New Toymota "sports" Car

[Seano350GT]

Ordered a white gta last week, god knows when it will be delivered, they seem to speculate 5 months to 1year (null)

Selling at Supply & Demand, this is how Toyota is going to save themselves money on these cars. Think about EVERY person that goes to buy a new car "i want your best price", Our reply to that is "This is the best & only price take it or leave it". These are being sold at my dealership at FULL retail no negotiating whatsoever. More money for me too

[G4orce]

every forum i jump on has a thread about the 86. allot of lovers

Edited July 9, 2012 by G4orce

[MattR]

just stumbled upon these;

http://www.raptorsc.com.au/kits.php?id=63

be interesting to see when up and running

[God_speed]

just stumbled upon these;

http://www.raptorsc..../kits.php?id=63

be interesting to see when up and running

Nice find Matt.

I got to drive one the last time I was down at Toyota doing some work for them.

Fantastic little car, doesn't seem like there's a ton of torque even when driving around town. The engine definitely seems to have been tuned for response; at the top of the throttle's travel the engine responds pretty keenly, but push further and more rapidly and ultimately you're a little disappointed in the lack of urge. It doesn't seem to get noticeably snappier higher in the rev range either.

I did manage to take it through the National Park though, which is where I took that other photo I posted earlier with my good mate at the HWP... In the twisties you really don't notice the lack of torque as much, well seeing as you're not driving 10/10ths through there anyway, there's enough power to have plenty of fun in the corners. In fact (with admittedly cold tyres), 5 min after leaving Toyota and turning right at the roundabout to head into Cronulla, the back end felt very keen to have a bit of a play as I accelerated out. There are two settings for the VSC/TCS, sport, and off completely.

So in the turns, when you string a couple together, say in 2nd gear, the sharpness of the throttle is such that it felt relatively easy to unseat the rear with the throttle when combined with the weight transfer that occurs when going from a left into a right and vice versa. Evo have already said the 86 surprisingly feels a better drive than the BRZ even due to the mere (and mild) adjustment of the suspension settings. The 86 gets a firmer rear and softer front, which compared with the BRZ apparently results in slightly lower stability, but more playfulness. I also felt that a lot of the movement in the chassis was down to the tyres (Michelin Primacys) which seemed to have a soft sidewall (much has been said about these eco-oriented tyres already). But the upshot to me was that it felt like the 86 had good mechanical grip; the "slip" factor comes about first as a consequence of the tyres, and then secondly due to the suspension setup and RWD format. Changing the tyres for say KU36s or even a KU39/31 or Dunlop SportMaxx etc etc would have a huge impact IMO.

My playfulness sort of ended abruptly when I rounded a corner in the Nasho and spotted the HWP waiting to turn out of the road that leads upto Waterfall... I turned in to that road and cruised up there for a few mins, continually checking my mirrors; sure enough the copper loomed into view. So we're doing bang on 60km/h for about 3 km or so, then he puts the red and blues on... just as a swimout appears in the road.

First thing he says is, unsurprisingly, not how good the 86 looks, but how fast I appeared to be coming round that corner. I don't pretend to have been pootling along and don't give him any attitude, just tell him that I'm testing the car for a client and at this point he acknowledges it's "one of those new Toyotas" and before you know it we've been standing there for about 10 minutes chatting about the car. He eventually heads on his way, but not before asking to take some pictures of the car. Incredible.

Never met a more civilised, down to earth copper - of course it didn't hurt that I was driving something brand spanking new that hardly anyone had seen in the flesh before.

Anyway, here are a few more shots for my own satisfaction and of course for research purposes

It *is* compact, but still not quite as small as I'd imagined.

With about 30 or 40 more kW thanks to a supercharger or turbo this thing would be a bucketload of fun. As it stands it seems to be a really comfortable, well equipped and well priced car that is still plenty of fun in the bends, just as long as you don't expect a balltearer. But the reliability of the Subaru / Toyota name is a big bonus too.

[PN-Mad]

Can I commend you Matt on a very well constructed review, and great pics. Thank you.

I think I work with the hwp officers partner, if he was on shift at the time! Was a good end to that part of the story!

[GTR-N1]

Great review! Thanks Matt!

Raptor blurb then begs the next Q > How Much?

[scotty nm35]

Raptor want to put 8psi into a high comp engine? I guess the kit will come with low comp pistons then so it won't be cheap.

[nomnomv8]

Black sure does look great on these cars ! With such a low asking price for a brand new sports car I cant help but feel that they will soon become the new S15,,, an over played taxi you see driving every time you go out

Interesting to see what the resale value on these will be in 2-3 years time and weather they will hold price or not. For the right price I can definately see this being a nice pocket rocket daily

[Lanorizzle]

That was actually a really good ad, Although I'm Slightly disappointed to see such low power output for a 2012 Sports car. I guess you get what you pay for

[Darmanin10]

Black sure does look great on these cars ! With such a low asking price for a brand new sports car I cant help but feel that they will soon become the new S15,,, an over played taxi you see driving every time you go out

yeh i can see them becoming the new S15. So true about S15's by the way, I saw 4 today.

[Kinkstaah]

New S15? You mean that in the sense that they are most likely exactly the same as a stock S15, (or 14, or 13) but cost a massive amount more?

I'd really like to see someone compare them head to head and then casually mention the price difference.

[nomnomv8]

No, mean that in the sense that they are an affordable sports car and that you will see every Tom, Dick and Harry driving every time you go out.

Hopefully not too many rich P platers get their hands on these and rice them up with their 20" Chromies and supercheap/repco exhaust tips.

[Seano350GT]

No, mean that in the sense that they are an affordable sports car and that you will see every Tom, Dick and Harry driving every time you go out.

Hopefully not too many rich P platers get their hands on these and rice them up with their 20" Chromies and supercheap/repco exhaust tips.

I'm used to seeing every 2nd red p plater driving a SV6 commonwhore or XR6 falcon, mining town...

[God_speed]

Can I commend you Matt on a very well constructed review, and great pics. Thank you.

I think I work with the hwp officers partner, if he was on shift at the time! Was a good end to that part of the story!

Great review! Thanks Matt!

Raptor blurb then begs the next Q > How Much?

Thanks guys. That's quite funny Alex - small world!

Here are a few more pics:

86 at The Shire

Raw Driving in the Nasho

Decent workstation:

Not much room in the back though!

And the one thing that bugged me quite a bit was the fairly untidy centre brake light on the rear parcel shelf

But this was a great touch; A carryover from the FT-86 concept, the rear view mirror is frameless - feels like an acrylic layer over the whole mirror.

[Cowboy1600]

The interior looks very minimalist which is perfect for the car, IMO.

I still don't like boxers, but this little car is awesome.

[*LOACH*]

Thanks for all the photos and info God_speed. What is the quality of the interior like? I was in a new Prius about 2 years ago and it looked really dodgy to me. As that is coming from a VL owner/devotee that is quite a strong criticism

The parcel shelf brake light might be a Toyota Australia addition, I'll have a look the next time I see a JDM one, might be a while though as they aren't too common although I did see a orange/bronze one yesterday.

Edited July 19, 2012 by *LOACH*

[R34GT-T]

It will never be a skyline

[Nee-san]

Slower then a commodore in a straight line and probably slower around the track... sports... car ?

[Nee-san]

It will never be a skyline

That's true, Nissan makes those.

[Cowboy1600]

Slower then a commodore in a straight line and probably slower around the track... sports... car ?

The 1/4 mile times are within about 2-3/10ths of each other so I reckon the 86 would probably have the edge on the Commonwhore on the track.

The Mazda MX5 is a genuine sports car and it's slower than both. An r33 is fractionally quicker in a straight line than both but I reckon the 86 would have it around a track, too.