There was a time when Toyota cars (and I’m not including the bakkie and SUV ranges) were the blandest things since unsliced bread. Durable, yes, driver-friendly, certainly, and holding their resale price, most definitely. But bodice-rippingly exciting? I think not.
Story: Peta Lee
So enter the 86. Born from a collaboration between rally winners Subaru and Toyota, this is a sports car that’s injected the “Toy” back into Toyota.
It’s incredible. Not so much for blistering speed, but for all-round fun, roadholding, performance, generally, and looks. Low slung, with a good looking front and rear, and big fat twin exhausts peeping out from under its skirt, the 86 is just one helluva vehicle.
It’s received rave accolades worldwide, including from the notoriously cynical Topgear UK team, who described it as “one of the best driving sports cars of the last decade”.
And, added Jeremy Clarkson, “Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any car that handles more sweetly than this.” Nuff said.
The rear-wheel-drive front-engined lightweight coupe weighs in at just 1 220kg and is a four seater, but the rear is for show only … or perhaps seriously tiny people. It’s fitted with Subaru’s marvellous four-cylinder 2.0-litre horizontally opposed Boxer engine (147kW at 7 000rpm, with 205Nm of torque available between 6 400 and 6 600rpm), and is a delight on all surfaces, particularly tight and twisty passes, bends and corners – of which we have many in KZN.
The car has an incredibly low centre of gravity and with the limited slip diff (which distributes different amounts of power to the wheels), the 86 sticks to the tar like chewing gum to a blanket.
Based on an entirely new platform, the 86 has a low, highly aerodynamic bodyshell stretched tight over the engineering hard points, making it the world’s most compact four-seat sports car design.
Keeping it real
Throughout thousands of man-hours spent overcoming hundreds of development challenges, Chief Engineer Tetsuya Tada fought tooth and nail for three key elements in the new sports car: a rear-wheel drive format, no turbocharging, and ordinary tyres.
Shunning a heavy, large displacement powertrain for its performance, the 86 returns to Toyota’s sporting roots with the world’s only combination of a compact, front-mounted, naturally aspirated, free-revving, horizontally opposed Boxer petrol engine and rear-wheel drive.
Not to offend Toyota, but honestly, it’s been years since I’ve felt this surge of adrenaline in one of its cars: the slick, six-speed manual transmission was a delight, and I thoroughly enjoyed the effortless and responsive gearshifts.
A word of caution, however. If you’re salivating over the car and planning to overtake every other maniac on the road in it, you won’t. The 86 does the 0-100km sprint in 7.6 seconds: speed is not the point of this car, not what captivates you. It’s the fun, the comfort, the exceptional driveability, and, yes, the sheer driving pleasure, that will have you digging out your cheque book for this one. Not to mention those exquisite curves and the glorious chassis.
It’s a bit of a flashback to the days of the Celica, the MR2 and the 2000GT, and an era when the Japanese car-maker injected a whole lot more soul than sensibility into its blueprints. Welcome back Toyota!
The details
Expect to pay from R298 500 and the 86 comes with a four-year/60 000km service plan and three year/100 000km warranty. Plus, it’s supported by the ToyotaCare Roadside Assistance Programme and entitles customers to 24-hour roadside assistance, ensuring ultimate peace-of-mind motoring.