Sports cars are nice in principle, but buying them used can be hard to justify. There’s the fear that they will cost too much to run, be difficult to drive in day-to-day traffic and have a stiff, uncouth ride.
Fortunately, Toyota has a history of making fun, inexpensive and reliable performance cars, so when it teamed up with Subaru in 2012 to make the GT86, the result was a modern classic.
The GT86 used exactly the same 197bhp 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine as the Subaru BRZ. A lot of hot hatches have more power than that, but the aim here was to give just enough power, allowing its performance potential to be exploited more of the time. As such, you need to rev the engine hard to get any meaningful acceleration since it lacks the low-down torque of a turbocharged engine.
Driving the GT86 in the dry is a pleasure, with direct, well-weighted steering, some fine chassis dynamics and enough grip to keep you on the straight and narrow. It’s meant to be a playful car on the limit, and the narrow tyres contribute to this. In damp conditions, you may find the back end starts to step out of line sooner than expected. However, it is very progressive and the standard stability control system will step in to assist.
The GT86 is still quite comfortable as sports cars go, with a ride that manages to soak up large shocks from speed bumps, potholes and even motorway expansion joints. But isn’t so soft that it allows the car to roll a great deal in bends.
In 2018, a series of Club Sport special editions was joined by the Blue Edition. If you can find one with the optional performance pack (it will have unique, black-painted 17in alloys), then you’ll get uprated Sachs dampers for sharper handling and bigger Brembo brakes for increased performance and better feel. The downside is more road noise.
