2020 Toyota 86 Review: The Cult Car Cometh
| auto123.com 27 Nov 2020 at 15:56 |
In its current form anyways, the Toyota 86 looks to be nearing the end of its run. Reports abound that Toyota is working on a replacement – likely turbocharged – to slot in beneath the GR Supra in the lineup for 2021 as a 2022 model.
So what of this current version? It was much-ballyhooed when it first arrived in Canada as the Scion FR-S, what with its connection to the classic Toyota Levin coupe of the 1980s – a true imagination of a cult classic. We’re a few years down the road now, and with the death of Scion the model flies under the Toyota flag, as it always has in other markets.
The platform is a blueprint for fun motoring, thanks to rear-wheel-drive, a lightweight four-cylinder engine up front and – in my tester, anyway – a 6-speed manual transmission. There are few other vehicles for sale in Canada that espouse the same formula this side of the Mazda MX-5 RF and the 86’s Subaru BRZ cousin (remember that it’s Subaru that supplies 86’s flat-4 “boxer” engine).
So what of this current version? It was much-ballyhooed when it first arrived in Canada as the Scion FR-S, what with its connection to the classic Toyota Levin coupe of the 1980s – a true imagination of a cult classic. We’re a few years down the road now, and with the death of Scion the model flies under the Toyota flag, as it always has in other markets.
The platform is a blueprint for fun motoring, thanks to rear-wheel-drive, a lightweight four-cylinder engine up front and – in my tester, anyway – a 6-speed manual transmission. There are few other vehicles for sale in Canada that espouse the same formula this side of the Mazda MX-5 RF and the 86’s Subaru BRZ cousin (remember that it’s Subaru that supplies 86’s flat-4 “boxer” engine).
