Subaru-powered Toyota FT-86 gets closer to production...

[AndrewNR]

of course i just don't think it will sell well at that price. id have preferred to see a hotter one off the factory line even if it too did not sell that well.

talk of greddy and sard turbo kits already tells me that the support is there for this.

I can't see much of a market for it to be honest.

The mx5 is cheaper and appeals to both sexes.
The 370z is way faster.

I think the market (trackday/modding hereos) is too small.

May be an interesting used buy in 2-3 years.

No doubt it will be a huge success in Japan and the u.s.

 

[Imy]

I really like it. It's usefully cheaper than the 370z and imo better looking than the MX5. I'm sure the MX5 is a great car but it's a little too feminine for me - I prefer the more agressive looks of the FT86.

Comparisons aside, the FT86 sounds like it's about having fun which is what appeals most to me. More speed does not necessarily mean more fun e.g. I had more fun in my MK1 Focus 2.0 than I have in the ST220 I drive now because I could drive the focus on the edge more of the time and it had a lighter and more nimble feel to it.

I was looking at getting the new Fiesta ST when it dropped in price for my commute which is mostly urban driving but this looks much better if the price is right.

 

[peterattheboro]

I really like it. It's usefully cheaper than the 370z and imo better looking than the MX5. I'm sure the MX5 is a great car but it's a little too feminine for me - I prefer the more agressive looks of the FT86.

Comparisons aside, the FT86 sounds like it's about having fun which is what appeals most to me. More speed does not necessarily mean more fun e.g. I had more fun in my MK1 Focus 2.0 than I have in the ST220 I drive now because I could drive the focus on the edge more of the time and it had a lighter and more nimble feel to it.

I was looking at getting the new Fiesta ST when it dropped in price for my commute which is mostly urban driving but this looks much better if the price is right.

The ST220 isn't hard to have proper fun with on public roads. Push it harder!

 

[Imy]

On the weekend maybe but my commute is pretty congested with no less than 20 sets of traffic lights and that's the fastest route. I'm not looking to replace the ST220 but to add a car that complements it.

 

[peterattheboro]

On your commute an MX5, Atom, Ferrari is going to be the same. If you want a car for the weekend then use your ST220

Find some B roads and attack them. The ST is a fantastic handling car for what is essentially a family barge

Anyway /OT.

 

[spaz]

Waiting for Subaru to pull their finger out and announce their trim levels/prices, if they do a no frills version for around the 21-22k mark I will be sticking some money down on one, if something like that doesnt materialise however I shall wait a bit longer for some used examples to come available in a year or so before getting my mitts on one.

 

[AndrewNR]

I really like it. It's usefully cheaper than the 370z and imo better looking than the MX5. I'm sure the MX5 is a great car but it's a little too feminine for me - I prefer the more agressive looks of the FT86.

Comparisons aside, the FT86 sounds like it's about having fun which is what appeals most to me. More speed does not necessarily mean more fun e.g. I had more fun in my MK1 Focus 2.0 than I have in the ST220 I drive now because I could drive the focus on the edge more of the time and it had a lighter and more nimble feel to it.

I was looking at getting the new Fiesta ST when it dropped in price for my commute which is mostly urban driving but this looks much better if the price is right.

Yours for just 26k, sir. About 10k more than that of a fiesta st.
I hope the car does well as petrolheads need alternatives to BMW and a couple jap stuff for rwd fun. I just think it needed 250bhp from the off. Hopefully a 2.5/3.0 litre version will appear.

 

[hurfdurf]

I can't see much of a market for it to be honest.

The mx5 is cheaper and appeals to both sexes.
The 370z is way faster.

I think the market (trackday/modding hereos) is too small.

May be an interesting used buy in 2-3 years.

No doubt it will be a huge success in Japan and the u.s.

Whilst a 370Z is much faster, its also much heavier and the kind of back road blasting the people who enjoy MX5's and presumably the FT-86 would have you in jail or seriously hurting yourself at 9/10's in a 370Z

 

[ubersonic]

Whilst a 370Z is much faster, its also much heavier and the kind of back road blasting the people who enjoy MX5's and presumably the FT-86 would have you in jail or seriously hurting yourself at 9/10's in a 370Z

Agreed, I remember seeing a vid on youtube a while back of Tsuchiya beating an R34 GTR in a touge race using his AE86, think he said something like "Its not about the power its about balance"

 

[Jonnycoupe]

Its also a shame that the 2JZ is 21 years old this month and yet as the video a few posts above shows, its still a 'better' (in terms of interesting things like performance rather than fuel economy and emissions) engine than modern stuff being put out today.

Does 'interesting' include illegal to sell? Thats the problem with emission requirements.

I guess this is RWD and not hybrid hence the support for it being about fun to drive. There didnt seem to be as much support for the Honda CRZ with its similar 0-60...

 

[lordrobs]

since when is putting your foot down and feeling the exhilaration of accelerating not fun?its not like an a3 or something is going to feel like its going to fall off a cliff when it goes around a corner most cars handle pretty well these days from a fiesta to a focus and beyond..

I would look at this from the other direction and say that it is hugely entertaining to keep a revvy engine on the boil. I love the fact that as long as I'm doing around 2000 rpm I can just slap my foot down and go for the daily grind but when giving it some stick I also love to be able to spin the car up to the limiter without doing stupid speeds. Hitting the limiter in my car in second would see me doing over the limit (all be it only slightly ) and in noticeable terms I might as well be doing 4000rpm as 6000rpm as my car gives pretty much everything its got to offer lower down the revs. Great on the motorway but not focussed towards driver enjoyment as the FT-86 is.

 

[peterattheboro]

I would look at this from the other direction and say that it is hugely entertaining to keep a revvy engine on the boil. I love the fact that as long as I'm doing around 2000 rpm I can just slap my foot down and go for the daily grind but when giving it some stick I also love to be able to spin the car up to the limiter without doing stupid speeds. Hitting the limiter in my car in second would see me doing over the limit (all be it only slightly ) and in noticeable terms I might as well be doing 4000rpm as 6000rpm as my car gives pretty much everything its got to offer lower down the revs. Great on the motorway but not focussed towards driver enjoyment as the FT-86 is.

Like.

 

[Eliot]

I'd like one but I wouldnt want a car slower than what i have now so i'll wait for a STI or TRD before i consider.

 

[The Running Man]

Agreed, I remember seeing a vid on youtube a while back of Tsuchiya beating an R34 GTR in a touge race using his AE86, think he said something like "Its not about the power its about balance"

im pretty sure that dropping 10k on the engine and suspension helped? plus being a race driver? but im sure any old crusty ae 86 will suffice right.

like fensport made the most amazing 8th gen celica. all they had to do was drop in a 3sgte new transmission and fix the suspension...

if you plan to spend 26k #and 10k drift modding it you'd have been better off with a 350 or ttrs .. as a platform to work from as it already has the power...

as i said on the previous page. too expensive and not enough ponies to satisfy whoever might want such a car..

 

[ubersonic]

im pretty sure that dropping 10k on the engine and suspension helped? plus being a race driver? but im sure any old crusty ae 86 will suffice right.

The Skyline wasn't standard either and had a race driver in it too. They both agreed after that the skylines power advantage was outweighed by the AE86's lightness and handling advantages.

 

[The Running Man]

I would look at this from the other direction and say that it is hugely entertaining to keep a revvy engine on the boil. I love the fact that as long as I'm doing around 2000 rpm I can just slap my foot down and go for the daily grind but when giving it some stick I also love to be able to spin the car up to the limiter without doing stupid speeds. Hitting the limiter in my car in second would see me doing over the limit (all be it only slightly ) and in noticeable terms I might as well be doing 4000rpm as 6000rpm as my car gives pretty much everything its got to offer lower down the revs. Great on the motorway but not focussed towards driver enjoyment as the FT-86 is.

don't know if its just me or what but this post seems a bit incoherent.

you love revvy engine? good.
your car hits 71mph in second? cool.
you might as well be doing 4000-6000? okay how does that relate to the points above?
driver enjoyment can be obtained in many ways.

you know a car can have short gears but high rev limit?

 

[lordrobs]

don't know if its just me or what but this post seems a bit incoherent.

you love revvy engine? good.
your car hits 71mph in second? cool.
you might as well be doing 4000-6000? okay how does that relate to the points above?
driver enjoyment can be obtained in many ways.

you know a car can have short gears but high rev limit?

The point I was trying to make was that for a lot of people the idea of keeping a revvy engine on the boil is where a large portion of the enjoyment comes from. The problem is that you can't have it all ways. If the car has loads of power then you can't wring its neck in the upper end of the revs without doing silly speeds.

The comparison with my car which hits the limiter in second at 72 IIRC is that as that nice twisty section of country road appears the reality is that I can't even use all the revs available in second without breaking the speed limit and the reality is that apart from the very tightest of turns I could just leave it in third. While that kind of flexibility is good for day to day getting you from A to B it doesn't lend itself to an agile B road screamer like the FT-86.

In an ideal world I'd love a car like the FT-86 for fun backed up with something considerably more pokey for the day to day stuff. To be able to squeeze everything that the 200BHP torqueless mill has would put a bigger grin on my face than if it had a turbo bolted on, had 280bhp and had the same "might as well leave it in third" driving characteristics of my current car.

Hopefully that clarifies my previous post a bit.

 

[hurfdurf]

Only problem with 140bhp 1000kg MX5's is over taking power can leave a lot to be desired, I wonder if 200bhp in 1200kg will make it more pleasant?

 

[peterattheboro]

don't know if its just me or what but this post seems a bit incoherent.

you love revvy engine? good.
your car hits 71mph in second? cool.
you might as well be doing 4000-6000? okay how does that relate to the points above?
driver enjoyment can be obtained in many ways.

you know a car can have short gears but high rev limit?

His point is that you can take a lower powered car to it's limit and still get the same enjoyment from taking a higher powered car to it's limit without the risk of losing your license.

 

[Imy]

Can someone clear something up for me. I was looking through the specs of the GT86 and noticed it's 0-62mph time was identical to the ST220's.

Both cars are NA but the GT86 is RWD so should have better traction off the line vs the FWD ST220 and is also 250kg lighter. I also know from experience the ST220 is sluggish moving off.

Can the extra 26bhp and 5 Nm of torque of the ST220 really make that kind of difference or am I missing something?