Hotter Toyota 86 and convertible ruled out – for now

Toyota has left the door open for higher-performance and convertible versions of its popular 86 coupe, but don’t expect to see either derivatives of the affordable sports car any time soon.

Speaking at a media event in Canberra to mark the first birthday of the 86 in Australia this week, chief engineer of the strong-selling compact coupe, Tetsuya Tada, ruled out any performance increase for the 86 in the foreseeable future.

Despite telling Autocar UK earlier this year that Toyota was considering supercharged, turbocharged and even hybrid-powered versions of the agile two-door, Tada indicated the 86 would remain normally aspirated for some time to come.

Tada indicated to motoring.com.au that any higher-performance version of the 86 would lack the sales volume and therefore profitability that Toyota and its performance arm TRD (Toyota Racing Developments) would require to invest in such a project.

“The fundamental development of the 86 and [Subaru] BRZ was shared between each company, but special modifications like STi or TRD will be separate, unique. I don’t know the detail of STi’s plans for BRZ,” he said.

Tada said that if a hybrid drive system was to be developed for the 86, it would need to be a high-performance six-cylinder powertrain such as the FT-HS concept’s 300kW 3.5-litre V6 petrol-electric system, which is based on the unit that powers the Lexus RX and GS, rather than the four-cylinder hybrid systems fitted to the Lexus CT200h and Toyota Prius and Camry.

But he said any hybrid powertrain would be too heavy for the 86, for which agility and a low kerb weight are key attributes.

“If I used a hybrid system in a sports car it would have to be a different type of system,” he said. “The current system is a really good system from a fuel economy point of view, but many sports car users are not interested in a purely economical point of view.

“If we were to use a hybrid system in 86 we’d be looking at something closer to the racing hybrid, like the FT-HS concept, but the current hybrid system is not too light.”

The statement comes in the same week that Subaru hinted at a higher-performance version of its twin BRZ model. Teaser images released earlier this week indicated that Subaru’s in-house performance gurus at STi (Subaru Technica International) were forging ahead with plans to fit a turbocharged boxer engine beneath the bonnet of its BRZ.

The ‘BRZ STi’ had been expected to take its inspiration from the STi-badged BRZ show car that Subaru unveiled at the 2011 LA motor show , but the model has since been exposed as a cosmetic-only special.

Toyota has itself teased numerous concept versions of the 86 with more power, including a supercharged TRD version built in the US and a twin-charged (supercharged and turbocharged) vehicle created by its in-house tuning arm, Gazoo Racing.

However, it has always said that such concepts were not suitable for production, but created to highlight the car’s performance potential to aftermarket tuners, many of which have already created power-up kits for the 86, including superchargers. A number of V8-powered 86s are also gracing the drift racing scene in Japan and the US.

Moreover, motoring.com.au understands that as part of the deal to co-develop their 86/BRZ coupe twins, Toyota and Subaru agreed not to produce high-performance versions of either model for a number of years, and with sales of both models remaining strong there is even less incentive for them to do so.

Our sources insist that a higher-output 86 is unlikely to emerge in this generation – even as part of the midlife upgrade due in 2016 – although a hybrid version, potentially using a version of the super capacitor system employed in Toyota’s Le Mans racers, could be part of the next-generation 86 range due late this decade.

Meantime, high development and production costs, lower sales forecasts and struggling European automotive markets appear to have forced Toyota to put on hold plans to introduce a convertible version of the 86, which was previewed by the 86 Open Concept at this year’s Geneva motor show.

Tada-san admitted that while a convertible version of the four-seat 86 is a desirable option, it was unlikely to be financially feasible any time soon.

“It’s still under consideration. Everything is a possibility, but it is a long way from being decided,” he said. “I don’t know the details, timing or specifications, only that we will continue to study the concept.”

Whether convertible or higher-performance versions of the 86 ever eventuate seems to hold little sway over the model’s current sales success Down Under.

If sales numbers mean anything, 86 buyers appear happy with the level of performance already on offer, with the model achieving year-to-date sales of 4049 units -- a higher number than have been sold in Europe for the same period.

By way of contrast, the Subaru BRZ has managed a total of 873 sales thus far in 2013 and a total of 1000 – less than 20 per cent of the 86’s overall volume of more than 6000.

Exceeding Toyota’s own initial expectations, local buyers favour the high-grade GTS version of the 86 by a factor of almost two-to-one. Manual versions of the GTS remain the most popular choice, accounting for 40 per cent of total sales, with automatic GTS variants accounting for a further 25 per cent.

“On its own this year, the 86 has outsold the entire offerings of well-established brands in Australia such as Peugeot, Renault and Volvo,” said Toyota Australia Executive Director of Sales and Marketing, Tony Cramb.

“If this remarkable machine were regarded as a standalone franchise, the 86 would be ranked in the top 20 brands so far this year.

“It is a powerful reminder of Toyota’s sports-car heritage. The last time a Toyota sports car sold more than 5000 [units] in a year was in 1982 with Celica, while the highest Supra sales were 707 in 1984, and the best year for MR2 was 1990 with 483 sales.”

“Australian motorists have bought approximately eight per cent of all 86 sportscars delivered around the world since its debut last year,” said Cramb.

Australia ranks third in Toyota’s global sales scorecard for the 86. In its home market of Japan the 86 has found 30,000 homes since sales commenced last year (2012). The USA ranks second in sales, tallying 21,400 registrations, while Australia takes a bronze medal with 6096 units since the model arrived here in June 2012. The UK and Canada tie for sales with 2400 units apiece.

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