{"id":29166,"date":"2022-05-05T14:42:23","date_gmt":"2022-05-05T18:42:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=29166"},"modified":"2022-05-05T14:42:23","modified_gmt":"2022-05-05T18:42:23","slug":"payne-nimble-toyota-gr86-gets-more-grrrrr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2022\/05\/payne-nimble-toyota-gr86-gets-more-grrrrr","title":{"rendered":"Payne: Nimble Toyota GR86 gets more GRRRRR"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cave Creek, Arizona<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 The new Toyota 86 has been renamed GR86. That\u2019s pronounced GREAT-6.<\/p>\n

I took it to the flowing turns, blind hills\u00a0and uphill straightaways of Cave Creek, 50 miles northeast of Phoenix. It\u2019s a sports car\u2019s natural habitat and the ideal place to explore the significant upgrades Gazoo Racing (thus the GR prefix) has made to fix the flaws of this wonderful, affordable toy:<\/p>\n

1) A bigger,\u00a02.4-liter Boxer-4 cylinder engine for more torque out of the twisties.<\/p>\n

2) Stickier, wider tires\u00a0for more cornering confidence.<\/p>\n

3) Racier, upscale design to make the $100K\u00a0sports car crowd jealous.<\/p>\n

Just be sure to get it with a manual.<\/p>\n

My tester came with a six-speed automatic and I ached for the stick every day I had the car on a weekend visit to the Grand Canyon state. Automatics have understandably taken over the market, given their ease of use. But in a Stradivarius like the GR86, you want to be able to tune it yourself \u2014 not sit back and watch the sheet music play. Especially now that Toyota (and its sister Subaru BRZ) have the formula right.<\/p>\n

\"Gonna<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

I get to test lots of exotic sports cars \u2014 Porsche 911s, mid-engine Corvettes, Audi R8s \u2014 but there is nothing more satisfying than an entry-level sports car. It makes the joy of driving more accessible.<\/p>\n

My young son coveted the original Toyota 86 (then called the Scion FR-S \u2014 remember Scion?) and its twin Subaru BRZ, when they were unveiled in 2014. He was so juiced that when a tester arrived in my Oakland County driveway in 2014, he jumped on a Southwest flight from Chicago to come see.<\/p>\n

Low-slung, 200-horsepower, practical 2+2 seating, stick shift, rear-wheel drive. Alas, his balloon deflated when he stomped the gas pedal. The engine groaned, peak torque didn\u2019t come until sundown, and \u2014 worse \u2014 it paled next to the high-revving, 197-horse\u00a02006\u00a0VTEC Civic Si that we still had in the driveway. Sigh.<\/p>\n

As the sage says, never buy a first-generation car. Wait until gen-2. This time, Subaru and Toyota nailed it.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

All credit to Subaru, of course, which is the engineering lead on the Toyobaru. They swapped out the 2.0-liter flat-4 for a 2.4-liter flat-4. That means a healthy gain in power (228 ponies) but more importantly, a 33 pound-feet torque boost to 184. That\u2019s nearly on par with the Civic Si\u2019s 192.<\/p>\n

Reaching for the steering-wheel shift paddles to get my manual fix, I rowed the box in TRACK mode between 2nd and 3rd gears through Cave Creek\u2019s twisties \u2014 taking advantage of GR86\u2019s fatter torque curve, which arrives at a usable 3,700 rpm (vs. 6,600 RPM in the old car). Gazoo\u2019s chefs have also sweetened the exhaust sound and I wound the flat-4 all the way to 7-grand.<\/p>\n

\"Save<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The bigger flat-4 cylinder means GR86 loses none of its road-hugging goodness \u2014 the Toyobaru has one of the lowest center-of-gravity measurements in the industry as well as one of the lightest bods (2,833 pounds in Premium trim). Just for good measure, engineers also fortified the skeleton with high-strength steel, front cross members, a full-ring\u00a0rear frame. My Premium edition was also shod with sticky Michelin Pilot Sport 4 shoes \u2014 a step up from the base Michelin Primacy H\/P tires.<\/p>\n

Let me recommend the $2,600 walk from the base GR86 to the $31,325 Premium model with those Sport 4 gummies wrapped around black\u00a018-inch wheels and other goodies like heated leather seats, blind-spot assist\u00a0and a Supra-like duckbill tail.<\/p>\n

\"Upgrade<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The latter is testament to the GR86\u2019s significantly more mature look. Squint your eyes and it looks like the 2023 Nissan Z. And that\u2019s saying something for a Toyota brand that can be hit or miss on design these days (seen a Prius lately?). GR86\u2019s design is sleek, minimalist, timeless. It\u2019s the looker of the Toyobaru twins.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s an attractive car,\u201d said Mrs. Payne, picking our GR86 out in a crowded parking lot. She\u2019s not prone to gush. Leave that to me. From the aggressive front to the dramatic rocker panels to the rear duckbill, GR86 has looks to match its athleticism.<\/p>\n

Dressed in killer red, the low-slung roller-skate got a lot of stares around Phoenix \u2014 a notorious cars \u2018n\u2019 coffee town. It also attracted challengers. An all-wheel-drive Tesla Model Y sidled up at a stoplight. Oh, I knew that wouldn\u2019t go well.<\/p>\n

I took the bait, stomped the pedal and rowed the oars for all they were worth. The Tesla disappeared into the distance.<\/p>\n

The manual would have done a bit better. Toyota says the automatic is a half-second slower 0-60 mph. Sudden acceleration also exposes the auto\u2019s biggest flaw: poor tip-in. I tested the GR86 right after a silky-smooth, six-speed automatic Mazda CX-30 (Mazda engineers are obsessive about this stuff) and GR86 felt like a bucking bronco by comparison.<\/p>\n

The automatic\u2019s biggest benefit is adaptive cruise control \u2014 which I use a lot in cop magnets like GR86 to keep my speeds at the posted limit. But I\u2019d still opt for the manual \u2014 especially since Toyota equips it with a handbrake.\u00a0Oh, joy.<\/p>\n

The tandem are nicely paired in the center console of a redrawn interior. It\u2019s spartan, but everything is in its place \u2014 except the curious decision to locate the cupholders inside the butterfly console bin. This is also where the USB is located for wired,\u00a0Android Auto navigation.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Happily, door cupholders are within easy reach so I could navigate\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0slurp Snapple at the same time. Aft of the front seats, Toyobaru offers a rear bench too small for adults, but \u2014 like the 911\u2019s 2+2 arrangement \u2014 they make welcome cargo space. Picking up Mrs. Payne at the airport, I stuffed her full-size bag and a second carry-on in the boot \u2014 then threw my carry-on and briefcase in the rear seats. Try that in an MX-5 Miata.<\/p>\n

Miata is the class icon, but now that Gazoo has fixed the 86, it is the better all-around car with storage, room\u00a0and looks to match its performance. Toyota offers a complimentary\u00a0one-year\u00a0track membership to the National Auto Sport Association so you can test the limits.<\/p>\n

Preferably with a manual.<\/p>\n

2022 Toyota GR86<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive,\u00a0four-passenger\u00a0sports car<\/p>\n

Price: $28,725, including $1,025\u00a0destination fee\u00a0($33,250 as tested)<\/p>\n

Powerplant: 2.4-liter Boxer-4 cylinder<\/p>\n

Power:\u202f228\u00a0horsepower, 184 pound-feet of torque<\/p>\n

Transmission:\u00a0six-speed manual; six-speed automatic<\/p>\n

Performance: 0-60 mph 6.1-6.6 sec. (mfr.); top speed,\u00a0140\u00a0mph<\/p>\n

Weight:\u00a02,868\u202fpounds (automatic as tested)<\/p>\n

Fuel economy: EPA est.\u00a020 mpg city\/27 highway\/22 combined (manual); 21 mpg city\/ 31 highway\/ 25 combined (auto)<\/p>\n

Report card<\/p>\n

Highs:\u00a0Affordable performance;\u00a0decent storage for a sports car<\/p>\n

Lows:\u00a0Adaptive cruise only comes in the automatic; get the manual, not the auto<\/p>\n

Overall:\u00a04\u202fstars<\/p>\n

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cave Creek, Arizona\u00a0\u2014 The new Toyota 86 has been renamed GR86. That\u2019s pronounced GREAT-6. I took it to the flowing turns, blind hills\u00a0and uphill straightaways of Cave Creek, 50 miles northeast of Phoenix. It\u2019s a sports car\u2019s natural habitat and the ideal place to explore the significant upgrades Gazoo Racing (thus the GR prefix) has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29166"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29166"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29167,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29166\/revisions\/29167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}