The Toyota GR86 may not be as fast compared to other sports cars, but it's still a fun machine to drive considering its price. The Toyobaru twins are said to be focused on delivering a great driving experience. This car is nimble and agile, making it fun to drive on winding roads.
The GR86 comes with a naturally aspirated 2.4-liter boxer-four engine. Despite again leaving out turbos for the second generation, the bigger mill produces more power, rated at 228 horsepower and 184 pound-feet (250 Newton-meters) of torque. This engine is a significant improvement over the previous generation's 2.0 liter, which only produced 205 hp.
Gallery: 2023 Toyota GR86 Special Edition
The GR86's engine is paired with either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission – the former is regarded to be short and snappy. In this case, the GR86 tested out by AutoTopNL came with a stick shift. As the testing happened in the unrestricted sections of the Autobahn, the driver in the video above tried to reach the coupe's claimed top speed, which is around 140 miles per hour (226 kilometers per hour) – a respectable top speed for a car in this price range.
As you can see in the video, the driver wasn't only successful in reaching that top end, but he was also able to go beyond the said number. Of note, the speedometer showed 142 mph (229 km/h) where it plateaued for a while.
When it comes to acceleration, the GR86 can go from 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) in about 6.1 seconds. This is a decent acceleration rate for a car in its class, but it may not be as fast as some of its competitors. However, the GR86 makes up for its slightly slower acceleration with its handling capabilities.
That said, the Toyota GR86 has been a favorite among tuners since it provides an affordable base vehicle for a tuning project. Even Toyota and several tuners went ballistic in tweaking the compact sports car, as seen in these seven different versions in Japan.
