Why the GT86?

Welcome to “The GT86 Engineered: Where Precision Meets Passion.” a blog dedicated to discussing and exploring Toyota and Subaru’s joint success in their engineering behind the GT86 and BRZ. 

For those not aware, the Toyota GT86 and Subaru BRZ are identical cars in all regards except for a differing front bumper and the slightest tweaks in suspension set-up. Toyota and Subaru joint engineered the platform, with Subaru designing and producing the engine - Toyota designing and manufacturing the rest.    

The GT86 was seen as a true underdog in nearly every regard upon its release, and yet in an era where power and torque steals the spotlight, it's still universally loved by petrolheads. 

Why is it so popular?

Well when Toyota conceptualised the car, the idea was simple: make it fun; to prioritise weight over power, rear wheel drive over four wheel drive, good handling etc. With a fixation on achieving a near perfect weight balance, the GT86 platform was considered the best handling sports car for the money that had ever been released at its time.

But why the GT86?

For the modern day money there’s nothing in discussion which competes apart from the usual suspects, the Mazda Miata and the Honda S2000. However, in today’s market the Honda S2000 continues to fetch higher and higher prices with less and less being seen available on the market. Petrolheads and motor journalists seem to have a unanimous speculation that the S2000 will be a future JDM classic and reach prices beyond that comparable to the latest gen Miatas and GT86, despite being older. 

On paper and from an average driver’s perspective all these cars are very similar in power, speed, acceleration and handling yet give all three to a motor journalist and they’ll discuss the nuances in differences for hours. Simply put, most motor journalists would explain to you, the GT86 is the most fun, but not the fastest, due to the controllable nature of its oversteer. 

See you guys next post.