nice smallish RWD sports car for too long.

its fun to drive in GT5

[sneakey pete]

I'm still interested in how much it'll cost. Some people are raving on about how i'tll be shit because it'll be in the same price bracket as a 370z... which seems to high to me.

[mad082]

I'm still interested in how much it'll cost. Some people are raving on about how i'tll be shit because it'll be in the same price bracket as a 370z... which seems to high to me.

yeah that seems a bit high. i'd expect it to be in the 50k range though. that is WRX sort of money. even a sti is $65k, 10k less than a 370Z

[Cowboy1600]

the main part your totally missing is that FR layout, and relatively small size hence the 86, sure the engine wouldnt be my first choice (despite loving most things Boxer), and apparently they were looking for a 50/50 weight distribution. either way i would pick this over a Rolla or Zuki Swift or similar.

As mad said it leads to many wonderful high powered versions.

I say bring it on. there hasnt been a nice smallish RWD sports car for too long.

its fun to drive in GT5

I'm certainly not missing that. I just don't get why they'd put a boxer into it. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

Inline 4s and 6s are their bread and butter and they have done them as well as anybody. Why screw up a winning formula?

It will be interesting to see how it's priced. It'll also be interesting to see how slow it is.

Will it be aimed at the 370 and will that cause Nissan to rethink their pricing?

[sneakey pete]

The car isn't just a Toyota with a Subaru engine in it, the entire thing is a joint effort between the two companies. That's why. Only reason we're not getting the Subaru version is because Subaru Australia refuses to sell anything non AWD.

[Silvia GTR]

Needs more turbo

[God_speed]

Should be more like $40K or a little under. They've taken into consideration cars more like the Golf GTI, Lancer Ralliart and WRX (based on price).

Emphasis on handling balance (CoG) and power-to-weight ratio over outright power figures.

147kW and about 1210kg gives a power/weight ratio of 120kW/tonne, similar to the stock S15 in Oz (without the torque of the turbo though).

I think it'll prove to be a good little thing; problem is that Toyota have abandoned sports cars for such a long time that those of us who know the JZA80 Supra are left wanting more.

Edited November 28, 2011 by God_speed

[zebra]

Still looks like a cane toad

[Cowboy1600]

The car isn't just a Toyota with a Subaru engine in it, the entire thing is a joint effort between the two companies. That's why. Only reason we're not getting the Subaru version is because Subaru Australia refuses to sell anything non AWD.

I've been trying to find as much info as possible on it and the only "jointness" I've been able to uncover is Subaru supplying the engine. Everything else was Toyota.

That's not a joint effort, that's a a supply agreement. And the whole lower CoG thing is a wank in anything but an out and out race car. And by that I mean gutted, full chassis race car such as F1, V8 supercars, WRC and so on. The lower CoF isn't going to be the make or break in production based racing.

It's a total cop out from one of the best car makers on the planet.

[sneakey pete]

For some reason i seem to have got confused and thought it was a joint project then.

That being said the fact that subaru is selling the car too also makes it seem like more than just a supply agreement. Or is toyota the only manufacturing of the chassis?

And... them making a light well handling car with a perfectly fine subaru engine in it is a cop out? Its like complaining that the R35 doesn't use a RB...

Edited November 28, 2011 by sneakey pete

[God_speed]

Maybe it's like Mazda releasing the RX-8? For those of us who wouldve wanted to see a replacement for the RX-7 it was a pretty big disappointment, but in its own right the RX-8 was a decent enough car and sold reasonably well.

I think that Subaru *did* have more involvement than just the engine Aaron, I'll try and find an article if I can, but I believe they did have a hand in the chassis development. What's interesting is that when you open the bonnet of the '86' the engine cover says

TOYOTA

D4S

BOXER

SUBARU

Dunno what you think of having two manufacturers on the same engine cover, it's not like a McLaren F1 with 'Powered by BMW' or a Pagani Zonda with 'Mercedes-Benz' written on it.

[mad082]

It's a total cop out from one of the best makers of grandpa cars on the planet.

FYP

i love reading threads like this because you get to see all the green eyed fanbois who are afraid of change. they see a new version of a car coming out and think that it should be the same old clunker that was around 20 years ago. maybe we should all start complaining about how the RB motor shouldn't have been put in the skyline and they should've stuck with the L series motors, and the GTR should never have been 4wd......

[driftism]

its strange how you agree that the original ae86 was cult classic but then bash this car for having the same characteristics.

the ae86 had around 96 kw and 130nm - weighed around 1000klg

this new 86 has 150kw, 200nm and weights just 100 - 200klg more

if anything it has a better power to weight ratio so why all the hate for something you haven't driven?

also the boxer engine is a good choice for the lowest centre of gravity and best weight distribution. an inline 4 or 6 would make it too front heavy.

if your after the quickest 0-100 times then this car is clearly not for you but if you want a well balanced, fun and cheap RWD sports car then this is looking to be a good choice.

[N1GTR]

FYP

i love reading threads like this because you get to see all the green eyed fanbois who are afraid of change. they see a new version of a car coming out and think that it should be the same old clunker that was around 20 years ago. maybe we should all start complaining about how the RB motor shouldn't have been put in the skyline and they should've stuck with the L series motors, and the GTR should never have been 4wd......

I see your point but terrible examples there.

That aside, surely the disappointment is from those people who as you've said don't like change, your point is that things develop and improve so we don't have the same old clunker, but that IMO is sort of the same thing those people are saying. Eg 20 years on Toyota and Subaru know the turbo exists, they know about 6 cyl engines etc. so why not "modernise" the 86 and put in something around 300hp or even 350hp and instead of trying to make the AE86 again, make something better.

[N1GTR]

if your after the quickest 0-100 times then this car is clearly not for you but if you want a well balanced, fun and cheap RWD sports car then this is looking to be a good choice.

Lol not in Australia, you can bet the other markets will have a sharper price than here