First Drive: Toyota GR86 Review

When the Toyota GT86 arrived on our roads back in 2012, it was the beginning of a movement within Toyota – one that came from the top of the food chain. Boss Akio Toyoda was proud of his company’s achievements when it came to hybridisation, but he was well aware that the world’s largest carmaker had also lost some of its sparkle in the process.

The marque’s iconic sports cars rested in the faded pages of history, and Toyota had become, well… boring. Word came from down on high to build a lightweight affordable sports car. The GT86 – engineered in collaboration with Subaru – arrived, ticking those exacting boxes. Fast forward a decade, and there’s a new one.

Now dubbed GR86, incorporating the Gazoo Racing motorsport name you’ll know from the Toyota GR Yaris, this new sports car is again a collaboration between the two Japanese car firms. The GT86 was adored for its purity and fun-loving nature, but is this Toyota GR86 an altogether more grownup proposition?

Things have certainly come along in the design department. Where there were once simplistic shapes, you’ll find flowing curves and interesting details. Sure, it retains that classic long bonnet and pert rear that’s synonymous with a rear-wheel-drive sports car, but serious thought has been put into the aerodynamic package of the car. Gazoo Racing applied some of its aero know-how to smooth the airflow and create greater stability at speed. Prominent intakes help improve cooling, while distinctive gills behind the front wheel help relieve building air pressure.

The cabin also presents a more mature visage via sculpted facias and plusher materials. It’s still very Toyota in terms of form following function, and you’ll still find a few hard plastics on show, but it’s absolutely an upgrade from the rather scratchy interior of its predecessor.

A pair of bolstered seats set low in the chassis highlights the sporting nature of this vehicle, yet also delivering on pleasing levels of comfort over a distance. The switchgear is rather simplistic in a bid to keep the focus on driving, but the addition of an 8.0-inch touchscreen with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay is most welcome.

You’ll find a pair of seats in the back of this coupe, but they are only really any good for children or those mastered in the art of human origami. They are far more useful as somewhere to sling a bag or two, although the 226-litre boot is plenty practical for daily use. Talking practicality might be boring, but the subject hosts a clear sign that the GR86 is for the enthusiast; with the rear bench folded flat, it can carry a set of tyres for track days. Speaking of race tracks…

Welcome to the Monteblanco circuit in Spain. This tight and technical track is a great place to see what the new Toyota GR86 is made of. Leaving the pit lane, trailed by the obligatory set of number 11 skid marks, the new 2.4-litre boxer engine proves itself notably stronger from the get-go than the late GT86. The mechanical muscle of the engine is much more prominent and consistent through the rev range. Don’t get me wrong, the car still needs to rev to get the best out of it, but the engine is now more flexible and requires less stirring of the gears to get up to pace. While on the subject of cog swapping, its six-speed manual transmission is a delight. Weighty, mechanical, and oh so rewarding to heel and toe – it’s the obvious choice over the automatic option for those who love driving.

The old GT86 was famously endowed with the same tyres as a Toyota Prius, not to help save the planet, but to purposely lower grip levels to enable this sports car to slide around. This new Toyota GR86 features much more serious Michelin Pilot Sport 4 rubber that is notably stickier. Diving into a series of tightening and undulating corners, the precise steering is now backed up by even more bite from those tyres. It darts and dives in a wonderfully stable manner thanks to increased structural rigidity and more robust suspension, but it’s the tyres that unlock an ultimately tidier drive when pushing hard. That said, the GR86 can be plenty playful when provoked.

Turning off the stability systems, blipping down a few gears, and shifting the car’s weight forward on the brakes before stomping the throttle will bring the rear out to play without hesitation. The natural balance of the car, not to mention chassis communication between man and machine, makes collecting up a slide an innate response. Balancing the GR86 on the throttle and winding on opposite lock easily results in sustained drifts that will leave you in a childish fit of the giggles. Yes, Toyota has sharpened the act of its affordable sports car, but it still has a strong sense of humour.

Leaving the track for some mountain roads highlights that a great driver’s car needn’t have 500bhp. The GR86 has more than its forefather at 231hp, but the joy behind this wheel is in preserving momentum and the car’s rapid responses to your inputs. There’s a little bit of body roll that helps highlight where the weight is shifting, good brake pedal feel makes trimming speed into corners second nature, and the inherent predictability of a front-engined rear-wheel-drive car means the throttle is plenty approachable upon exit. You soon get into a real rhythm that allows you to focus on perfecting your technique while everything else fades into a subconscious operation.

Could you live with the Toyota GR86 every day of the week? If you need to transport anything larger than a couple of squashy bags, maybe not. However, strong visibility and the increased torque band of the new engine – now possessing a peak of 250Nm – will make urban life easier than in a GT86. Considering Toyota’s reliability record, you should be confident that this car will get you home even after beating it like a drum on track all day.

The reasonably priced sports car (£29,995 in this case) is an endangered species these days, with profit margins thin and hot hatchbacks growing in potency. However, Toyota and its GR division are certainly doing their fair share for the conservation of such vehicles. In fact, you could say such bold decisions have returned the marque to an elevated position amongst true petrolheads. Want one? Unless you were quick, you’re out of luck; the car’s entire two-year UK allocation is already spoken for.