The sensation of speed can give a car soul.
The boxer in the gt86 has no real outstanding qualities. It neither revs, no sounds good, nor is it powerful.
If the Yaris GR has a boring old na engine doing 200bhp do you think it would have had the same reception?
Why are the turbo variants of virtually ever 90s car worth so much more than the na versions
Reasons.
Edit I'm not saying remove a base level NA I'm just saying add the most requested model too, the turbo.
The Yaris already had a boosted 1.8 supercharged GRMN variant in the past and that engine has a lot more character than the boosted 3 pot from the GR Yaris, it was also a proper special edition, it did not sell, the engine of the GRY is a cracking unit for what it can do but it is not what makes that special, you want more aural excitement from it, it needs the fake noise, The reception the GRY gets is due to what the whole package represents and what it was developed for.
The GR86 is interesting they have upped the power and torque,
[email protected] 7k with a 7.5k redline, how many boggo turbos do 7.5k, they have barely added to weight to the GR86 package, kept the gears short, sure it's not the lightest thing but should have decent balance.
Small NA can certainly feel fast and on track actually be fast and reliable, anyone that wants boost can do it in the aftermarket, I'm very interested in GR86, not many options for lightweight na, rwd, manual anymore it's my preference despite knowing a turbo charged car is probably an easier thing to live with and faster in most scenarios, it all comes down to preferences, even for my competition car I went the NA tuning route despite knowing I could slap a turbo on for half the price, it was not what I was after, my 5 has
[email protected]>8k on ITBs, it's fast but you can't be a lazy driver like you can with a turbo, you have to work for it and that's where the reward comes in.
Nearly ever turbo charged car is bested by an electric shopping trolly these days for that sensation of speed but they are mostly terribly dull to drive.
I'm not anti turbo I have mostly driven turbos and own two, my NA cars are the ones I look back fondly on more so than the turbos though prefer with a few more cylinders if I am honest but lightweight 6cylinder rwd manuals are non existent.