The Toyota GT86 was one of our favourite sports cars of the last decade, and now there's a successor for it. The GR 86 becomes Toyota's third Gazoo Racing 'halo' performance model after the GR Yaris and the GR Toyota Supra, and will also be its cheapest. The car goes on sale in the UK in December 2021 before appearing in showrooms in May 2022, and it's expected to cost from less than £30,000.
Like the GT86, the GR 86 is powered by a front-mounted 'flat-four' petrol engine and has a low-slung rear-wheel drive chassis. Engine capacity has risen from 2.0-litres to 2.4-, and peak power and torque outputs have jumped by between 15- and 20 per cent; while body rigidity has been improved by 50 per cent, and kerbweight cut by 20kg. Both manual and automatic gearboxes will be offered, and range-topping versions of the car will roll on 18in alloy wheels and Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres.
If that reads like the makeup of a more serious sports car than the super-accessible and ever-entertaining GT86 was, so it should. But that needn't mean the new GR 86 can't really entertain when let loose on track, as Autocar road test editor Matt Saunders found out in a GR 86 prototype tested around Castelloli circuit in Spain.
