RE: Toyota GR86 | PH Favourite Car of 2022

[Conscript]

roadie said:

So what exactly is the issue with the indicators?

It has the BMW style ones, which don't click and stay in position. Even when the indicators are fully enabled, the stalk always returns to centre.
It makes cancelling them a bit of a pain, because rather than just unlicking them, you have to push them in the opposite direction, which run's the risk of then activating them in the other direction.

It's not really a big issue - you get used them in within a few minutes. But it's just a bizarre design choice. They offer no practical advantage over a traditional indicator stalk that I can work out. An answer to a problem that doesn't exist.

[TheMilkyBarKid]

I’d love one, in fact we tried and failed to get one of the initial allocation, the only time I have ever even tried to buy a new car. £30K is the same as a 1.0 Golf with a smattering of extras in 2022, and given the first trickle are appearing on here and AT for £5.5 - £8K overs I think you’d have 2-3 years of fun drives and be able to sell it for what you paid for it. Just such a shame they won’t be bringing more in…

[Pistonpants]

Terrible cars…. Popped up the road in mine the other day to get some cranberry sauce and it took me over 100 miles / 3 hours to get home. I’m sure it would have taken a lot less time/miles in a Golf R

Edited by Pistonpants on Monday 26th December 10:58

[Black S2K]

OPC100 said:

I think the thing with it is that it's been made to feel Great to drive at 1/10, 5/10 and 10/10's. Which suits me, as I like to feel connected to a car even when going with the flow and so I think that it's going to be enjoyable to drive 100% of the time. And the more I drive it, the more it will get under my skin. That makes a great car to me.

Nicely put.

I describe it as the car feeling almost alive, as opposed to being a mere inanimate object. Your metal pal who's fun to be with, as Douglas Adams might have put it...so many cars are very good indeed, but just somehow feel a bit soulless.

There was nothing fundamentally wrong with the old ZN6; it merely had a few irritating flaws that needed developing out. A flawed, yet interesting character, if you will.

[doogle83]

Billy_Whizzzz said:

Here, nothing stands out and the parts don’t seem to gel in something extraordinary unlike, say, a GR Yaris. I can’t imagine ever wanting to take the GR86 for a drive just for its own sake

It's a shame more people won't get a chance to own and drive them.

I've just done exactly as you said for an hour and it was fantastic. Even though I'm keeping it under 4k revs it feels an excellent thing to drive already.

I left my GR Yaris at home, and if the weather was like this again tomorrow then I'd make the same choice again.

[Honeywell]

I reckon Fennsport will have a turbo and a supercharger option available within a couple of months.

The drive in service for turbo installation stage 1 was under £5,000 and it gave you 280bhp on the GT86.

A GR86 would probably make 300bhp. In a 1280Kg car. A BMW M3 is 1780Kg and has 375bhp.

Thats a power to weight of 417bhp in a £35,000 Toyota...

[Jon_S_Rally]

It's a crime that these are so limited in supply. Such a shame, as it sounds like a great car to enjoy in the real world, with most of the criticism of the old model addressed. Toyota are definitely knocking it out of the car park at the moment. These will always be expensive sadly though, so I guess I will have to buy a GT86 at some point and imagine

Billy_Whizzzz said:

Happy to defer to popular opinion that this is a great car but I have curiously no want. Most great cars have something that makes them more than the sum of their parts or one thing that stands out - looks, engine, handling, efficiency, build quality, whatever. Here, nothing stands out and the parts don’t seem
to gel in something extraordinary unlike, say, a GR Yaris. I can’t imagine ever wanting to take the GR86 for a drive just for its own sake, or ever enjoy being it in or looking at it. Would be delighted to be proved wrong - just wondering what I’ve missed.

It's funny, as I drove a GR Yaris and found myself thinking that it didn't feel all that special most of the time. It was very good but, like all modern 4WD performance cars, its limits were far beyond what can be enjoyed on the road. It also sounded a bit crap and had a terrible seating position. I'm sure it could be made to be a wonderful car but, as standard, I was a little disappointed.

LBW2020 said:

its not particularly fast
it doesnt look great but not bad
30k is a lot of money....
i must test drive one as i still dont get it

30k is absolutely NOT a lot of money in today's market.

philip_stamper said:

Sounds great. But looks like a 1980’s Hyundai Coupe sadly.

If you think this...



...looks like this...



...then you need to go for an eye test.

[TheMilkyBarKid]

Pistonpants said:

Terrible cars…. Popped up the road in mine the other day to get some cranberry sauce and it took me over 100 miles / 3 hours to get home. I’m sure it would have taken a lot less time/miles in a Golf R

Edited by Pistonpants on Monday 26th December 10:58

[TheMilkyBarKid]

Honeywell said:

I reckon Fennsport will have a turbo and a supercharger option available within a couple of months.

The drive in service for turbo installation stage 1 was under £5,000 and it gave you 280bhp on the GT86.

A GR86 would probably make 300bhp. In a 1280Kg car. A BMW M3 is 1780Kg and has 375bhp.

Thats a power to weight of 417bhp in a £35,000 Toyota...

300bhp in a 1280kg car is 234bhp/tonne? Apologies for the pedantry..

[cerb4.5lee]

Honeywell said:

A GR86 would probably make 300bhp. In a 1280Kg car. A BMW M3 is 1780Kg and has 375bhp.

The M3 has 503bhp doesn’t it?

I do like the idea of these size/weight wise, but it is just a real shame that you can't get your hands on one though.

[Carguy44]

TheMilkyBarKid said:

Honeywell said:

I reckon Fennsport will have a turbo and a supercharger option available within a couple of months.

The drive in service for turbo installation stage 1 was under £5,000 and it gave you 280bhp on the GT86.

A GR86 would probably make 300bhp. In a 1280Kg car. A BMW M3 is 1780Kg and has 375bhp.

Thats a power to weight of 417bhp in a £35,000 Toyota...

300bhp in a 1280kg car is 234bhp/tonne? Apologies for the pedantry..

I think he got a little too excited while typing ha ha

Edited by Carguy44 on Monday 26th December 12:24

[ecsrobin]

TheMilkyBarKid said:

Honeywell said:

I reckon Fennsport will have a turbo and a supercharger option available within a couple of months.

The drive in service for turbo installation stage 1 was under £5,000 and it gave you 280bhp on the GT86.

A GR86 would probably make 300bhp. In a 1280Kg car. A BMW M3 is 1780Kg and has 375bhp.

Thats a power to weight of 417bhp in a £35,000 Toyota...

300bhp in a 1280kg car is 234bhp/tonne? Apologies for the pedantry..

Yep 234bhp/tonne vs the bmw 286bhp/tonne although a pointless post as the BMW can be tuned also….

cerb4.5lee said:

Honeywell said:

A GR86 would probably make 300bhp. In a 1280Kg car. A BMW M3 is 1780Kg and has 375bhp.

The M3 has 503bhp doesn’t it?

I do like the idea of these size/weight wise, but it is just a real shame that you can't get your hands on one though.

Yeah they’ve mixed up KW and bhp.

[_Bozzy]

Billy_Whizzzz said:

Happy to defer to popular opinion that this is a great car but I have curiously no want. Most great cars have something that makes them more than the sum of their parts or one thing that stands out - looks, engine, handling, efficiency, build quality, whatever. Here, nothing stands out and the parts don’t seem
to gel in something extraordinary unlike, say, a GR Yaris. I can’t imagine ever wanting to take the GR86 for a drive just for its own sake, or ever enjoy being it in or looking at it. Would be delighted to be proved wrong - just wondering what I’ve missed.

I've driven both on Goodwood in the sopping rain and they were both superb. Same on the road. Try one, and see if it sways your opinion.

[jbforce10]

LBW2020 said:

its not particularly fast
it doesnt look great but not bad
30k is a lot of money....
i must test drive one as i still dont get it

Genuinely interested, In your opinion, what new car is fast, looks great and is £30k? The only other I can think of is an MX5 RF but that has less power and less practicality.

[Hairymonster]

I found 2 on autotrader which were both being flipped for a cool 10k profit.

One of them, a white one in Belfast, is now down to £36k. I could really see myself going for one of these.

How feasible, and at what sort of cost, is it to bring a GT86 up to the GR86 levels of performance/driving experience?

[Matt Bird]

Mysstree said:

So the PH car of the year 2022 is actually going to be every staff members favourite car of the year?
Is this leading to an actual overall favourite car of the year?

There won’t be an overall best, just a celebration of our favourite stuff from this year

[JAMSXR]

Very cool car, I would love one. The new Type R pips it for me due to practicality. It’s great that a few manufacturers are still producing cars like this.

[Matt Bird]

Pistonpants said:

Terrible cars…. Popped up the road in mine the other day to get some cranberry sauce and it took me over 100 miles / 3 hours to get home. I’m sure it would have taken a lot less time/miles in a Golf R

Edited by Pistonpants on Monday 26th December 10:58

[mackie1]

Billy_Whizzzz said:

Happy to defer to popular opinion that this is a great car but I have curiously no want. Most great cars have something that makes them more than the sum of their parts or one thing that stands out - looks, engine, handling, efficiency, build quality, whatever. Here, nothing stands out and the parts don’t seem
to gel in something extraordinary unlike, say, a GR Yaris. I can’t imagine ever wanting to take the GR86 for a drive just for its own sake, or ever enjoy being it in or looking at it. Would be delighted to be proved wrong - just wondering what I’ve missed.

It's the very definition of a car that's more than the sum of its parts in my opinion. Having been in powerful-ish German stuff for the past few years they're pretty much the opposite - impressive bits but just not something I'd make an excuse to drive.

In some ways it seems basic, almost dated but in the flesh it looks great - small, low and purposeful. It has all the modern touches you need (adaptive LED lights, heated seats, CarPlay etc) and you only have to drive a few meters to feel the stiff structure and well judged damping. The engine feels strong and free revving even with 27 only miles on the clock. It's well over 100kg lighter than a Lotus Emira and I'd hazard a guess it's probably got a lower CoG too.

If you're into driving and not just cars then it's the perfect antithesis to how modern cars are going. I'm super pleased to have been on the ball enough to bag one. Hopefully will be with me in the next few weeks.

As for the buying experience... I think them doing it all online and on a first come first served basis was actually a very good idea and probably the fairest way to do it but that process was not without its hiccups (early bird orders sneaking through, lack of clear publicity of the ordering process). Since then however it's been a mess with many cars stuck in a depot in Derby since the summer and only now being released to customers with various degrees of care taken. Honest info from Toyota Online has been very scarce and frustrated many. That said the lead times overall have not been as bad as some, my Dad has been waiting for his Yaris Cross even longer for example.

[anonymous-user]

Jon_S_Rally said:

It's a crime that these are so limited in supply. Such a shame, as it sounds like a great car to enjoy in the real world, with most of the criticism of the old model addressed. Toyota are definitely knocking it out of the car park at the moment. These will always be expensive sadly though, so I guess I will have to buy a GT86 at some point and imagine

Billy_Whizzzz said:

Happy to defer to popular opinion that this is a great car but I have curiously no want. Most great cars have something that makes them more than the sum of their parts or one thing that stands out - looks, engine, handling, efficiency, build quality, whatever. Here, nothing stands out and the parts don’t seem
to gel in something extraordinary unlike, say, a GR Yaris. I can’t imagine ever wanting to take the GR86 for a drive just for its own sake, or ever enjoy being it in or looking at it. Would be delighted to be proved wrong - just wondering what I’ve missed.

It's funny, as I drove a GR Yaris and found myself thinking that it didn't feel all that special most of the time. It was very good but, like all modern 4WD performance cars, its limits were far beyond what can be enjoyed on the road. It also sounded a bit crap and had a terrible seating position. I'm sure it could be made to be a wonderful car but, as standard, I was a little disappointed.

LBW2020 said:

its not particularly fast
it doesnt look great but not bad
30k is a lot of money....
i must test drive one as i still dont get it

30k is absolutely NOT a lot of money in today's market.

philip_stamper said:

Sounds great. But looks like a 1980’s Hyundai Coupe sadly.

If you think this...



...looks like this...



...then you need to go for an eye test.

30k is a lot of money if you dont have it ....and there are lots of us that dont....