New Toyota GT86 is Reportedly Under Development
Toyota’s Chief engineer reveals that new GT86 will be a ‘better driver’s car’ than 2020 Toyota Supra.
It seems that people have easily forgotten about the Toyota 86 since the release of the new Supra, which has been stuck in the headlines, stealing every moment of the spotlight. We will admit that we too have been guilty of being enamored by the new Supra, but we will still give the Toyota 86 (the Supra’s smaller and lighter brother) a fighting chance. If there was anything that people raved about when the FRS/BRZ/GT86 came out, it was the driving dynamics. It was through and through a driver’s car and the ability to connect to it and feel like an extension of the vehicle was impressive.
This brings us to an interesting situation. The Supra, although advertised as a sports car, is in essence a GT car. It is not track-focused by any means and it was never intended to be about pure driver feedback and responsiveness. Rather, it is meant to be a mix of sports car heritage and modern luxury, all while delivering good performance. This is where the GT86 steps in. It’s lighter and quicker on its feet than the Supra, and although it doesn’t have the power to back it up, it will dance head-to-head with its bigger brother. Thanks to an article by Car and Driver, we get to see what the news is out of Japan for the next fighting chance for the Toyota 86.
According to the article, Toyota’s chief engineer, Tetsuya Tada, stated that they have a new team working on developing the next-generation 86. Supposedly, this doesn’t guarantee a new 86 model, but rather that the team does exist and is working on the early stages of the new sports car. The goal is to make the new 86 better than the Supra in every way. Toyota has learned a lot of things since the development of the new Supra and they plan to use their newly gained skills and apply them to the future sports car.
While we don’t have any exact details about the new 86, there are some things that we can hope for. The main complaint about the last generation 86 was the engine. It was a lackluster 4-cylinder unit that didn’t make good torque or power, wasn’t reliable, and was honestly one of the most disappointing units to come out of Toyota/Subaru in years. The engine had no character and didn’t make a particularly enjoyable sound at any RPM. We are hoping that Toyota learned how to make an engine special again through their collaboration with BMW and not fall into the same direction they did when in collaboration with Subaru. If they can pull that off and still keep the amazing dynamics of the old 86 while integrating modern technology, then it looks like we will have a winner.
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