Toyota Should Never Turbocharge The GT86, And Here’s Why
It’s an argument that has gone on for far too long. People have been criticising the Toyota GT86 and Subaru BRZ ever since they were announced. Not enough power, too little torque; you know the drill.
The obvious solution was always forced induction. Loads more torque and more top-end, all in one fell swoop. A small, fast-spooling turbo or screw-type supercharger like Cosworth’s could transform it. We can’t disagree with that; we never have and we probably never will.
Toyota has staunchly refused to oblige, partly because of balance concerns, and partly because it stands by the product it designed in the first place. That product is an old-school, lightweight(ish), flickable and talented sports car in the vein of a hard-top MX-5.
No one can argue the formula is a bad one. Take something that drives a lot like the one-million-plus-selling Mazda, stick a hard top on it for extra rigidity and then add more power. It’s pure genius… in theory. This is a car that feeds your hunger for a driving partner; a machine that moulds itself to you like a futuristic suit of armour. It’s an incarnation of the old school, perfected.
That in itself is reason enough, to me, to keep it exactly the way it is. It quickly gets under your skin and becomes a living, breathing link to the kind of cars that helped create people like us in the first place. You can also get it with all the gadgets you could need, if that’s your thing. The Toyobaru BRZ86 stands alone in its genre; it’s precious exactly as it is.
Now let’s think about what it was built for. It was built so you could make it exactly what you wanted. A drift machine, maybe, or a track toy. A custom show king, even, or a fast road missile for weekend blasts. It’s a lightly sketched-over piece of quality canvas, yours to colour in as you see fit. Fitting a turbo from the factory would add pointless cost for those who want to fettle it their own way.
Look again at the MX-5. It’s celebrated for breathing without a turbo; many of us still prefer it to the turbo’d Abarth 124 Spider, despite that car’s relative tonne of extra torque. That doesn’t stop us hankering after a well-executed snail conversion for the ND car, but the fact that there’s the choice at all is the best thing. The GT86 gives you choice.
Price is the final point I’ll make. The GT86 isn’t cheap. It was, once, with the superb low-spec Primo edition priced below £22,500 in 2015. But almost nobody bought that one; less than 40 came to the UK and at least one of those was a press car. Just one overpriced example is for sale online right now. In 2018 you’re looking at an entry retail price the thick end of £27,000. If it were turbocharged, you could probably make that £30,000. That’s Audi TT money.
If it sells in low volumes today (just 6405 and counting in the UK since 2012), a £30,000+ blown one would surely be a disaster in showrooms, bringing down the executioner’s axe all the sooner. That’s in no one’s interests.
I say the GT86 is just perfect. It’s brilliant as standard, but it’s also the ideal foundation for so much more. It’s a tree trunk with a hundred branches of possibilities. It’s like the puppy your parents got you as a child: you can grow with it, play with it, every day strengthening that bond between you. You’ll miss it like hell when it’s gone.
Comments
A lot of people dont get the point of this car ..
sadly. people who ask for a turbo in this car should just get a bmw 2 series.
i agree i think when toyota and subaru designed this car they had 4 things in mind it has to be cheap, reliable, easy to modify and fun to drive. and if you want to add a turbo there are plenty of options out there cuz it has basically the same engine as old imprezas so its a proven powertrain. the 86/BRZ/FRS is one of my dream cars and i love it because or those points its the right car for a typical car theres a reason why mazda hasnt gone turbo and ppl still by piles of mx5s. a while back motor trend did a video with the 86 and mx5 and they put them around a track and they were faster then a charger hellcat because they handle so well and are so easy to drive fast unlike the 700hp charger which was all over the place. people need to shut up about the power issues in both of these cars cuz that isnt wat theyre for they are for have fun with out losing ur license
The biggest issue with all of that is that the car is a bit of a one trick pony, same as the Miata it is only made for windy roads where power is irrelevant. However unless you live somewhere where a lot of your driving is windy roads it falls way short. It would have been OK if it were super cheap but it isn’t, a 370z is only marginally more expensive and is a lot more balanced (in the sense that it has straight line speed as well as cornering performance) and of course there are the entry level pony cars that are much more usable on the daily basis while providing about 90% of the fun of the Toyobaru.
Toyota just put a rear mount on it so you don’t goof up the weight distribution
How about…like, this might be crazy. But how about they offer one with a turbo, and also one without a turbo? People talking about how you’re “missing the point” of the car or whatever, you can keep your slugs that you have to spin up to 8k rpm to get anywhere, and those of us who want a more so they actually feel like they’re driving a proper sports car can have the power the car deserves. But “balance!” everyone cries. “It’ll be heavier!” Oh no. There are no ways around that, surely!
It’s all pretty moot, because neither team of people are buying one. I would have been much more interested in one if it had more power. I drove one multiple times. It’s just…not great. The chassis is nice, but the car feels anemic pretty much all the time. My little 1.4 Fiat has more torque than it. Why? Turbo. A supercharger might suit the car better, but really, just more power is what it needs. Sure, I could put the parts on myself, but then the cost is getting dangerously close to Mustang GT levels. The manufacturer can do it far more cheaply. Why not give us the choice to buy the car we want, that we say we want, instead of telling us the “chassis cannot handle it” when all the modified cars out there tell us different?
I agree about this. The GT86 is meant to be whatever you want it to, and if you want it to be light, flickable, and not very powerful, it’ll do that perfectly.
Honestly the GT86 is the best modding platform in the sense that I can be anything!
I drive an 86 daily. It’s a nice sporty but under powered car. Taking one for a test drive is nowhere near the same as owning one for years. Roughly 168rwhp isn’t alot. This car would be a good deal more lively, and more fun with around 230ish rwhp. This car doesn’t need alot more power, but it does need more.
I’ve owned my 86 for a few years now. It’s fun. It’s sporty. It’s under powered. That’s not to say it needs 300+ to the wheels. By no means. A modest 230 would be superb. As it is, it’s around 168 to the wheels. Look at the Pontiac Solstice when it came out. It out performed the Miata with the the base 2.4l. And the 2.0 Lnf was a rocket. Had the GXP for a few years. Another fun car that really benefitted from a turbo.
I agree with you 100%
Yes!!
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