I don't understand the hate for this car and I'm really thinking that people are misunderstanding the point of the car. It's not intended to be a high-powered car that floors you with acceleration. It was built to be nimble and have impressive handling for an affordable price tag. Look at some comparable cars currently being made:

Toyota/Scion GT-86 - ~$24k base - 198 hp - 2,700 lbs
Hyundai Genesis Coupe - $23k base - 210 hp - 3,300 lbs
Ford Mustang V6 - $23k base - 305 hp - 3,400 lbs
Mazda MX-5 - $23k base - 167 hp - 2,500 lbs

The only thing on that list that I expect will be comparable in handling is the MX-5. While the Hyundai and Mustang win on power they both are very heavy cars and their handling suffers because of it.

What gets me excited about the GT-86 (not the BRZ, since my understanding is the US won't get the Subaru version) is that you can get the handling of a Miata in a package that's easier and more practical to live with.

 

Oh, I forgot one, for good measure:

Lotus Elise base - $53k - 134 hp - 2,000 lbs

 

Eh i dont know... bring back the supra instead

 

I'm probably one of the only people on this forum interested in this car as I don't really care much for the AWD and high power thing. If my Evo doesn't sell I'll end up trading in for one of these.

 

Don't care too much for the music, but here is the Subie version

http://youtu.be/eP3SR1m_aRY

 

+1 exactly what i thought

 

Available...at least to the press....does sound light

Its obliquely compared to EVO/STi

Anyway, Nice to see it avoiding the heavier new car trend....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/...86-review.html

 

I think it looks okay. I'm not a player, but the market could use more cars like this. Some people, I do mean some buy cars for the pleasure of canyon carving or just balance of a true sporting machine. If this car has that, combined with good gas mileage and low insurance rates, then they could have a hit on their hands. For everybody else, you can rest assured someone is going to find away to build one up to or swap engines out to produce a 500whp version. Just bring money.

However, the pundit in me says that because this car is built with special Toyota sauce it will not receive the crtiticism it should for being a badge engineered vehicle like a Soltice/Sky GM effort would or even the DSM triplets/twins of yore. Or the fact that it took an excessive amount of time to get here.

 

Anytime anyone classify a car as a drivers car, basically it's an excuse for it not having alot of power and/or power potential. In addition, i wouldn't consider mid to high 20K as a budget car, especially for how little you get for your money. Just compare the 2011 Genesis Coupe 2.0T R-Spec (fair purchase price on KBB is 23.6k) with its feature to it.

 

Quote from article:

"Many of the rivals have turbos, big tyres and four-wheel drive," says Yoshi Sasaki, product planning boss of the GT 86. "They have become sports cars that control their own behaviour – sports cars have become boring."

Really??

Guess the evo is just a big 'ole boring sports sedan.

Gt-86 is overrated imo.

 

Heaps of new pictures and videos have been released about the new Toyota GT 86; http://www.allcarwiki.com/wiki/Toyota_GT-86





It's shaping up to be an awesome car.

Personally, the car looks awesome, but frankly I'm a bit surprised at the low power output I was expecting the Subaru to have an official upper spec with about 200kw. But from what the insiders at Toyota have been saying the car is being designed to be modded. I guess they're setting up the basics and letting the individual owners determine what power the car should be putting out.

The Scion FR-S have been released as well which is the American version. Not sure which version Australia would get, but I'm guessing it'd be a combination of the Euro GT 86 and the US FR-S.

The interior is looking pretty hideous though:

 

paddle shifting and a manual trans??? ^^^

 

That's probably speaker volume.

 

the automatic trans looks the same as the manual with the boot

 

I like the car but I'm annoyed at the "build it yourself" concept.

So I'm supposed to buy the car and instantly void my warranty to get the car I want? Booo.

This won't catch on in my opinion until they are available as used vehicles for use in projects. I don't want to blow 20K then immediately rebuild it with low compression and a turbo.

But If one was available for 3-5K with a blown motor but otherwise healthy car, I would be interested. So I want to say "this is cool, now I will wait 5 years to get a used one".