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Sunday Drive: Toyota keeps the sports car dream alive with the GR86

By Craig and Deanne Conover - Daily Herald | Sep 17, 2022
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The new 2022 Toyota GR86 is a true sports car.
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The interior of the new 2022 Toyota GR86, complete with bucket seats.
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The exterior of the new 2022 Toyota GR86.
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The exterior of the new 2022 Toyota GR86.
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The digital dashboard in the new 2022 Toyota GR86.
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Under the hood of the new 2022 Toyota GR86.

True sports cars — in the sense that we all have come to know them nowadays — are few and far between. There are many out there that claim sports-car status, even some with four doors. To us, a true sports car has only two doors, rear-wheel drive, bucket seats and, yes, maybe even a manual transmission!

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Toyota 86, with this year’s model named the GR86. This stands for “Gazoo Racing,” which is the track performance and racing division under Toyota for those of you wondering and needing a bit of fruitless knowledge.

We welcomed a week with this new sports car as our test ride checked off all the right boxes. Manual transmission? Check. Two doors? Check. Bucket seats? Check. Rear-wheel drive? Also a check! We are very happy Toyota has chosen to keep this model around as it is so much fun to drive and so engaged with the road.

It is, however, available in both a manual and an automatic transmission, as are most of today’s sports cars. After a week in the manual, we definitely recommend it. The manual is much more fun to drive, especially in the Utah mountains, and, as a big bonus, it is less expensive.

Inside, the 86 sported some unique additions, including Ultrasuede/leather-trimmed seats, contrast-stitched 10th Anniversary Special Edition door panel embroidery that is carried through on the armrests, and a shift boot that adds to the theme.

It’s not often we need to refill the gas tank during our week in one of our test drive vehicles, especially by Saturday morning. Considering we didn’t receive the 86 until late in the day on a Wednesday, it was a quick two-day tank of gas. This goes right to the “fun to drive” portion of the 86’s DNA. We each had an entire day with the car and each used our fair share of fuel while motoring around.

Considering we averaged right at 30 mpg for the week, we had racked up almost 300 miles on the odometer by Saturday morning and had to add to our dwindling fuel supply. After all, letting the little sportster just sit in the driveway was not an option.

As we are both progressing in age, we found that once we were inside the coupe, it was much easier to spend as much time as possible driving to our destination and enjoy the ride than try to extract ourselves from the vehicle. What can we say? Maybe it wouldn’t be the best mid-life crisis car, but it was so much fun to drive!

Throughout the entire week we spent with the Toyota, it seemed we could always find a little somewhere else to go or a longer way to get there. Yes, driving the 86 was really that enjoyable, and it’s affordable for a much larger segment of the market.

The GR86 comes complete with everything we would want in a sports coupe, including a fine four-cylinder, 2.4-liter, 228-horsepower Subaru Boxer engine. This is up 18 HP over the previous model. About the only complaint we had during the entire week was the low-end torque was not that great. Off the line, it was not a dragster, but through the turns at higher speeds it couldn’t be beat. Eliminating the traction control let Craig get some spin from the tires in first and second gear and made drifting the Toyota a breeze!

There was a back seat included, but with two adults occupying the front seats, you would be hard-pressed to get anyone into the rear seats, especially if they were over the age of 5. It did prove, however, to be a good place to throw stuff as we got into the small sportster.

The exterior styling of the 86 is what we felt set it apart from any of the competition such as the Mazda Miata, Honda Civic coupe and Genesis coupe. The designers at Toyota have done an excellent job giving it the looks of a real contender. It made us really stand out in the crowd, but it also makes it more visible to the local authorities.

The climate controls are very simple and easy to use. Heating and air conditioning are limited to the front seats, not that anyone in the back is going to complain. New this year is a dual-zone system that kept us happier in early March.

There is also 8-inch touch screen display that controls the radio and Bluetooth functions in the GR86. The Bluetooth worked seamlessly, hooking up our phones and also streaming audio from them.

The Toyota GR86 is one of the best and most affordable coupes we have had the opportunity to drive. We do need to point out that it is a rear-wheel-drive vehicle, so getting around in the snow would be an experience here in Utah. You would likely have to leave it in the garage on those nasty days.

Base price: $30,300

Destination charge: $1,025

Price as driven: $32,658

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