Testdrive: Toyota GT86

[Pommes-T]

Last saturday I testdrove a GT86 and I wanted to tell you my impressions.

Beeing a carspinner, the GT86/BRZ of course got my attention when it came out and in reviews like on Top Gear or in other car magazines it was praised for beeing fun to drive without beeing very quick. I've always had a thing for little RWD japanese coupes, especially the 240SX or older Toyota Celicas. So, I went to the Toyota dealer with my gf to pick up that car at 11'o clock. I was allowed to drive it until 1pm.

On the parking lot the first shock: This thing had the factory spoiler kit installed which makes the car look really ridiculous IMO. I really like the looks of the GT86, but with that giant wing on the trunk... it just looks pubertal and I thought everyone who drives such a car must be seen as a total showoff by everyone.

Then we talked to the salesmen he gave me the keyless key and then there came the next shock: this sportscar had an automatic. I sometimes thing this carspin automatic-hating is a bit too much, but hey, in such a sportscar? Who in the world would order such a car with a damn automatic? Especially not a dual clutch one, but a real old school 6 speed automatic?

Whatever.

My first impression was, that interior looks cheap. Yeah, it had leather seats with red sutures, but the rest was just not passionly designed. The plastic crap on the dasboard wanted to look like carbon, which it didn't and the oh so cool bluethooth stereo, wasn't only crappy to use (connected my Iphone, but it would only display every of my 3 million tracks next to each other) but also sounded weakly. Ordering that better stereo would definitely be my choice. Even the knob felt shitty.

But as I sit down I started to get warm with it. Sitting in a sports car just is different from sitting in any other car. Even if it's a quicker GTI. The steering wheel is up straight, the seat is down below, you just sit in a coupe. Well, well. After pushing the start button and switching to D ( ), I rolled out on the street. The engine sound is neither bad, nor great as well. It was -3°Celsius, the streets were dry, but it was a little bit slippy anyways. Not the perfect weather to testdrive a RWD sportscar. At first I was surprised how well that automatic shifted. It had manual paddles on the steering wheel. It in most cases chose the right gears and the up- and downshifts went quickly and it simply gave a good feeling, having the engine revved up downshifting before a corner. Not bad, not bad. I also liked the engine. It's not really fast, but it pushed me into the seats quite a bit, and when I stopped on an empty country road to test the accelerating, I got a damn lot of wheelspin. We left Hamburg northbound on some country roads and went towards a smaller town, where my girlfriend wanted to visit a shop (just 5 minutes luckily  ). On the curvy countryroad I enjoyed the cars great roadholding and was able to do some minor drifting. Just a tiny bit, since it wasn't my car. In that little city it was funny to see how the people look at that car with that massive rear wing. Like they wanted to say: Damn, boy, you must have a seriously small weiner.  I touched my knee, to see if my dick was still where it belongs and kept on driving towards the Autobahn. Now I wanted to really see how quick it was.
Well, it wasn't quick. At all. In fact it was damn ass slow. I took the right cornerd onramp with a lot of speed and thought: Now eat dust, bitches as I put my right feet on the floor, shifting manually and revving up to the max. At first everything went well, it accelerated nicely up to about 190km/h and then it was like driving against an invisible wall: That POS weird car simply wouldn't accelerate any more. Slowly it went past 200, but at 209 km/h it was finally done. Just when a Golf TDI overtook me. Beeing a carnut, I knew the topspeed of the car is 226km/h so I touhgt about what went wrong. Was it the automatic tramsmission? No. Just doesn't make sense. Is it just shitty? Probably not? Did Toyota limit it? We asked the salesman, no they didn't. I think it maybe was that stupid oversized spoiler. I have no other explaination. This car was so incredibly slow. What a stupid idea to put a wing that would look childish on a 700hp Lambo on a damn Toyota...

Anyways. I left the Autobahn, took some photos of the car and had my gf to drive it. Since we are to gether she started to interest in cars, so she also wanted to drive it. She also couldn't drive any faster and also realized, that it was weirdly slow. Couldn't been the wind, too, because we were driving in the opposite direction now.

Back on the country road, the car was pure fun again, too.

Verdict: I experienced the GT86 as a really fun to drive car that is especially great on curvy countryroads. It doesn't have a beautifully done interior, but it isn't that expensive and doens't want to be a treasure chest, but a a funny, cheap sportscar. I liked it a lot. But on the Autobahn, the car is completely useless. I hope there is a good explaination for that last point, because if it wasn't the stupid rear wing, this would totally ruin the car for me.

Oh, and my girlfriend would kill me for posting a picture with her driving glasses on, so please don't tell her... 

[SVT666]

I see RICE isn't just a Japanese or North American phenomena.

[93JC]

In that little city it was funny to see how the people look at that car with that massive rear wing. Like they wanted to say: Damn, boy, you must have a seriously small weiner.  I touched my knee, to see if my dick was still where it belongs

[Cookie Monster]

Hahahahaha

[Speed_Racer]

So fast, so furious.

[S204STi]

The body kit and wing look absurd.

[cawimmer430]

I had a shoot (non-car related) today in Landshut and I got trashed on the Autobahn by a BMW 118d (diesel) E87. Then came more shaming from a Volkswagen Golf GTD (diesel GTI). 


The wing on the rear looks terrible. This weird body kit makes the car look terrible. The standard FT-86 is ok-looking.

I think several reviews have stated that the car is pretty "slow" (yeah, whatever  ), but fun to drive in its own way and a superb handler. It's like a "Porsche Boxster" - not the quickest car out there, but a fine handler.

More pictures of your girlfriend please. 

[r0tor]

I agree... That looks hideous and the interior is cheap

[Colin]

Nice review, Pommes.

Nothing quite prepared me for how unutterably ghastly that rear spoiler is....... it really does live up to its name, and spoil the car. Sadly, I predict that in a few years time when the first cars have depreciated this is the sort of treatment that an awful lot of these cars will get - along with all sorts of other styling "improvements".

I've not driven one yet, but I have sat in several at shows, and it does fit me very nicely. The interior is pretty ho-hum, but I could probably live with it in return for the driving experience. Everything I have read suggests that this is not a car for the autobahn/motorway/freeway but to take on the minor winding roads, as the relative lack of power (and peaky engine) will cease to be an issue and the steering and handling will come into their own. For someone who's motoring fits that pattern, it is a decent buy, but for everyone else, I suspect that the novelty might wear off quite quickly.   

[Payman]

Holy wtf spoiler bbq

EDit: Wing. Holy wtf wing bbq

[Pommes-T]

Happy I get some positive repilies. I expected some serious bashing...  I just checked out the US homepage of Toyota and realized that ithe GT86 is offered as a Scion there. In germany this ugly aftermarket looking bodykit can be opted directly by Toyota. 

I knew this car wasn't meant to drive very fast. But with an official topspeed of 226 I expected the speedo to end up at 250. My Audi does a bit more than 240, the Golf does more than 230, both are listed 20 km/h below. 209 is really bad. And it even had small wheels that should make it easier to reach high "speedometer-speeds".

[Laconian]

LOL! I've never seen a FRS or BRZ with that hideous wing before.

[CALL_911]

I initially read this on tapatalk thinking you were talking about the same wing MrH has on his car. Shit, I was not expecting the picnic bench there.

[Xer0]

Having not seen the pictures, I just assumed you were being overly critical of the wing.  After seeing the pictures, holy shit you're right, awful.

Subaru just released a new forester with a turbo version of this motor and it puts down 250hp.  I can't imagine it not making into the FRS/GT86/BRZ some time in the future.

[Cookie Monster]

I initially read this on tapatalk thinking you were talking about the same wing MrH has on his car. Shit, I was not expecting the picnic bench there.

Yeah the pics didn't load for me at first so I thought he was complaining about the MrH wing but holy fuck that is just terrible!

[S204STi]

Having not seen the pictures, I just assumed you were being overly critical of the wing.  After seeing the pictures, holy shit you're right, awful.

Subaru just released a new forester with a turbo version of this motor and it puts down 250hp.  I can't imagine it not making into the FRS/GT86/BRZ some time in the future.

BUT OMCHRIST THAT'S TOOO MUCH POWER, YOU UNTHUSIAST.

Yeah, I dig this car, but I'm not totally enamored of it.  Especially not enamored of the rice culture that accompanies it.  These guys can be even worse that Imprezas in that regard...

[MrH]

Having not seen the pictures, I just assumed you were being overly critical of the wing.  After seeing the pictures, holy shit you're right, awful.

Subaru just released a new forester with a turbo version of this motor and it puts down 250hp.  I can't imagine it not making into the FRS/GT86/BRZ some time in the future.

Won't fit.

I'm pretty sure there's quite a bit of politicking going on.  Too much boost, and it's performance will encroach on the upcoming Supra's territory.

[SVT666]

Won't fit.

I'm pretty sure there's quite a bit of politicking going on.  Too much boost, and it's performance will encroach on the upcoming Supra's territory.

Subaru is testing a naturally aspirated version with about 250 hp....or so the rumour is.

[Xer0]

Won't fit.

I'm pretty sure there's quite a bit of politicking going on.  Too much boost, and it's performance will encroach on the upcoming Supra's territory.

That Supra has been upcoming for what feels like 10 years at this point.  The FRS/BRZ/GT86 needs some sort of higher power model for the unthusiasts ( ).  That and it'd be a shame if they didn't exploit that chassis somehow.

[Colin]

Rumour has it that there are more potent versions coming, but as MrH says, it will not simply be a case of strapping a turbo in, as it won't fit. One possibility is a supercharged version. 

[MrH]

That Supra has been upcoming for what feels like 10 years at this point.  The FRS/BRZ/GT86 needs some sort of higher power model for the unthusiasts ( ).  That and it'd be a shame if they didn't exploit that chassis somehow.

Well, the new Supra would be running on a variant of this chassis.

But yeah, packaging is the issue right now.  There's only one aftermarket turbo that is remotely clean, but it has unequal length headers and the turbo is precariously low in the car.  I doubt it's something Toyobaru would do.

[850CSi]

In that little city it was funny to see how the people look at that car with that massive rear wing. Like they wanted to say: Damn, boy, you must have a seriously small weiner.  I touched my knee, to see if my dick was still where it belongs and kept on driving towards the Autobahn.

sigged

[cawimmer430]

Speaking of the devil! Look what I spotted today! 



BONER TIME!!! 

[CALL_911]

Man, I fucking love this thing. Fortunately, I don't really give two shits about how the car is at speeds above 110. It's not like I ever drive that fast. Completely understandable why you Deutschebags would, however.

[MrH]

Meh, even then...

I thought when I went to Germany, everyone would be racing down the Autobahn in M5's and shit.  The average car in Europe is much slower than the average car in the states.  My misfiring, 4 cylinder diesel Opel Astra wagon, crammed full of 4 dudes and all their luggage...I was BLASTING past people at 115 mph.

[VTEC_Inside]

With that wing I would have left it on the lot. If I could get by that I would have closed the door as soon as I saw the auto and went home.

[MX793]

Rumour has it that there are more potent versions coming, but as MrH says, it will not simply be a case of strapping a turbo in, as it won't fit. One possibility is a supercharged version. 

You think a supercharger takes appreciably less space than a turbo?

[VTEC_Inside]

Ugh... I really want to like this car, but I just can't see going sideways in the power department. Give it 250hp and we'll talk.

Not that I've been there often (4-5 times), but my RSX-S will walk past 190kph pretty easy, although it does start to slow down as that's just after the shift to 5th.

[S204STi]

You think a supercharger takes appreciably less space than a turbo?

With charge air cooling it's practically a wash.

[VTEC_Inside]

With charge air cooling it's practically a wash.

No exhaust plumbing to worry about though.

Just looking at an under hood pic. A small centrifugal blower might just fit on the passenger side with a bit of rearranging.