Toyota GR 86 2022 Track Test

Clearly, nothing ignites motoring passion like an affordable rear-drive sports car.

In the 10 years the first-generation Toyota 86 has been on sale in Australia, Toyota has built a legion of new sports car fans and built a true legacy with something obtainable and fun.

It’s easy to see why – the original 86 launched with a sub-$30K price, the choice of manual or automatic transmission, decent tech and safety (for the day) and pleasing everyday performance.

Now, the Japanese giant is readying its second-generation 2022 Toyota GR 86.

Just like the recently-released 2022 Subaru BRZ, which again shares its engine and key underpinnings with the GR 86, there’s more power, tweaked chassis and suspension settings and more technology and safety.

There’s been some delay in getting the 2022 Toyota GR 86 to market, and most recently Toyota Australia advised that the second-generation sports car would now arrive in showrooms late this year – about nine months later than originally planned.

We’re yet to be told the official pricing and specification details for the new model. But, in no surprise to anyone, it’s expected the price will increase well beyond the previous starting price of $31,180 plus on-road costs – as has happened in other global markets including North America and the UK.

Visually, the second-gen 86 introduces a reworked front-end design with new headlights, a gaping front grille and new fender tops.

Body dimensions are similar to the previous model, although Toyota claims significant changes underneath including a 50 per cent improvement in torsional rigidity.

Although final specs are yet to be confirmed, the 86 is expected to be offered with 18-inch alloy wheels, an 8.0-inch centre touch-screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster, Bluetooth and climate control, among other features.

Safety is also expected to improve significantly. Again, Toyota Australia is light on the details: officials won’t yet say whether entry manual models will be fitted with a full safety suite, unlike the new BRZ, which will go unrated by safety authority ANCAP as a result.

But you can expect seven airbags, the latest safety acronyms and autonomous emergency braking (AEB) and adaptive cruise control on automatic variants at a minimum.

One thing that will be strong is resale value. You can barely find a second-hand 86 on the market for under $20,000, even approaching 10 years and 200,000km on the odometer.

Also assured is Toyota’s five-year/unlimited-kilometre factory warranty and capped-price servicing intervals spaced across 12-month/15,000km intervals.

A full-size spare wheel is also expected on the production model.

Based on the same platform as the first-gen model, the new 2022 Toyota GR 86 gets a bigger (but still naturally aspirated) 2.4-litre four-cylinder boxer engine that cranks out 173kW of power and 250Nm of torque – up 23kW and 35Nm.

The engine is horizontally opposed with a double overhead cam, direct and port injection, and reaches its peak outputs much lower in the rev count.

Again offered with six-speed manual and six-speed automatic transmission options, Toyota claims the 1270kg GR 86’s 0-100km/h sprint takes 6.3 seconds, down from 7.4 seconds.

Suspending the 86 once again is a MacPherson strut front-end and double-wishbone configuration at the rear.

Other changes to the new Toyota GR 86 include upgrades to the suspension and brakes and the inclusion of new aluminium parts – such as the roof and fenders.

Our test car is shod with Michelin Pilot Sport 4 rubber.

Two laps of Sydney Motorsport Park isn’t an awful lot of time to get acquainted with a new vehicle – but that’s the extent of our first drive in the second-generation 2022 Toyota GR 86.

The backdrop is a fitting venue for Toyota to announce a four-year extension to its GR Australia 86 racing series – now out to 2026 – and our tester is a pre-production 86 fitted with an automatic transmission.

As we snake out of SMP’s pit lane and onto the 11-turn Grand Prix circuit, immediately obvious is the 86’s biggest change – the engine.

Along with the higher output, the 2.4-litre crucially meets its key torque figure earlier in the count. Maximum power is on tap from 7000rpm as before, while peak torque materialises from 3700rpm (versus 6400-6800rpm in the previous 2.0-litre).

With that in mind, the atmo-petrol percolates much more eagerly, a trait which in turn adds more excitement and a higher dynamic ceiling to the 86.

From about 5000rpm, the 86 really hits its straps, shortening the time between corners and also offering bigger sliding moments under power where its predecessor would simply run out of fizz.

Those moments are easy to come by in our tester – the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 rubber is well worn by the time we take the wheel, offering lurid sequences at various points of the circuit at Eastern Creek.

The horizontally-opposed engine offers a similar induction noise through the cabin, though the engine sound is different from the original.

And just as before, it seems the automatic transmission isn’t the best way to have your 86: our tester refuses to respond to downshift commands on approach to corners, overridden by on-board electronics eager to avoid over-revving the engine.

The trait ultimately hinders progress and takes away significantly from the enjoyment of the car, even though there’s an ample spread of ratios and upshifts are inoffensive.

In other words, bring on the manual!

Elsewhere, small changes to the chassis have yielded a little more stability at the limit, together with more convincing reactions to driver inputs.

Communicative, forgiving and progressive in its movements, the second-generation 86 feels more complete and with the additional power offers a broader dynamic envelope that will appease a larger cross-section of enthusiasts.

As before, well-weighted steering and a mechanical premise to the key controls ensure the 86 extends a proven sports car lineage from Toyota, following on from other historic models including the 2000GT, Celica GT-Four, MR2 and Supra.

Toyota is waxing lyrical about the dynamic differences between the GR 86 and its BRZ twin. In isolation, the two feel line-ball, so we’ll await a proper drive before passing judgement.

Additionally, we’ve decided not to score this review until we have the proper specification cars in Australia and have driven it on local roads.

The inherent appeal of the Toyota 86, until this point, has been its affordability.

While this initial track test confirms improvements in line with the Subaru BRZ, the big unknown with the second-generation 2022 Toyota GR 86 is pricing.

To realistically stay true to the blueprint, the ball is now in Toyota Australia’s court to keep the 86 as attainable and available as possible.

How much does the 2022 Toyota GR 86 cost?
Price: From $42,000 estimated (plus on-road costs)
Available: October 2022 estimated
Engine: 2.4-litre four-cylinder petrol
Output: 173kW/250Nm
Transmission: Six-speed manual/six-speed automatic
Fuel: 8.8-9.5L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 201-217g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Not tested