Toyota GR86 Review (2022-2023)
Toyota GR86 cars for sale
5.0
Expert review
Pros
Brilliant fun to drive
Much improved powertrain over predecessor
Affordable to buy and run
Cons
Very difficult to get hold of
Interior feels very basic
Refinement could be better
The CarGurus verdict
The GR86 isn’t flawless. It’s rather noisy at high speeds and the interior is sensible and comfortable, but not particularly pretty or classy. But we still adore this car because it is so simple, fun and uncomplicated. It’s perfect for British roads, being compact enough, light enough and just powerful enough to feel like you’re really using most of its potential without risking your licence. It’s also more than thrilling enough to warrant the occasional track day, yet it won’t cost a fortune to buy and run, and is practical and comfortable enough to be used as a daily commuter.
In short, the Toyota GR86 feels like one of the best expressions of a simple, uncomplicated, affordable sports car that has become almost extinct. It’s an absolute gem, and if you have the opportunity and means to buy one, don’t hesitate to do it.
The Toyota GR86 is the successor to the popular GT86, and keeps the two-door coupe body, as well as the remit of offering light weight, moderate power and rear-wheel drive for simple, driving fun. The ‘GR’ stands for Gazoo Racing, which is Toyota’s performance arm and motorsport team. Think of it as the Japanese firm’s entry-level sports coupe, slotting in below the GR Supra.
The GR86 coupe is only offered with one engine: a 231bhp, 2.4-litre, horizontally-opposed (also known as a ‘boxer’) petrol engine, mated to either a manual transmission or an automatic one, both of which are six-speed affairs. This powertrain is notably improved over the Toyota GT86 to offer more low-down torque, this being one of few routine complaints in car reviews about the GT86.
The engine isn’t turbocharged, though, as is just about every hot hatch alternative is, from Toyota’s own GR Yaris through to rivals like the Ford Fiesta ST and Ford Focus ST, Honda Civic Type R, Volkswagen Golf GTi and Hyundai i30 N.
The closest rival that the Toyota GR86 has is its own sibling, the Subaru BRZ, which is ultimately the same car with different styling and slightly different handling characteristics. However, that cart isn’t offered for sale in the UK. Other than that, it’s the Mazda MX-5 (which is also naturally aspirated, in case you’re wondering) that comes closest to the Toyota’s simple, driving-fun recipe. That car offers a similar lightweight, modest power, rear-wheel drive experience, albeit in two-seat, drop-top format rather than the 2+2, coupé layout of the Toyota and Subaru.
Other front-engined two-door coupe rivals include the BMW 2 Series, Audi TT and Mercedes C-Class Coupe, all of which have a much broader range of engines but don’t focus on ‘purist’ driving thrills, as the Toyota GR86 unashamedly does. Otherwise, it’s much more expensive alternatives such as the Porsche Cayman and Alpine A110 that are closest to the Toyota’s compact sports car recipe, or if the truly purist driving experience is your absolute priority, you can look to the far less practical but even more entertaining Caterham Seven.
In the UK, the really big problem with the GR86 is getting hold of one. Unfortunately, due to changes in European safety legislation that require new cars to have certain cameras and emergency safety aids as standard from 2024, the GR86 has a short lifespan and only has a very limited allocation in European markets. The UK only got 500 examples of the GR86, and they all sold out within a matter of minutes. If you’re not one of the lucky few that got a deposit down quickly enough, then your only option now is a nearly-new or used Toyota GR86.
In the context of two-door coupés, the Toyota GR86 is fairly practical. For a start, it’s got two small seats in the back, which aren’t terribly comfortable for adults but they are still really useful for occasions when you need to get a few people in for a short journey, or smaller children may well be happy to use them for longer journeys.
Perhaps more realistically, the back seats make for a great place to chuck your bags and coat, leaving the 226-litre boot free for anything else. And yes, that boot does have quite a high lip and a small aperture, but if you want a coupe body then this still promises surprisingly usable everyday practicality. If you need better versatility than this with a sporting focus, you’ll have to look toward a hot hatchback instead.
Up front, the dashboard in the Toyota is far from premium. There’s none of the plush, soft-touch plastics and textural finishes that you’ll get in the BMW 2 Series or Audi TT, but the Toyota’s interior does feel durable and is also easy to use. Big, rotary air-con controls are a doddle to use when you’re driving.
The driving position is very good, with plenty of adjustability and side-support to the low-set seat, and plenty of room for a tall, six-foot-plus driver, unlike in the rather cramped MX-5. Forward visibility is very good, and visibility to the back is reasonable for a coupé, plus there’s a standard reversing camera to help in a tight spot.
The Toyota GR86 is just brilliant to drive. It’s a very straightforward layout: it weighs only 1276kg (a similar amount to a Ford Fiesta), and the 2.4-litre, naturally-aspirated boxer engine sends 231bhp to the rear wheels via a limited-slip differential. The Toyota GR86 also uses narrower rear tyres (Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres are provided on new GR86s) than most other sports-oriented cars, too, in order to keep grip levels modest.
That doesn’t mean that the Toyota GR86 feels flighty or nervous; it is still a very predictable and manageable car to drive. That’s actually the very point of what makes it so brilliant, that it isn’t scary but it is a thrill. It steers pointedly into corners, and you feel really keyed into where the nose of the car is going and how much grip you’ve got at each corner.
At 6.3sec, the GR86 isn’t slow, either. Granted, it’s certainly not fast by sports car standards, but it’s the fact that it isn’t too powerful or too rapid that makes this car so perfect for UK roads; you can use all of the Toyota GR86’s performance without doing crazy speeds. The engine is a bit coarse and boomy-sounding as you rev it, but the good thing is that the improved mid-range torque means that the 2.4-litre flat-four feels plenty fizzy enough without having to rev it right up to the redline, even if there is certainly reward to be had in pushing it past 4000rpm, when it certainly gains extra urgency.
Ride comfort is pretty good, too, as the passive dampers on the GR86 do a decent job of keeping bumps from bothering you in the cabin, or unsettling the car’s traction when you’re enjoying a good road. It really is just fantastic fun, and can make even rather boring roads something to relish. The heavy clutch and springy, six-speed manual gearbox has a satisfyingly positive shift, even if is a touch heavy compared to the even more enjoyable gearshift that you get in the manual Mazda MX-5. Yet, it’s worth pointing out that the GR86 will also sit on the motorway quite happily and be a comfortable, perfectly liveable long-distance car when you need it.
Altogether, manageable power levels and confident, playful handling mean that – in the real world - you may well have more fun in the Toyota than you will in plenty of supercars.
The GR86 is a simple car in terms of its tech and specs, as well as in every other respect. An 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system is standard, and gets the essential functions including Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and while the graphics are nowhere near what you get in the likes of an Audi and BMW, it is a logical and user-friendly system.
The Toyota GR86 doesn’t have trim levels, but there are differences between the manual- and automatic gearbox models. The manual GR86 gets cruise control, climate control, keyless entry and go, reversing camera, heated part-leather seats, blind spot monitor, LED headlights and 18-inch wheels. The automatic GR86 gets all the same features, plus adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist and autonomous emergency braking.
The Toyota GR86 went on sale for £29,995, or £32,085 for the automatic. At the time of writing, in January 2023, deliveries are still ongoing for the 500 examples that are coming to the UK so they’re barely available on the used market, either. However, if you can find one right now then it’s likely it’ll be going for more than the list price since demand is outstripping supply.
Even so, the GR86 represents great value for a really fun, really usable sports car. It’s also reasonably efficient. Official fuel economy is 32.1 mpg, and in our experience you can get close to – or even over – 30 mpg on an easy, relaxed motorway run. Insurance may be quite high, though. The GR86 is rated in insurance group 50 (much higher than a Mazda MX-5, for instance), so do make sure you get a quote to check how much you’ll be paying for insurance before committing to the Toyota.
Servicing is every year or 12,000 miles, and will cost £315 for an intermediate service or £470 for a major service.
- There was an optional six-speed automatic gearbox available on the GR86, but very few are likely to have been specced with it. Expect to see most with the six-speed, manual gearbox that best suits the car’s back-to-basics, driving fun remit.
- The GR86 is available in seven different colours: metallic silver, grey and black, and pearlescent dark blue, light blue, white and red. The metallic black is the standard colour, while the other metallics cost £645 extra, or the pearlescent paints cost £965.
- The rear seats in the GR86 do drop to allow through-loading from the boot. Toyota points out that this leaves enough space to take four spare tyres to the track…
- If you want the best value: There are no trim levels in the GR86, but the manual car – likely in the standard, black paint – was the cheapest way into a GR86 when new, and will likely be a touch cheaper than average on the used market, too, as the brighter paint is a bit more desirable.
- If you want the sportiest: Avoid the automatic if you can, but even with the two-pedal model, you literally can’t buy a GR86 that isn’t fun. If you really do want the absolute, most purist, most hilarious driving experience possible, and you’re not fussed about comfort and crash safety, do look to the Caterham Seven as there is nothing out there like it.
- If you want the best track car: Stick to the manual gearbox. Job done.
