Just came back from testing the Toyota 86. Here are my thoughts for those who are interested to know.


Pre Drive Walk Around
I tested a red colour 86. Really nice colour on the car, perhaps the best in my opinion. The car is surprisingly quiet. When it pulled up, I was surprised that there wasn't any "boxer burble".

The SA then brought me on a short tour, opened the bonnet and checked out the insides. Very tidy looking. But still has loads of space in it. Clearly this car was designed for pro modders / beng modders in mind.

The rears are really really tight. Only can fit a 12 year old (maybe even 12 year olds will find it tight). But, definitely can fit an adult for a short journey, probably up Genting and back down from KL, boleh la. The front seats however, different story. Completely snug and comfortable. The support is superb for a stock seat. More on this later. The ergonomics are standard Toyota, easy to understand where all the switches are, no fancy pansy stuff. Some will say the interior is cheap, but I thought that it's acceptable quality la. Definitely not RM200k worthy. Plastic here and there, even an Altis feels nicer. But, the car is a driver focused car. The positioning of the driver is absolutely perfect. The gear lever is perfectly positioned. The view out the front windshield is very wide and clear.

The drive itself
So, after signing all the papers, it was time to get moving. Got into the driver seat, and tried to start the engine. Eh taboleh?! SA explained, press clutch and brake together, press start button. "VROOOMMMM. Burble burble burble." NAIS. (Sorry la i know this is common feature in modern cars, I poorfag can't afford expensive car before dis yo).

The reverse lever on the manual is also normal for 6 speed manuals. You have to lift a small lever around the knob, and push it towards "R" before it goes into reverse. Reverse sensors are also fairly decent. Not too sensitive. I revved it a few times, but the bunyi like tak keluar wan. Disappointed slightly. ZzzZ

The got on to the main road. The steering felt... very precise. Very very precise in fact. But not to the extent that it got jittery of it's fickle or anything. Just felt absolutely superb. Nicely weighted. The brake is also another highlight. Feels very analog, not like the modern cars which pedals feel dead. Damn nice! But the clutch is slightly heavy i have to say. Maybe gets a bit of getting used to.

Suddenly drive drive around for 4 mins, coast is clear. I looked at the SA. "Press can ar?". "Can, no problem." Dropped down the gear to 2nd, and planted my foot. HOOO MAI GOOOODDD the car really can go. Rev all the way up to 7000rpm before i up shifted. The sound valve kicked in at 4000rpm and the engine note just sounds soooo sweet. Such a surprise. It doesn't scream like a Vtec, but very manly kinda "POWERRRR" shout. Definitely thumbs up. Okay. At this juncture, one short comment. The car feels sluggish at low RPM, yes - definitely can understand why a lot of commentators say that this car is underpowered. But once you hit that 4000-4200rpm mark, seriously this car can go. And I think it's because of the really light weight of the car. 200hp (170 odd on wheel) for such a light car, at this point, cukup pakai sampai puas puas imo.

Then sampai a left turn corner, brake, downshift, woot. Damn surprised. The steering feels so superb. Car goes where you wanna go, and you can aim the head of the car whichever angle you want. The seat at this point surprised me. Really holds you together well. And I think it's because of both the bucket seat like design, and the fabric of the seat as well, which grips in a light manner.

Came the second corner, went in fast again, but this time oversteer slightly, and the tail kicked out a bit, but not that much. Screeching tyres. Dem sked yo. After that drive slowly liao. LOL. I looked that the SA and said "sorry". He said "it's okay. dat corner i drive twice faster wan usually. this car traction control will jaga you."

After that slow drive back to the Sales Centre. Very quiet, civilized drive. Rempit sound still apparent, but very civil. So surprised. Engine bunyi maybe slightly louder than an Altis je. Once you quiet down the car, it becomes civilized too. The ride comfort, now that I've calmed down, is absolutely amazing. It's not hard, but has zero body roll around a corner. What a surprise...


Conclusion

I was really lucky to have driven the manual. Even many auto bloggers out there belum got chance. So tengkiu tengkiu Mr Au of Cheras UMW Toyota.

I went in thinking that RM243k is overpriced, and probably no one, unless you have rich parents, would buy this car. But the car surprised me in a few ways. It's practical, parts are readily available, maintenance is priced the same as a Camry, and it's surprisingly fast. Honestly, after driving it, I'm sold... almost.

Do I think it's worth RM243k? I can imagine saying YES, if I were to own it for a week. Honestly, I can totally see it. It's easy to drive, perhaps easy to maintain, and a fun drive. But to buy this car, when there's just so many options out there decked with better equipment, I'd think thrice before putting my pen to paper. But the drive, is on a completely different level.

nice n sincere review tho.. very luck r u get to test drive that car.. i last time felt the same way when sit on passenger side inside r35 at sepang circuit..

I think you never drove Subaru Impreza before yaa...

going to test drive that also lol. have you tried both? what's your opinion?

Drove Version 9 before, 86 using Subaru engine so that the way to start subaru boxer engine...

I get all that in a Golf R with about 1000x more comfortable and higher interior quality

have to agree but at the same time 86 is rear wheel machine.

So what?

i personally cannot even tell if it's one wheel drive, these are just bla bla bla to me

if u r a proper driver u won't say this. there is no competition between FF and FR, the FR will win at every aspect but i do think the new 86 is a freaking expensive toyota (in malaysia at least). if i'm aiming a car at that price category i'll pick a BMW and if i want to have as much fun i'd save up a bit to get an LSD for it.

if there is recond for this model.....

i never test drive the 86,but ystd i juz test my relative car,mazda 3 mps..the 256hp/380nm torque is reali awesome..the power will come when u need it..but still got slightly lag from standstill to 2k rpm..after 2k rpm turbo kick in,the feel is good..0-100 onli take around 6sec and engine sound is very quiet.onli the exhaust got slightly bassy sound..but its nice..due to the traffic not so clear,i onli manage push the car to 200kmh at 5th gear(still can go beyond tis at 5th gear)..And the sound system is good in its class..for the price below RM200k,can get the high horsepower and 6 speed manual,i think only mazda 3 mps can do it..somemore its not recond car,its brand new car imported from japan..

yep true. real driver will know the difference. i never drive a rwd car before..but i know there's a reason why sports car prefer to use the setup.

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Added on July 31, 2012, 11:46 ammazda 3 mps is a powerful car for under 200k..but for fwd plus the huge torque..doesnt help at all. majority review sed the car will suffer from torque steer problem while exiting the corner.

This post has been edited by theanswer: Jul 31 2012, 11:46 AM

damn. is it that nice? i still can't believe what TS said but only one factor make fans sad. THE HEFTY PRICE.

A Golf with a precise and lively steering wheel? Now I have only driven the Golf+ and the Golf based Tourans (GP1 and GP2), but they always felt a bit detached from the road, with too much power steering. To be honest our Xsara is more precise in that regard, and you feel the road, you feel what is going on.

Think the 86 is quite nice. I only sat in one but rather liked it, although the seating position was so low that I could hardly see out of the car Should have adjusted the seat. Also I thought the handbreak is a bit in the way, at least when pulled. Not sure how it would be while driving. The gearbox surprisingly good (didn't drive it, but the travel is nice and short, on the other hand VW gearboxes on normal cars seemed rather similar, although I do hate the VW clutch).

well reviews across the world agree the golf gives good feedback, however it's still better place to be in while stuck in kl traffic anytime, you can sit in your 86 and make like indian movies turning the steering wheel to entertain yourself

Recond sure as heck will come trickling in few years down the road

Clearly you does not get the whole point of Toyota 86
Toyota 86 is targeted at enthusiast who carve the joy of rear wheel drive sports car
I am very glad that Toyota could be bothered to make this car
Just that UMW screw the whole thing up by pricing it too high

when ae86 was around ages ago, nobody even bother about the price =P
a handful of fellow enthusiasts knew the potential of the car and vow to make it alive even more..
and then it became very famous and after a very long time down the road.. ft86 is born..sky high price but i don't think it's really that pricey for what u'll get on the driver seat.. price in the range of 222k above like the mx5, rcz, and then higher a lil would b tt, slk, z4.. it's limited units anyway, not all love it, but those that really likes it, would get it =)

oh btw..i love the boxer engine sound as it is unique =)
cheers to everyone here ^^

and and i drove the mps before
what can i say... <3 M <3 P <3 S <3

This post has been edited by Jinster: Aug 3 2012, 01:38 AM

No u got it all wrong. There is a lot of FF cars since 2000 that already have FR feel and grip. Do u know how great the Honda DC5 was? And fast forward we have the last 4 door Civic Type R. Now this is another tire eater. When we kill the rear tires with RWD these 2 will kill the front with FWD. In fact there are already a lot of FF cars that exhibit a lot of neutral steer already. The only difference is you can hold a drift with FR and not FF. If you run both cars around track, really not much difference. In fact like someone said, not much difference. It is already true. The old adage FR different from FF cannot be used anymore really.

Selling the GT86 with AE86 credentials is totally wrong. It is cheap to begin with (in other countries). But over here at same price, i do not want to be eaten on the road by older Megane RS, Golf Gti and even CTR for less or same price. i only got platform to work with. Its not enough u know? It not street racer enough. Its not supercar enough. Then what for pay 250K for it? Hell now the over valued 60K AE86 starts to look cheap n comparison. Dump another 20 grand for top end F20C from S2000 with weight advantage could make mincemeat out of GT86.

And u know i have been reading that Subaru BRZ is slightly more powerful and rides harder than GT86. Though not cheaper. Which is why i always said from start that subaru logo plastered everywhere on the GT86 sure got some hidden agenda.

You are right in thinking of getting a BMW. If i could afford 250K for a car i would buy a BMW really. Even the old BMW 3 series is better proposition than this. It will depreciate less than GT86 where the quantity is very low here. Hence parts will be expensive too. But this is logical thinking. Illogical thinking i would buy the GT86 because my wallet is too thick. hahaha