Toyota GT86: PH Fleet

Epic Scottish road trips are all well and good, but what's a GT86 like on the 10mph crawl to work?

It was inevitably going to be a less exciting month for the GT86 after the Scotland extravaganza, but with another 1,000 miles under its modest little wheels there's still plenty to talk about.

This seems a long while ago now!

Sadly for the little hachi roku, it's spent a fair amount of time in airport parking recently. Rather a first-world problem, granted, but with the 911 preview, Lamborghini weekend and the Frankfurt show the car has been a little surplus to requirements. Every time I've returned to the car though it's been with a smile on my face. Yes, even after the Lamborghinis. It's been mentioned before but the rightness of the driving environment never fails to impress; sat low with the wheel out to you chest and the gearlever perfectly placed, the driving position always gets you in the mood. Drive a hot hatch after and it will feel like an SUV, so high is the seat in comparison. You'll be feeling really smug right up until the parking ticket machine is out of reach...

Furthermore, even on the dull trudges to the airport and office the GT86 remains delightful. Sure, it's not as much fun as blatting round Scotland but it's not as unpleasant as you might imagine. The visibility is great, the gearbox is sweet enough to make rev matching into first doable and it's genuinely small as well; at 4,240mm long and 1,775mm wide, it's shorter and narrower than an A-Class. Really. I will work out true urban fuel consumption over the next month but the trip computer is currently saying low-30s which is fine. A relatively small 50-litre tank and a bit of range anxiety means I very seldom put more than £40 in it. Finally, while we're on the less interesting aspects of running a car, it will need some oil soon and there's a washer fluid dipstick. Gotta love the attention to detail!

Dream garage planning at Brands

Sadly GV15 VFZ hasn't been on track this month as hoped and we don't have the Heritage car yet either. Fortunately though the two will now coincide, with a Heritage car booked in over the Silverstone Sunday Service weekend. Which is fortunate. If we overtake anything it will be an achievement!

In fact it promises to be a much more interesting few weeks with the Toyota as I have a few days holiday coming up, with a trek up to Hull and some drives on sleepy Suffolk back roads planned. There's only so long I can hack London commuting without a break! Toyota has also just introduced new wheels for the GT86 which finally look quite good. At present they're only available on the regular GT86 and are 18-inch diameter but it would be interesting to give them a try. Take a look on the website here.

Lastly a point that's even more tedious than checking oil and screenwash: bird mess. For some reason the Toyota is attracting more attention from the local wildlife than other cars and leaving nasty marks that are taking a long time to remedy. If anybody has any cleaning advice for the excrement of the little blighters then please let me know. Back to hooning round next month, promise!

FACT SHEET
Car: 2015 Toyota GT86 Primo
Run by: Matt
On fleet since: July 2015
Mileage: 4,251
List price new: £22,495 (and £22,495 as tested! List price £22,700, GT86 Primo currently available with £205 dealer discount until September 30)
Last month at a glance: More miles but less smiles as the GT86 faces daily duties

Previous reports:
Press car without a single option? Welcome the GT86 Primo!
Three thousand miles in a month gets the 86 run in...

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HeMightBeBanned

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