GR86 Test Drives Email!
- Thread starter TigerJim
- Start date
Did you get any photos of the car and the registration number?IGZ
Devoted member
No photos I’m afraid. Trueno/Sapphire Blue at Burrows Doncaster on a Yorkshire plate, but didn’t think to get the actual number.
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GT86 used to be ok with 170cm adults in the front and kids at the back
However I understand they have lowered the seats in the gr86 so feet of the children won’t fit under the front seats now. (Left seat isn’t height adjustable) It would be great to test that if anyone is test driving one.
I tried to book a test drive next week myself with Bracknell garage. Let’s see if I get a slot
IGZ
Devoted member
Dull, murky day in Doncaster yesterday, so hard to judge the colour properly compared to the many photos in bright sunlight; looked good though.
The interior’s a step up from my fabric GT86, but the ‘armrest’ is too low to be of any practical use, and as far as the driving went the main difference, as described in loads of reviews, is its ability to accelerate effectively when in the ‘wrong’ (too high) gear without the need to change down; it felt significantly quicker when accelerating as a result. The gearbox seemed improved too, with no ‘second gear issue’ (though mine loosened up considerably after the first couple of years anyhow).
Not as noisy as expected from some of the reviews, with tyre noise much lower than expected, but I’m not coming from a notably refined car! Those with cars with significantly more sound-deadening may disagree.
The ‘sound generator’’s not too noisy at low revs, but I didn’t thrash it. As for other sounds, the radio’s far less tinny than the GT86, which is just as well; I’ve heard better in courtesy Argos/Yarises over the last decade than the GT86 has. No creaks or rattles either, which was a change from the GT86 from new until I’d isolated them and done something about them.
As I said before, there are no deep insights from me, and my only point of comparison from the last decade is my current car (not really worth comparing with my folks’ Volvo), which means I’m coming from a very specific perspective which will be different from others who’ve driven a far broader range of cars than me recently. I can only really compare with the GT86, and it seems a big improvement on a car I’ve been happy with for a decade. Put it this way, I’m not disappointed with the decision to buy one, and extremely relieved I wasn’t at work the day orders were placed so I could get online at 10am…
Confirmed Baby Blue...
Good to hear, as I'm exactly the same; owned a GT86 since 2013 (aftermarket manifold/tune from 2017) and loved it. The only reason I sold it was because I managed to order a GR86. If I hadn't, or if the GR86 didn't exist, I would probably still have it as there's nothing I could imagine replacing it with.
So if the GR86 is basically a GT86 with most of it's deficiences sorted, then I'll be happy.
IGZ
Devoted member
It is, in my opinion, which is why I thought I had little to add - it’s what most of the reviews have been saying…
Silver Fox
Totally Hooked
- May 7, 2022
- 3,625
- 8,343
Good afternoon everyone, long time no see etc. I hope everyone is well.
I'm briefly breaking my self-imposed sabbatical from this fine site (until I receive my car, or perhaps to report on my test drive if and when I have it) to comment on two recent posts. This is the first of those posts, and I just wanted to say thank you @IGZ for taking the time to share your thoughts. Much appreciated.
I'll be returning to sitting in a darkened room again shortly so see you all on the other side!
Silver Fox
Totally Hooked
- May 7, 2022
- 3,625
- 8,343
GR86GRY
Totally Hooked
- Apr 7, 2022
- 870
- 1,815
I'm in on Monday lunchtime, I shall try to leave some tread on the tyres for youI'm booked in for Jemca Bracknell's Smurf Blue Manual on Wednesday. Apparently it should be ready from Monday, if any other Bracknell peeps want to grab a slot*.
*Try not to write it off before Wednesday though
GRavel Trap
Obsessed member
Their car is also being delivered to Boston (same group) for those customers to test drive. Found that out today when I called to book mine.
Lovely colour. We were in Bracknell by chance today and had a peak at it. We were in a dark blue gt86 and the whole family went “wow that is amazing”. In every way it looked like a more mature cousin of the good old gt86 (2013 model). We are getting same colour Auto.
"... and man will live forevermore, because of Christmas Day"
I did not expect this to be the soundtrack to my first drive in a GR86 when I ordered the car in April. But this is what came on when the radio woke up as I was pulling out from the dealership forecourt this morning, and I suppose I will now always associate the song with this day.
Hello everyone. This is going to be a long post, so I hope you have a cup of something (or indeed a GR Zoo Mug of something!). Here's what I learned and what I thought during my test drive today.
Arrived at the dealership, a quick photograph of my driving licence and "here are the keys".
No hurry to return, 12 miles on the clock, some fuel in the tank (more on that later), 9*C and roads still soaked from the monsoon.
For the benefit of our esteemed colleague Mr. Absent Fox (@Fox on sabbatical), please enjoy some pictures of the silver car with a manual transmission:
The observant among you will notice the absence of any parking sensors, on this manual transmission car.
Continuing our little tour, here is the boot:
I took vaguely accurate measurements of the various dimensions of the boot opening, which I will post tomorrow. The greatest impediment to loading the boot is the height, which is (from memory) about 35cm. You can't quite get a full shopping bag in the boot, as you can see here (other supermarkets are available):
Moving inside the cabin, the glovebox is easily reached and about average - neither capacious nor unreasonably small. There was some Toyota stuff in there, which I left alone:
You will also see in the picture above one of the 'climate control', er... controls. These are nice enough to use, and the little readouts look about a decade better than the GT86 (think 1994 car interior, rather than 1984).
The other switchgear is fairly unremarkable. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the cabin. You may have read that it is constructed from flimsy, scratchy plastics. This is not true. While everything seems a bit dated, it does not feel tired (if that makes any sense at all). This is not a luxurious interior, but nor does it feel 'rental car' cheap. I suppose it depends on your history and experience of car ownership, but I do not think that you will find the inside of the GR86 to be an unpleasant place in which to spend time.
The centre console, as you know, houses some cupholders, USB sockets and AUX-IN. The padding is good enough, and I did not unintentionally open the lid with my elbow:
The rear seats are... there, in the back:
However, unless you plan to carshare your commute to the Chocolate Factory every morning, you will not get anybody in the back.
I am quite tall (about 6'5" or so), and I found the front seats were possible at their rearmost travel. Last week, I sat again in a GT86 for comparison, and I found that a bit more cramped. I think there might be a little more rearward travel in the GR86 seats - I certainly felt that little bit more comfortable in the car today.
Unfortunately, with the seats back, there is literally zero legroom for rear passengers. I don't mean "not much", I mean literally zero. For @Al4n, @doogle83 and @Swizzle, I tried putting my driver's seat as far forward as possible (which would have been unsafe for actually driving), and you only liberate a couple of inches of space between the driver's seat and the rear bench. There is no way that a grown adult in the driver's seat is going to get a child or another adult behind them, as far as I can tell. Here are pictures of the rear legroom, (1) with the driver's seat right back, as I needed it, and (2) with the driver's seat as far forward as I could ever manage, but would not feel safe driving:
Honestly, nobody is getting their legs in that space.
While we're talking about the driver's seat, @Conscript, @SmokingPancakes and @ZN8 were interested in seat heating.
It wasn't a particularly cold morning (9*C is a summer's day up here), but I tried to do a scientific test for you. After clicking to 'high', it took 39 seconds for me to notice warmth in the seat through a pair of Levi's, and about 1 minute 2 seconds to notice some warmth in my lower back. It was never uncomfortably warm, and I suppose it would make a bit of a difference on a cold morning. I tend to find the hour of clearing snow warms me up nicely on most days from December to April, but the seat heating is reasonable. I wouldn't pay for it, but it does do something. I hope this helps.
Don't worry - we will get to the driving bit soon!
Apparently I've hit the limit for photographs in one post, so I'll see you in the next message...
I did not expect this to be the soundtrack to my first drive in a GR86 when I ordered the car in April. But this is what came on when the radio woke up as I was pulling out from the dealership forecourt this morning, and I suppose I will now always associate the song with this day.
Hello everyone. This is going to be a long post, so I hope you have a cup of something (or indeed a GR Zoo Mug of something!). Here's what I learned and what I thought during my test drive today.
Arrived at the dealership, a quick photograph of my driving licence and "here are the keys".
No hurry to return, 12 miles on the clock, some fuel in the tank (more on that later), 9*C and roads still soaked from the monsoon.
For the benefit of our esteemed colleague Mr. Absent Fox (@Fox on sabbatical), please enjoy some pictures of the silver car with a manual transmission:
The observant among you will notice the absence of any parking sensors, on this manual transmission car.
Continuing our little tour, here is the boot:
I took vaguely accurate measurements of the various dimensions of the boot opening, which I will post tomorrow. The greatest impediment to loading the boot is the height, which is (from memory) about 35cm. You can't quite get a full shopping bag in the boot, as you can see here (other supermarkets are available):
Moving inside the cabin, the glovebox is easily reached and about average - neither capacious nor unreasonably small. There was some Toyota stuff in there, which I left alone:
You will also see in the picture above one of the 'climate control', er... controls. These are nice enough to use, and the little readouts look about a decade better than the GT86 (think 1994 car interior, rather than 1984).
The other switchgear is fairly unremarkable. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the cabin. You may have read that it is constructed from flimsy, scratchy plastics. This is not true. While everything seems a bit dated, it does not feel tired (if that makes any sense at all). This is not a luxurious interior, but nor does it feel 'rental car' cheap. I suppose it depends on your history and experience of car ownership, but I do not think that you will find the inside of the GR86 to be an unpleasant place in which to spend time.
The centre console, as you know, houses some cupholders, USB sockets and AUX-IN. The padding is good enough, and I did not unintentionally open the lid with my elbow:
The rear seats are... there, in the back:
However, unless you plan to carshare your commute to the Chocolate Factory every morning, you will not get anybody in the back.
I am quite tall (about 6'5" or so), and I found the front seats were possible at their rearmost travel. Last week, I sat again in a GT86 for comparison, and I found that a bit more cramped. I think there might be a little more rearward travel in the GR86 seats - I certainly felt that little bit more comfortable in the car today.
Unfortunately, with the seats back, there is literally zero legroom for rear passengers. I don't mean "not much", I mean literally zero. For @Al4n, @doogle83 and @Swizzle, I tried putting my driver's seat as far forward as possible (which would have been unsafe for actually driving), and you only liberate a couple of inches of space between the driver's seat and the rear bench. There is no way that a grown adult in the driver's seat is going to get a child or another adult behind them, as far as I can tell. Here are pictures of the rear legroom, (1) with the driver's seat right back, as I needed it, and (2) with the driver's seat as far forward as I could ever manage, but would not feel safe driving:
Honestly, nobody is getting their legs in that space.
While we're talking about the driver's seat, @Conscript, @SmokingPancakes and @ZN8 were interested in seat heating.
It wasn't a particularly cold morning (9*C is a summer's day up here), but I tried to do a scientific test for you. After clicking to 'high', it took 39 seconds for me to notice warmth in the seat through a pair of Levi's, and about 1 minute 2 seconds to notice some warmth in my lower back. It was never uncomfortably warm, and I suppose it would make a bit of a difference on a cold morning. I tend to find the hour of clearing snow warms me up nicely on most days from December to April, but the seat heating is reasonable. I wouldn't pay for it, but it does do something. I hope this helps.
Don't worry - we will get to the driving bit soon!
Apparently I've hit the limit for photographs in one post, so I'll see you in the next message...
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Hello again.
Finishing our little tour of the interior, the rear view mirror does not dim automatically. Here's your proof:
On the plus side, the vanity mirrors are illuminated. Some space age technology right here:
I mentioned the lack of parking sensors in the post above. It's true - there are none on the manual transmission cars. You do get a reversing camera, but the display is depressingly low resolution. You would probably avoid reversing whenever possible just to avoid the sadness this engenders:
Finally - and a rather random criticism - the headrests are really uncomfortable. Admittedly, I didn't try very hard, but I could not find a way to tilt them back, and they are made of concrete. Even if you could tilt them back - and there must be a way? - they were awful:
Right, I think that's enough on the interior.
The car has an engine:
It's mounted quite incredibly low. I mean, knee height low. At least we can enjoy mowing down pedestrians until 2024. Huzzah for boxer engines.
Congratulations if you've made it this far!
So... driving the GR86. In short, it's as good as they say.
My initial reaction was that this car feels less agricultural than the GT86. I'll agree with everyone who has said that the car now has the power to carry itself along without unreasonable demands for in-gear patience. Power is delivered smoothly through the rev range - you get the impression that the chassis could handle far more than the 230-ish brake horsepower on offer, but it always feels alert and responsive.
For any younger readers or those coming from hot hatches - and without wishing to patronise anyone - it is worth briefly remarking on the joys of a naturally-aspired engine. Rather than the 'kick' from a turbocharger as you climb in gear beyond 2,000-3,000 revs, the GR86 delivers its power in a very 'linear' manner. It never feels frantic; the GR86 just gradually gives you more and more power as you rise towards the red line. If you are wondering why such a fuss is made, please try to drive this or any other NA-engined car before they are extinct. It is one of the GR86's greatest strengths, whatever else you may think of it.
Despite driving very carefully ("your honour"), I did notice rear wheelspin pulling away from junctions on a few occasions. Now the roads were very wet with plenty of standing water, but I was quite surprised at how easily one could break traction just moving off gently in first. I suppose this bodes well for those of you - er... in your own cars, in a safe environment - who enjoy going sideways. There was no chance of stalling and I didn't notice wheelspin between other gears. If memory serves me, the clutch is a little more forgiving than on the GT86. Of course, it's more mechanically engaging than the sponginess of your average family hatchback, but I thought it well-judged without any difficulties of a temperamental bite point. You also have 'hill start assist'.
The gearbox itself is... fine. I don't mean to damn with faint praise - it's quite nice. There's a fair rattle through the stick on startup and a thrumming when idle, but shifts are good and the throw is short without being daft. It's no FK8, but you'll be happy enough with the manual transmission.
Also, both the gearbox and brakes are good from a cold start. Compared to my 987 Boxster, this is a very happy discovery! No complaints about warm-up.
The suspension is very nicely judged - firm, certainly, but without harshness. This is true for both driver and passenger (note: singular, you really won't want anyone in the back). I could see why some people might want to 'upgrade' for track or hardcore road use, but for day-to-day driving, the standard set-up is perfectly acceptable: virtually no roll into faster corners, and rough surfaces and potholes are tolerable.
Okay - quick fire round...
What about the indicators?
It's true - the indicators don't "stick" when you put them up or down. Either way, a little nudge will get you three or four blinks, and right the way up or down will keep on blinking. Occasionally it didn't auto-cancel after a turn, but it's just a case of nudging the opposite way. For the life of me, I cannot understand why our American friends have such difficulties with this simple task. You have nothing to fear from the indicators.
Will girls like me if I buy the GR86?
Well, the old lady waiting outside the newsagent didn't seem impressed or offended, so you might be in with a shout there. One young lass gave a look and a smile, and then went back to her telephone. So things are looking good for the GR86. But I would encourage you to be considerate and develop shared interests to further your personal life. If she only likes you for your car, there will always be another guy with a better car.
What about fake engine noise?
Normally, I would recoil from fake engine noise. It was either disabled (unlikely) or unintrusive (more likely) on my test drive, so I would not change anything. At the top end of the rev range, the car probably makes more noise inside than outside, but I'm not sure why some people (like EveryDay Driver on YouTube) are so offended. I would really care if this was a problem, but it's not a problem. Life is short. Move on.
How about the radio?
It sounds okay. Not a strong point of the GR86. It's easy to get nostalgic about the good old days, when cars had analogue gauge clusters and the drivers had polio. But the interface is a bit rubbish, and the speakers are not very good. You won't be impressing your fellow young offenders in the Mickey D's car park at 3am with your banging tunes, but that's probably a good thing. Go to bed early, take up vocational training and save up for a mortgage. You'll thank me one day.
Should I bother with a test drive?
Almost certainly yes, unless you know and love the GT86. In that case, just pony up your £31k and wait for San-toyo-ta Claus to deliver your car in the coming weeks.
And finally, what about fuel economy?
Ah, I was hoping that you wouldn't ask that. It's not good. I mean, really not good.
I can't sugar coat this, so here goes:
And I promise that I was driving normally - no red line silly business. Someone will get this car when its demonstration days are over, and I'm not going to knock 30,000 miles off the engine for them.
Driving at normal road speeds, with a mixture of 30mph villages and 60mph empty B-roads, I was under 18mpg.
A £10 top-up of super-unleaded bought me... another 31 miles of indicated range. Yeah.
Perhaps this will improve as the engine settles in, but - added to the requirement for 98-RON fuel, expensive servicing and bizarre insurance premiums - I fear the GR86 may prove rather more expensive than the expectations of some prospective owners.
===
Thank you for your patience with my ramblings. I hope they have been helpful. And so to some final thoughts.
You've read Evo and CAR and watched random Japanese road trips on YouTube and seen that guy camping in his GR86, and you might have parts on order or a number plate ready... You already know this car.
After a test drive, it is every bit as good and as bad as you would expect.
Sitting in the driver's seat, pressing the button to start up and moving off, the GR86 does feel special. Almost otherworldly, given the market and wider economy at the moment. Here is a car that does not want to punish you for enjoying the simple pleasure of motoring. When the television and your telephone and our political leaders and celebrities are telling you not to, the GR86 gives you a nudge and says, "come on, let's go!"
From the gearbox, through the clutch and on to the throttle and steering wheel, the car already feels like home. You want to go somewhere in the GR86. Even familiar roads become a fresh playground. It has that rare character, often missing in cars at four or five times the price that some of you may also have had the pleasure of driving. And yet it is never intimidating - you can begin fully to explore the car's potential on the way home from the shops.
You won't get a lot of stuff in the back of the GR86. And you will get precisely nobody into the back seats. So have less stuff. And be with the one person that matters to you in that moment.
Because that's what the people who made this wonderful little car were thinking. They were thinking like us. For us.
While we can.
Finishing our little tour of the interior, the rear view mirror does not dim automatically. Here's your proof:
On the plus side, the vanity mirrors are illuminated. Some space age technology right here:
I mentioned the lack of parking sensors in the post above. It's true - there are none on the manual transmission cars. You do get a reversing camera, but the display is depressingly low resolution. You would probably avoid reversing whenever possible just to avoid the sadness this engenders:
Finally - and a rather random criticism - the headrests are really uncomfortable. Admittedly, I didn't try very hard, but I could not find a way to tilt them back, and they are made of concrete. Even if you could tilt them back - and there must be a way? - they were awful:
Right, I think that's enough on the interior.
The car has an engine:
It's mounted quite incredibly low. I mean, knee height low. At least we can enjoy mowing down pedestrians until 2024. Huzzah for boxer engines.
Congratulations if you've made it this far!
So... driving the GR86. In short, it's as good as they say.
My initial reaction was that this car feels less agricultural than the GT86. I'll agree with everyone who has said that the car now has the power to carry itself along without unreasonable demands for in-gear patience. Power is delivered smoothly through the rev range - you get the impression that the chassis could handle far more than the 230-ish brake horsepower on offer, but it always feels alert and responsive.
For any younger readers or those coming from hot hatches - and without wishing to patronise anyone - it is worth briefly remarking on the joys of a naturally-aspired engine. Rather than the 'kick' from a turbocharger as you climb in gear beyond 2,000-3,000 revs, the GR86 delivers its power in a very 'linear' manner. It never feels frantic; the GR86 just gradually gives you more and more power as you rise towards the red line. If you are wondering why such a fuss is made, please try to drive this or any other NA-engined car before they are extinct. It is one of the GR86's greatest strengths, whatever else you may think of it.
Despite driving very carefully ("your honour"), I did notice rear wheelspin pulling away from junctions on a few occasions. Now the roads were very wet with plenty of standing water, but I was quite surprised at how easily one could break traction just moving off gently in first. I suppose this bodes well for those of you - er... in your own cars, in a safe environment - who enjoy going sideways. There was no chance of stalling and I didn't notice wheelspin between other gears. If memory serves me, the clutch is a little more forgiving than on the GT86. Of course, it's more mechanically engaging than the sponginess of your average family hatchback, but I thought it well-judged without any difficulties of a temperamental bite point. You also have 'hill start assist'.
The gearbox itself is... fine. I don't mean to damn with faint praise - it's quite nice. There's a fair rattle through the stick on startup and a thrumming when idle, but shifts are good and the throw is short without being daft. It's no FK8, but you'll be happy enough with the manual transmission.
Also, both the gearbox and brakes are good from a cold start. Compared to my 987 Boxster, this is a very happy discovery! No complaints about warm-up.
The suspension is very nicely judged - firm, certainly, but without harshness. This is true for both driver and passenger (note: singular, you really won't want anyone in the back). I could see why some people might want to 'upgrade' for track or hardcore road use, but for day-to-day driving, the standard set-up is perfectly acceptable: virtually no roll into faster corners, and rough surfaces and potholes are tolerable.
Okay - quick fire round...
What about the indicators?
It's true - the indicators don't "stick" when you put them up or down. Either way, a little nudge will get you three or four blinks, and right the way up or down will keep on blinking. Occasionally it didn't auto-cancel after a turn, but it's just a case of nudging the opposite way. For the life of me, I cannot understand why our American friends have such difficulties with this simple task. You have nothing to fear from the indicators.
Will girls like me if I buy the GR86?
Well, the old lady waiting outside the newsagent didn't seem impressed or offended, so you might be in with a shout there. One young lass gave a look and a smile, and then went back to her telephone. So things are looking good for the GR86. But I would encourage you to be considerate and develop shared interests to further your personal life. If she only likes you for your car, there will always be another guy with a better car.
What about fake engine noise?
Normally, I would recoil from fake engine noise. It was either disabled (unlikely) or unintrusive (more likely) on my test drive, so I would not change anything. At the top end of the rev range, the car probably makes more noise inside than outside, but I'm not sure why some people (like EveryDay Driver on YouTube) are so offended. I would really care if this was a problem, but it's not a problem. Life is short. Move on.
How about the radio?
It sounds okay. Not a strong point of the GR86. It's easy to get nostalgic about the good old days, when cars had analogue gauge clusters and the drivers had polio. But the interface is a bit rubbish, and the speakers are not very good. You won't be impressing your fellow young offenders in the Mickey D's car park at 3am with your banging tunes, but that's probably a good thing. Go to bed early, take up vocational training and save up for a mortgage. You'll thank me one day.
Should I bother with a test drive?
Almost certainly yes, unless you know and love the GT86. In that case, just pony up your £31k and wait for San-toyo-ta Claus to deliver your car in the coming weeks.
And finally, what about fuel economy?
Ah, I was hoping that you wouldn't ask that. It's not good. I mean, really not good.
I can't sugar coat this, so here goes:
And I promise that I was driving normally - no red line silly business. Someone will get this car when its demonstration days are over, and I'm not going to knock 30,000 miles off the engine for them.
Driving at normal road speeds, with a mixture of 30mph villages and 60mph empty B-roads, I was under 18mpg.
A £10 top-up of super-unleaded bought me... another 31 miles of indicated range. Yeah.
Perhaps this will improve as the engine settles in, but - added to the requirement for 98-RON fuel, expensive servicing and bizarre insurance premiums - I fear the GR86 may prove rather more expensive than the expectations of some prospective owners.
===
Thank you for your patience with my ramblings. I hope they have been helpful. And so to some final thoughts.
You've read Evo and CAR and watched random Japanese road trips on YouTube and seen that guy camping in his GR86, and you might have parts on order or a number plate ready... You already know this car.
After a test drive, it is every bit as good and as bad as you would expect.
Sitting in the driver's seat, pressing the button to start up and moving off, the GR86 does feel special. Almost otherworldly, given the market and wider economy at the moment. Here is a car that does not want to punish you for enjoying the simple pleasure of motoring. When the television and your telephone and our political leaders and celebrities are telling you not to, the GR86 gives you a nudge and says, "come on, let's go!"
From the gearbox, through the clutch and on to the throttle and steering wheel, the car already feels like home. You want to go somewhere in the GR86. Even familiar roads become a fresh playground. It has that rare character, often missing in cars at four or five times the price that some of you may also have had the pleasure of driving. And yet it is never intimidating - you can begin fully to explore the car's potential on the way home from the shops.
You won't get a lot of stuff in the back of the GR86. And you will get precisely nobody into the back seats. So have less stuff. And be with the one person that matters to you in that moment.
Because that's what the people who made this wonderful little car were thinking. They were thinking like us. For us.
While we can.
Last edited:
GRavel Trap
Obsessed member
