Toyota GT86 Review

We’re not going to lie, the GT86’s audience is limited, but if you’ve read through the above paragraphs, typed GT86 into your preferred search engine and browsed a brochure then carry on. It’s a driver’s car, and one that appeals to those out there who really appreciate proper driving. 

There’s no big hitting power to wow your friends with, the comparatively low output of the 2.0-litre flat-four engine needing working hard to produce its performance, but that’s kind of the point. 

The focus really is on its handling, the purity of its responses and the ability to exploit its fine balance, and if that appeals, then the GT86 should be at the top of your list for consideration.

If you want more pace spend your money on a decent hot hatch, you’ll find more comfort in something like an Audi TT, too, but if a rear-wheel drive, light, fun car appeals, with a modicum of practicality – it being a 2+2, with tiny rear seats – then, yes, the GT86 is right for you.

There are very few cars which we’d consider direct rivals, particularly at the GT86’s price point, but it’d be remiss not to mention the Mazda MX-5 here, it too being Japanese, compact, light, rear-wheel drive and driver focussed.

It’s also a roadster, the GT86 being coupe only. Alpine’s A110 sings off the same hymn sheet as the GT86, but it’s at least £20,000 more. The GT86 likely to tempt some drivers out of hot hatches, or older, used sports cars. 

You could also buy something like and Audi TT, but it’s a different proposition on the road, insomuch as it looks good, but the GT86 is significantly more fun to drive. Oh, and of course, the Subaru BRZ, which is the GT86’s near identical twin.

You need to understand Japan’s idea on quality before being overly harsh on the GT86. Hard plastics are seen as quality, because they’ll wear well. Measured by that rationale, the GT86 is very high quality, but if your expectations are of soft-touch tactile materials then you’ll be disappointed. It all feels incredibly well built, though, as well as feeling like it’ll last forever. 

The finishes have improved throughout the GT86’s lengthy life, and go for the Pro model and you gain things like a suede on the dashboard, as well as the door trims, which does reduce the shininess and plastic finishes somewhat.

For all that, it does live up to its focussed billing, indeed, to overly criticise the simple interior and hard materials is to misunderstand the GT86’s focus, it’s fairly unapologetic in its goals, and it’s evident in the ‘quality’, or at least the visual and tactile perception of it. 

Sure, some of the materials feel laughably hard and look cheap when compared to something like an Audi TT, but on the road, actually driving it rather than poking around the interior, it’ll be the GT86 driver who’s wearing a far bigger grin, and that’s absolutely the point here.

Like the rest of the interior, the infotainment feels a little bit previous era, so much so even its double-DIN (DIN being the old size standard for car stereos when you used to swap them out after they were pinched) sizing looks like an afterthought. The idea is that you’ll be too immersed in your driving to be worried about messing about with your infotainment, but even so Toyota understands that there’s some need for connectivity in the GT86. 

That central touchscreen contains all you need, its 6.1-inch screen clear enough, if lacking the sort of sophisticated graphics and operation of rival’s newer offerings, it having Bluetooth phone connection, DAB and aux-in and USB connectivity. 

That all plays through six speakers. Navigation is a cost option in all, and around £800, so you might want to just buy a map, or fix your smartphone to a mount and use Waze or Google Maps instead. No Apple CarPlay, or Android Auto, sadly, but some aftermarket suppliers are able to rectify that if it’s an essential.

The driving position is excellent, and there’s plenty space across the front seats. The rear seats are a different story, as they’re limited by the proximity of the rear screen limiting the headroom, as well as the closeness of the front seatbacks. 

You might squeeze a couple of small children in there, and there’s ISOFIX mounts on both rear seats, but you’d not want to be doing so very often, or for anything other than the shortest of trips. Access to them, too, isn’t great, and with the deep divide as a result of the transmission tunnel running between them, clambering over from one side to another to get out is particularly tricky. 

Given most cars in this category are pure two seaters, though, the GT86’s rear pews are a benefit, but more in relation to additional luggage space. That’s useful, as the boot isn’t overly generous in its volume, with 237-litres, access to it being the limiting factor, as the boot lid opening leaves a fairly narrow, and high opening. There’s the possibility to fold the rear seatbacks, though for a volume of 391 litres, which does mean with a bit of wrestling you’ll squeeze a surprising amount inside. 

Oddment storage throughout the cabin isn’t overly generous, there being a lidded compartment between the front seats, a small glovebox and door bins. No cup holders, though if you’re driving the GT86 you’ll not be needing a coffee to keep you awake.   

There’s only one engine for the GT86, a 2.0-litre four-cylinder boxer unit which was designed by Subaru with some input from Toyota. It’s not over-endowed in the power department, indeed, 200PS in any performance car these days is relatively low, but the GT86 isn’t really about numbers, the 7.6 second 0-62mph time bettered by countless cars. 

Here it’s all about how it produces its performance. Without any turbocharging it’s an engine that needs working hard, the response is relatively flat below 4,000rpm, with the power building towards 7,000rpm where it generates that 200PS peak output.

The maximum torque is similarly high up the rev-range, with 205Nm arriving at 6,400-6,600rpm, meaning if you’re used to the easy flexibility of modern turbocharged engines you might find the GT86 lacking. 

Hang in there, literally, holding onto gears, revving it out and it’s a real thrill, the six-speed manual shifting with a mechanical precision, the throttle response being very good, too. It’s not needing to shift much bulk, either, the GT86 a relative featherweight at under 1250kg. 

There’s an automatic option, it a conventional, torque convertor automatic with the ability to shift yourself via paddle-shifters, but however smooth its shifts prove, it robs the GT86 of its character, as well as its performance, adding to the 0-62mph time, for a time of 8.2 seconds. That auto also lops 10mph off the 140mph time of the manual car. 

The pair of exhausts have a diameter of 86mm, that deliberate, though the attention to detail here could have gone further, as they’re not the most melodious of pipes, which is why many owners end up specifying aftermarket exhaust systems. 

Refinement inside is, unsurprisingly, not great, there’s a fair amount of road and wind noise in the cabin, which Toyota could have removed by adding weighty sound-deadening, but evidently, and correctly, chose not to. 

It’s not a quiet car then, but neither would we expect it to be, though it’s a shame some of the sounds aren’t more pronounced like that exhaust, and others, the road and wind noise, a little bit better contained. 

Toyota might have taken a purist driving route with the GT86, but it’s not done so at the expense of safety. All come with LED headlights, an anti-lock braking system with electronic brake force distribution, an emergency brake light signal – flashing under heavy braking – Vehicle Stability Control, Traction Control, Hill Start Assist, a tyre pressure warning system, Isofix seat fixings in the rear seats, driver and front passenger whiplash injury reducing seats with seatbelt pretensioners. 

The airbag count is high, too, there being seven airbags inside, including driver and passenger front and side airbags, a driver knee airbag, as well as overhead airbags to protect occupants heads in the event of a rollover. Cruise control is also standard but you have to pay extra for rear parking sensors. American crash testing results, EuroNCAP having not tested a GT86 - demonstrate that Toyota and Subaru’s sports car will protect you well, getting a four out of five star rating under their system.

The GT86 sits in either group 34 for the manual car, or group 35 for the automatic, Toyota offering its own competitive rates on insurance. Servicing shouldn’t break the bank, either, as the GT86 will be light on things like tyres and brakes, and even these aren’t high cost items. There’s fixed price servicing packages available from Toyota should you want to manage your costs with a monthly payment. 

The manual GT86 emits 191g/km of CO2, with the automatic that rising to 193g/km. That’s enough to put it in the 191-225g/km banding, which means an initial VED payment of £1,305, with that dropping to £150 annually thereafter. All come with a 5 year, 100,000 mile warranty (which can be extended by 12 or 24 months, up to 12 years and under 100,000 miles) and 12 months AA roadside assist in UK and Europe. 

Three trim choices in 2020, the standard GT86, the GT86 Pro and the GT86 Club Series. With the standard GT86 you really want for nothing on specification, with the notable exception of rear parking sensors and sat nav. 

The GT86 Pro gains heated seats covered in a choice of partial leather and suede, with either black or red accents, there’s a leather centre armrest, suede wrapped dashboard and door trims as well as a rear spoiler on the bootlid. Again, it requires rear park assist and sat nav as options should you want them. 

The GT86 is also presently offered as a Club Series, which is currently the Blue Edition. It gains Electric Blue paint and black styling accents outside over the GT86 Pro. Options available include that parking assist and sat nav, as well as – unique to the Club Series – a Performance Pack, which brings re-tuned Sachs suspension as well as higher performance Brembo Brakes.