Test drive: Toyota GT86 2016, the Japanese scalpel

Sometimes, for better or for worse, the car you get to test during the week is, to say the least, unconventional.

This time we are dealing with a small Japanese sports car as praised as it is criticised, launched in 2012. We are talking about the Toyota GT86.

The story of this small rear-wheel-drive sports car with a front-mounted engine begins in 2009, when Toyota presented its FT-86 prototype at the Tokyo Motor Show, an early preview of a high-performance car with sporty characteristics. In 2011 the FT-86 II was unveiled, a more evolved version with shapes closer to the final model.

In 2012 the GT86 finally saw the light of day. As we all know, the GT86 was developed from the very beginning in collaboration with Subaru, which has its own practically identical model, called the BRZ. Four years later, the GT86 retains its look unchanged, although just a week ago a small restyling was presented that refreshes its image, which will take a few months to reach our country.

Exterior design

The bodywork lines of the GT86 leave no room for doubt. This is a vehicle designed from scratch to be -and to look like- a sports car. The brand had not offered a similar product in many years, the closest being the last generation of the Celica, sold until 2006.

Starting the tour at the front, the GT86 offers a clearly sporty look thanks to elongated, medium-sized headlight units. There is no grille, unlike other models from the Japanese brand. Only on the bumper do we find a generous central air intake, flanked by mouldings at the lateral ends that also house the indicators and fog lights.

The design of the GT86 is clearly focused on being and looking like a sports car

The front is very low and very long, with a sculpted bonnet and front wings with a kind of “hump” over the wheel arch, which give it a very sporty appearance, even from the driver’s seat, where its shapes can be sensed. Right next to the door there is also a small moulding of two opposed pistons, with the number “86” in the middle.

Looking at the side of the vehicle, we find smooth, pleasing lines. The roofline drops steeply from the door, giving the GT86 a very low profile. The glazed area is not very large, though it is sufficient to ensure good visibility, especially through the central mirror.

The 17″ wheels, with a two-tone multi-spoke design, fill the wheel arches adequately. They are the only ones available and match the car’s attitude perfectly, although at times it feels like a suspension a couple of centimetres lower would suit it even better.

At the rear, bulk is the dominant note. The lights, with transparent backgrounds, feature LED technology for the brake and low-beam lights, while the rest of the lighting uses halogen bulbs. The rear quarters are very well structured, resulting in a highly successful sporty look thanks to the skilful combination of elements such as the spoiler over the boot lid, the pronounced diffuser with central illumination, or the twin exhaust outlets with 86 mm tubes.

Interior design

Once we open the door -which has no frame around the window- we access a cabin where driving, the enjoyment behind the wheel and the sensations transmitted to the driver are the top priority. It can be described as a very “Japanese” cabin, full of details that remind us of its sporty and playful character.

To begin with, very well-designed front seats, which hold the body firmly while maintaining a very high level of comfort. As standard they are upholstered in cloth, although the unit in the photographs had the extra of mixed leather and Alcantara upholstery, plus heating. Their adjustment options are limited -they do not even have lumbar support-, but it is easy to find a good driving position, also thanks to a steering wheel that adjusts both for height and reach.

The dashboard design is neither groundbreaking nor avant-garde, nor is it built from excessively expensive materials. The straight, functional lines of the cabin leave little room for mouldings and aesthetic concessions beyond a series of plastic pieces with a questionable finish in something that aims to imitate carbon fibre.

Although most of the materials are hard -except for the upper part of the dashboard- the feel is not bad, and the pieces are very well fitted together. There are certain comfort touches strategically placed, such as padded pieces on the sides of the centre console and on the upper part of the doors.

The cabin conveys solidity, offering what is needed to enjoy driving

The instrumentation, small in size, reveals the importance given to driving, with the rev counter taking centre stage. There is also a speedometer and two needles for fuel level and coolant temperature. A modest on-board computer tells us only the outside temperature, average consumption and instantaneous consumption. What more is needed?

Every element involved in the act of driving has been carefully studied and designed to offer an unmatched feel and response. From the steering wheel, with a rather small diameter, without any buttons but with a perfect thickness, to the gear lever, with short, firm throws. The pedals are also perfectly positioned, making it much easier for the driver to perform manoeuvres such as heel-and-toe downshifting.

Space inside the cabin is not exactly the GT86’s strong point, although it does not aim to be. The GT86 is a small 2+2, not a four-seater. In the front, both driver and passenger will enjoy more than enough space in width, height and length. In the rear seats, however, things change. Legroom is almost non-existent, and unless the front seats are pushed well forward, rear passengers will not be comfortable. Headroom is adequate, although if you are short you can enjoy the light coming through the rear window.

The boot has a relatively small loading aperture, hiding a 243-litre space, enough for a two-person weekend getaway. That said, the rear seats can be used as additional loading space…

Driving dynamics

The Toyota GT86 mounts a two-litre, four-cylinder engine, with direct and indirect injection and naturally aspirated, developed in collaboration with Subaru. It delivers a healthy 200 CV at 7,000 rpm, with a maximum torque of 205 Nm at 6,400 rpm. As a curiosity, the cylinder dimensions are 86 x 86 mm. This is what is known as a “square engine”.

It is paired with a 6-speed manual gearbox -an automatic with the same number of ratios is available as an option- with a very sporty feel that invites you to use it even when it is not strictly necessary, something I admit has happened to me more than once with this car. Its throws are short and precise, matching the car very well.

The gearbox is one of the car’s key points, with a sensational feel

Performance figures show an acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 7.6 seconds, with a top speed of 226 km/h. The homologated consumption figures indicate a combined figure of 7.8 litres per 100 km.

To start the car, with the GT86 you only need to have the key on you and press the start button located below the air-conditioning controls. The car comes to life with a sound that, while not especially sporty, hints through its “heft” that this is no 100 CV turbodiesel.

At low speeds, in town and on city streets, the GT86 does not feel too uncomfortable. It can be driven around the city without trouble, being comfortable enough for daily use without much fuss. Naturally it does not feel as easy as an Aygo, since its visibility is worse and its turning circle wider, but this is not a major obstacle.

This Toyota bases its driving not on pure performance -although that too; a car that accelerates to 100 km/h in 7.6 seconds cannot be considered slow- but on sensations. It is possibly the car currently on sale that delivers the most sensations for the least money.

On your favourite secondary or mountain road this car feels like a fish in water. All the components of the vehicle behave perfectly to form a unique whole that connects the driver with total clarity. The engine’s behaviour is clearly geared towards revving high, where it feels most at home. In fact, there is a clear pull from around 5,000 rpm up to the maximum revs, reached at 7,400 rpm, when the engine also gives us a great sound, purely boxer, with carefully tuned metallic notes. It is one of those cars that sounds like an engine, not an exhaust.

It is the car currently on sale that delivers the most sensations for the least money

Gear changes are very quick, with no room for error. The feel of the pedals is very precise, especially the brake, which allows you to modulate deceleration with great accuracy, something appreciated in spirited driving. The GT86 uses ventilated discs of 294 mm at the front axle and 290 mm at the rear. Both axles have floating calipers, although the front ones are twin-piston.

The suspension set-up consists of a McPherson system at the front axle and a deformable parallelogram at the rear axle. The suspension is firm, but not harsh. The results of this excellent set-up are evident: you can drive very quickly with practically no body roll, yet the occupants do not suffer violent jolts.

In its manual version, the GT86 weighs 1,314 kilograms, distributed so that 53% falls on the front axle and 47% on the rear. In addition, the rear axle incorporates a Torsen limited-slip differential, which distributes power evenly between the wheels.

It is a car with a very lively rear end, which can either allow us to trace a line very precisely or to unsettle the rear with great safety. The tyre fitment (215/45/R17 Michelin Primacy HP) is not the best for performance, although it offers a lot of fun, since the rear clearly warns of its grip limit, and should it be exceeded, it is very easy to recover the correct trajectory.

Personally, I believe that today there is no car on sale that delivers such a wealth of sensations for roughly €30,000. The GT86 takes us back to a sadly bygone era, when you did not need 500 CV to have fun like a kid, and a small sports car was a gem capable of delivering almost unfiltered sensations that the driver could interpret with complete clarity.

How much does the unit you see cost?

The Toyota GT86 arrives in our country very well equipped, with practically no possibility of adding any extras. As standard, every GT86 sold in our country comes with items such as a six-speaker sound system, USB port, 7 airbags, ESP with three operating modes, cruise control, bi-xenon headlights with automatic activation, limited-slip rear differential, dual-zone climate control, Kyuzo Red solid paint, electrically folding mirrors and keyless entry and start system, among others, with a starting price of €32,300.

The unit you see in the photographs has only two extras added: the Toyota Touch & GO navigation system (€800) and the mixed leather and Alcantara upholstery with heated front seats (€1,500). In total, this unit costs €34,600, including current promotions and taxes.

Photography | Daniel Valdivielso