5
NEWS
Hotter Toyota 86 no closer
Limited-edition Toyota GT 86 TRD coupe released in UK, but Australians must wait for more powerful 86Toyota Australia is no closer to offering a more powerful version of its popular 86 coupe, despite the release of a TRD-tuned limited-edition in the UK.
Toyota UK last week announced the release of 250 examples of the GT 86 TRD – Britain’s first official TRD-branded model – fitted with unique front and side skirts, a rear spoiler, 18-inch alloy wheels, “fast-response” quad exhaust outlets and specific TRD components including a branded radiator cap, fuel filler cover and gearshifter.
There is no extra performance for the UK’s special-edition 86, which formally goes on sale on March 1 priced at £31,495 manual ($A48,248) and £32,995 automatic ($A50,552) drive-away.
Acceleration performance therefore remains unchanged, although there are slight changes to the car’s official fuel consumption and CO2 emissions figures.
The 86, as it’s known here, has been a smash hit in Australia, where pricing continues to start at $29,990 plus on-road costs and where demand continues to outstrip supply.
Toyota’s first affordable rear-wheel drive coupe, which was co-developed with Subaru and employs a modified Impreza platform and boxer engine, won widespread praise for its well-balanced chassis but has also been criticised for its lack of engine performance.
While motoring.com.au understands Toyota is keen to announce a higher-performance 86 variant for Australia, so far it has been unable to do so.
When asked if Toyota Australia was any closer to offering a model like the GT 86 TRD here, spokesman Mike Breen said: “Alas, no”.
Toyota describes TRD (Toyota Racing Development) as one of the world’s most accomplished and successful aftermarket engineering businesses, but the TRD brand was killed off Down Under in March 2009 following delayed launches, slow sales and embarrassing engine failures.
Toyota Australia announced the axing of its special vehicle division late on the Friday before Christmas in 2008, up to which point it had sold 537 TRD Aurions since August 2007 and 351 TRD HiLux models since April that year.
Before Toyota announced the “operational change”, the supercharged V6 Aurion had been forced off the market for a month following engine failures and slow sales had forced it to drop prices by as much as $5000 and to sell the vehicles through all its dealers rather than selected TRD outlets.
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Written byMarton Pettendy
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