Supercar fun for just £25,000
Cars don’t get much more enjoyable to drive than this Toyota GT 86, says Sam Wollaston in The Guardian. It’s not the “quickest, the cleverest or the flashiest” of cars. But that’s part of its brilliance. “Too many sports cars these days have so much power, and massive fat tyres to keep them on the road, and all sorts of sophisticated electronics to help you keep control, that you may as well not be (in control).”
That’s not the case with the GT 86. It has a modestly sized engine, is not all that powerful, but it’s light and is “beautifully balanced, precise, and accurate”. You won’t travel as quickly as “the fat cats in their supercars. But you will arrive with just as big a smile on your face.”
It is fantastic, agrees Jeremy Clarkson in The Sunday Times. It’s not very good looking, and is impractical, loud (not in a nice way), and the interior is dull and utilitarian. But none of this matters because it is such huge fun to drive. The steering is “perfectly weighted and full of juicy feel” and driving it will “unleash your hero gene and you will never want to drive any other sort of car ever again”.
It is “astonishing” – perhaps the most interesting car since the original Mazda MX-5. At its best, the driving experience is a match for the likes of a Porsche Cayman, and “accolades don’t come much higher than that”, says Hidemitsu Hoshiga in Autocar. “That it can even get close is a minor miracle.”
Price: £24,995
Top speed: 143mph (est)
0-62mph: 7.0 secs (est)
Economy: 40.9mpg (est, combined)
Engine: 1,998cc, petrol
Power: 197bhp at 7,000rpm