GT86Owner’s Toyota GT86 Test Drive Review <?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
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Hi all,
Well I thought it might be a good idea to have a section where people can post their reviews and thoughts from test driving the GT86.
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My dealer has been kind enough to let me test drive the car twice. The first time I drove it for about 30 minutes with a sales rep, but the second time they let my Mrs and I take it for a couple of hours, so I managed to rack up quite a few miles in it!
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Only a couple of weeks ago I was driving a Porsche 911 GT2 and a Ferrari F430 around a race track so I hope I can give a balanced review.
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Here are my thoughts:
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<B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Ride and Handling<O
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The first thing that struck me when I got into the GT86 was the driving position; nice and low and the dash comes straight at you much like car used to be rather than bubble like modern cars. This of course, is a sports car so it is to be expected but very nice non-the-less and much better than any of the competition. In fact it felt very close to the Ferrari F430.
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As I pulled out of the garage the first thing I noticed was the feel of the steering; very nicely weighted and direct and the car responds very quickly to the sightless of input to the steering. Lovely.
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The handling is a delight, wonderfully balanced with tons of grip. I don’t care what the jargon says, the skid pan is 0.99g which is more than an M3 and you can feel it! In the dry you will not be able to get this car sideways for very long outside of 1st gear. Just a slight bit of body roll but I am just nit picking really.
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Naturally the ride was firm. I found it very firm indeed but the excellent seats take the edge off the big bumps wonderfully. Smaller bumps such as those you might find approaching a roundabout telling you to slow down where nicely damped. On a good motorway surface at 80MPH it is fine, but on rougher surfaces you do feel quite a bit of the roughness. Overall I would say for a sports car with such excellent handling, it’s what you should expect. 9/10<O
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<B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Performance<O
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I didn’t feel like the car lacked power at lower revs, like some people have been saying. In 3rd gear, for example, it felt like it pulled equally as hard at 3000rpm as it did at 6000rpm. Yes if you want maximum power you need to rev it hard, but it still pulls well at lower revs. In modern turbo charged engines they do tend to have a lot of torque at lower revs, but that torque rolls off at higher revs, which does make the car easier to drive but I actually didn’t like that about the Audi TT because it felt like it was losing power as you revved it to the last 5000-6500rpms.
The chassis could handle more power but 200hp is more than enough to enjoy this car on the twisties. I still had trouble keeping to legal speed limits!
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The gearbox is fantastic. I read somewhere that they had an engineer on the project whose sole job was “gearbox feel”. If this is true, it definitely shows. Loved Loved Loved the gearbox and the clutch worked so well with it. 9/10
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<B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Refinement<O
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Road noise is probably the worst part of this car and it is very sensitive to the surface quality. The Engine is ever so slightly audible on rough surfaces and quite clear on smooth roads. Not noisy or raspy, you can just hear it purring away. I didn’t mind it at all. <B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><O
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If you do decide to put your boot down, you are met with a lovely growl, slightly raspy but I liked it a lot. It felt like Toyota/Subaru put some effort into making the engine sound nice and 10X better than an Audi/VW with the 2.0TFSI engine.
At 80MPH on smooth tarmac I could not hear very much wind noise at all as road/engine noise dominated.
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Having criticised the road noise I do understand that it is all down to keeping weight to a minimum (no sound deadening for example), but for me it was a little bit too much noise on rougher surfaces. 7/10
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<B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Quality<O
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Interior quality was pretty good. Not up to Audi standards but good considering the extra cost involved in making a car like this. My wife did not like the carbon effect trim but I didn’t mind it. The soft touch dash was very nice and the whole thing felt solid; we did agree that it feels better than it looks.
The leather was nice, not too soft but hard wearing which leads me on the EXCELLENT seats. I’m quite a big chap and they hugged me well without feeling too uncomfortable. The seats also helped damp out some of the bumps.
It would have been nice to see the grey plastic around the gearstick and controls to be real metal (and the same for the bolt head controls) but it’s ok. 8/10
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<B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Equipment<O
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The car has all the bells and whistles. Controls were easy to use and felt nice. I love the dual zone climate control layout.
Mats were pinned nicely in place so they don’t move around too much when you get in or out.
The touch was easy enough to use but sorry to say the sound system is rubbish. 7/10
<B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Conclusion<O
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So there you have it. I suggest you buy one if you haven’t already. Exceeded my expectations 9/10<O
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P.s. The rear badge was missing
Edited by: GT86Owner
Hi all,
Well I thought it might be a good idea to have a section where people can post their reviews and thoughts from test driving the GT86.
<O
My dealer has been kind enough to let me test drive the car twice. The first time I drove it for about 30 minutes with a sales rep, but the second time they let my Mrs and I take it for a couple of hours, so I managed to rack up quite a few miles in it!
<O
Only a couple of weeks ago I was driving a Porsche 911 GT2 and a Ferrari F430 around a race track so I hope I can give a balanced review.
<O
Here are my thoughts:
<O
<B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Ride and Handling<O
The first thing that struck me when I got into the GT86 was the driving position; nice and low and the dash comes straight at you much like car used to be rather than bubble like modern cars. This of course, is a sports car so it is to be expected but very nice non-the-less and much better than any of the competition. In fact it felt very close to the Ferrari F430.
<O
As I pulled out of the garage the first thing I noticed was the feel of the steering; very nicely weighted and direct and the car responds very quickly to the sightless of input to the steering. Lovely.
<O
The handling is a delight, wonderfully balanced with tons of grip. I don’t care what the jargon says, the skid pan is 0.99g which is more than an M3 and you can feel it! In the dry you will not be able to get this car sideways for very long outside of 1st gear. Just a slight bit of body roll but I am just nit picking really.
<O
Naturally the ride was firm. I found it very firm indeed but the excellent seats take the edge off the big bumps wonderfully. Smaller bumps such as those you might find approaching a roundabout telling you to slow down where nicely damped. On a good motorway surface at 80MPH it is fine, but on rougher surfaces you do feel quite a bit of the roughness. Overall I would say for a sports car with such excellent handling, it’s what you should expect. 9/10<O
<O
<B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Performance<O
I didn’t feel like the car lacked power at lower revs, like some people have been saying. In 3rd gear, for example, it felt like it pulled equally as hard at 3000rpm as it did at 6000rpm. Yes if you want maximum power you need to rev it hard, but it still pulls well at lower revs. In modern turbo charged engines they do tend to have a lot of torque at lower revs, but that torque rolls off at higher revs, which does make the car easier to drive but I actually didn’t like that about the Audi TT because it felt like it was losing power as you revved it to the last 5000-6500rpms.
The chassis could handle more power but 200hp is more than enough to enjoy this car on the twisties. I still had trouble keeping to legal speed limits!
<O
The gearbox is fantastic. I read somewhere that they had an engineer on the project whose sole job was “gearbox feel”. If this is true, it definitely shows. Loved Loved Loved the gearbox and the clutch worked so well with it. 9/10
<O
<O
<B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Refinement<O
Road noise is probably the worst part of this car and it is very sensitive to the surface quality. The Engine is ever so slightly audible on rough surfaces and quite clear on smooth roads. Not noisy or raspy, you can just hear it purring away. I didn’t mind it at all. <B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><O
If you do decide to put your boot down, you are met with a lovely growl, slightly raspy but I liked it a lot. It felt like Toyota/Subaru put some effort into making the engine sound nice and 10X better than an Audi/VW with the 2.0TFSI engine.
At 80MPH on smooth tarmac I could not hear very much wind noise at all as road/engine noise dominated.
<O
Having criticised the road noise I do understand that it is all down to keeping weight to a minimum (no sound deadening for example), but for me it was a little bit too much noise on rougher surfaces. 7/10
<O
<B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Quality<O
Interior quality was pretty good. Not up to Audi standards but good considering the extra cost involved in making a car like this. My wife did not like the carbon effect trim but I didn’t mind it. The soft touch dash was very nice and the whole thing felt solid; we did agree that it feels better than it looks.
The leather was nice, not too soft but hard wearing which leads me on the EXCELLENT seats. I’m quite a big chap and they hugged me well without feeling too uncomfortable. The seats also helped damp out some of the bumps.
It would have been nice to see the grey plastic around the gearstick and controls to be real metal (and the same for the bolt head controls) but it’s ok. 8/10
<O
<B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Equipment<O
The car has all the bells and whistles. Controls were easy to use and felt nice. I love the dual zone climate control layout.
Mats were pinned nicely in place so they don’t move around too much when you get in or out.
The touch was easy enough to use but sorry to say the sound system is rubbish. 7/10
<B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Conclusion<O
So there you have it. I suggest you buy one if you haven’t already. Exceeded my expectations 9/10<O

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P.s. The rear badge was missing
