By that we don’t just mean enduring the interminable period
of delays and introductions as journalists before finally getting our hands on
a UK-spec Toyota GT86 (although we have had to do just that).
We mean ‘we’ in a broader sense, as in the wait that every
car enthusiast with modest resources has had to tolerate before a manufacturer
summoned up the necessary gumption to build an authentic, low-weight, low-cost,
compact sports car.
The front-engined, rear-drive 2+2 is powered by a 2.0-litre
flat-four engine that churns out 197bhp and 151lb ft. A six-speed manual is
standard; there's also a six-speed automatic on offer as well.
Despite boasting a heritage that contains the Celica, the
Supra and the MR2, Toyota has passed
through a period of recent history that has been so mundane that the
GT86’s potential place close to our hearts seems almost to be a novelty.
However, the manufacturer’s three stated criteria for the
GT86 (which has been developed in conjunction with the Subaru BRZ) read like
a purist’s manifesto: rear-wheel drive, no turbocharging, ordinary tyres - much
like the Mazda
MX-5.
The objective, it gloriously affirms, was driver-focused
fun. No further introduction is necessary.
Delving into the detail typically reveals the devil in Toyota’s vast and
intricate economies of scale, but in the case of the Toyota GT86, the use of
common parts shrunk to just nine per cent. If proof were required of the
manufacturing giant’s enthusiasm for the project, it exists first and foremost
in that figure.
The next number to consider is 86. Just a hat-tip to the
AE86, yes? No. The ‘square’ 86mm dimension of both the bore and the stroke of
the 197bhp 2.0-litre horizontally opposed four-cylinder engine previously
featured in the in-line four that powered the Celica and MR2. Even the car’s
prominent, chrome-tipped exhausts are 86mm in diameter.
Toyota’s anally
retentive pursuit of numeral significance may seem somewhat trivial, but it’s
indicative of a wider effort to get everything on the car just so.
Subaru’s boxer engine was selected because its configuration
meant that it was compact and light, and could be mounted closer to the ground
(and further back) for an ultra-low 460mm centre of gravity.
A high-revving unit was specified, so the boxer was modified
to allow it to spin to 7400rpm. Desperate to get the flick-of-the-wrist changes
right on its reworked six-speed manual gearbox, Toyota went through
five separate prototypes.
Underneath, nothing was permitted to muddy the virtues of
the classic front-engined, rear-drive layout. Thinner, lighter body panels were
used to keep the GT86’s burden under 1300kg.
The weight has been distributed 53 per cent front, 47 per
cent rear – not because it’s physically perfect, but because the engineers
found that the slight front bias was ideal for the car’s handling balance.
Likewise, the suspension components, split between
MacPherson struts at the front and double wishbones at the rear, have been
mounted to take further advantage of the low centre of gravity, and were tuned
to allow an intuitive degree of roll on turn-in.
Finally, and encouragingly, there is a Torsen limited-slip
differential to help apply a gung-ho degree of throttle on exit.
A cursory, showroom-floor introduction to the Toyota GT86 will
likely reveal that the car’s cabin, while offering a concerted step up from theBRZ’s positively
skeletal innards, still lacks the plush, polished look that has come to define
a European expectation of what sports cars should feel like inside.
The Toyota is hard-edged and flinty to the touch, and it
looks it, too. But there is a wonderful schematic rigour to the interior that
only really becomes apparent once the model is in motion.
Most manufacturers talk a fine game when it comes to
focusing their cockpits on the driver, but the GT86 is as nakedly purposeful as
the tail-gunner seat in a B-52.
Characterised by a sublime seating position — offering the
lowest hip-point of any Toyota production vehicle — the car trades gun sights
for a large tachometer, and then brilliantly orbits every other facet of the
architecture around that eye line.
The attention to a functional, instinctive level of detail —
so often the subject of empty marketing rhetoric — is comprehensive and
remarkably effective. The steering wheel is the smallest ever attached to a Toyota and a
horizontal dashboard design has been used to help better communicate mid-bend
roll posture.
Soft knee pads have been built into the door trim and centre
console to offer support under high lateral loads and there’s a centre line
mark on the upper edge of the dashboard that can be seen reflected in the
windscreen… The list goes on and on.
Not every facet is a success. The pedals have been
positioned straight on but are too splayed to allow every size of right foot to
heel and toe, but the overall effect is so intoxicating that an enthusiastic
driver will likely feel compelled to keep his or her jaw clenched in
unconscious tribute to the ardent and impeccable nature of it all.
Nevertheless, the GT86 has an awful lot going for it.
Further reinforcing its case is a decent list of kit, including dual-zone
climate control, a media system with Bluetooth connectivity and cruise control.
The only significant option is sat-nav.
Those who want something that stands out a little more,
however, can opt for the GT86 TRD. It's mechanically identical to the standard
car but comes with bigger alloys, a TRD bodykit and a few other minor tweaks.
The Toyota GT86 falls
into the same bracket as we grouped theMercedes-Benz SLK 200
into. Both cars, though not fast, feel like they have a pleasing level of
performance. They are slow enough to be able to enjoy on the road for more
than just a second or two’s burst of throttle, but quick enough for necessary
overtaking.
Therefore, don’t be put off by the fact that, on paper, it
looks decidedly under-nourished compared with its price rivals and dispatches
the 0-60mph sprint in ‘just’ 7.4sec.
A similarly priced hot hatch like aVauxhall Astra
VXR or Renault
Mégane RS will not only give you at least 60 extra bhp, but they also
come to you more easily than in the Toyota, whose engine
asks you to work it to 7000rpm for its peak 197bhp, and even to 6400rpm for its
151lb ft peak of torque.
Truth be told, a less costly Renault
Clio RS is a closer performance rival. But to dismiss the Toyota
on that basis would be a mistake.
Its performance isn’t about numbers; in the same way that a
Renault Clio RS is more fun than an Astra VXR, or in the same fashion that the Morgan 3 Wheeler we
tested wormed its way into our hearts despite its modest poke. It’s about feel,
communication and enjoyment.
Make no mistake: the GT86’s performance is worth working
for. And you do have to work it. Throttle response is crisp, the gearshift is
positive and precise (if not entirely notch free) and the flat four makes a
solid rasp once you wind it up, as you have to, to make swift progress.
All sports cars were thus once. We didn’t mind then, and we
don’t mind now. Thanks to its 1235kg tested weight, the GT86 stops pretty
well, too, and it resisted fade comfortably during heavy runs on track in warm
weather.
Buyers interested in the automatic version would be well
advised to test one first, however. It changes smoothly and relatively quickly
but it's not as crisp or as fast as a dual-clutch gearbox.
All it takes is 50 metres – a jaunt out of a car park, just
a short roll – to know that you’re in the presence of an exceptionally well
sorted piece of kit with the Toyota GT86.
From the lowest of speeds, the GT86 rolls with a controlled
comfort allowed by 215/45-section tyres and fine damping of its body. It steers
with slickness, total linear accuracy and fine weighting.
They all combine to make the GT86, ironically, one of the
more relaxing sports cars to drive.
Because everything happens as you expect, and each control
responds just so to each input you make, it’s an extremely amiable companion,
despite cabin noise levels that are much higher than average (forgivably, we
suspect, because of a weight-saving reduction in sound proofing).
However, the really impressive stuff comes when you ask more
questions of the chassis. During the GT86’s time with us, texts from testers
telling the rest of us that they were “going to be late; taking the scenic
route” became commonplace. The GT86’s slickness of steering, tightness of
chassis control and general love of corners wowed us all.
Key to it are the modest tyres. That 215/45 R17 Michelin
Primacys leave the GT86 looking under-tyred is a sign of the times. Yet at the
track, the GT86 was still capable of holding 0.99g through corners on the dry
handling circuit, on a steady throttle.
The fun comes on less steady throttle openings, mind you.
Lean on the brakes on the way into a bend, get busier with the right pedal
mid-corner, and the GT86 displays a willingness to adjust its line that makes
every quiet roundabout a joy.
And therein lies the Toyota GT86’s real
brilliance. It is at once poised, precise and agile yet also willing to indulge
its driver with oversteer. The choice is yours. Every corner is a blank page,
and the cars that give their drivers such options are rare things indeed.
by Matt Prior, Matt Saunders, Nic Cackett
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