Toyota have today released confirmation of pricing and specification details for the updated 2017 GT86, which goes on sale at the beginning of October 2016.
Despite the multitude of awards and the tremendous amounts of praise the GT86 has received since launching back in 2012, Toyota’s “Always a Better Way” and continuous improvement philosophy has led to a new and improved GT86, with a new look outside and plenty of tangible changes inside. Rest assured – this is not just another facelift.
“We’ve remade everything” was the statement from Tetsuya Tada, who is the car’s chief designer. “The biggest point I wanted to improve was the car’s responsiveness – on and off acceleration, turning in and turning out, and the speed and naturalness of its reactions”.
Improvements to the already fantastic handling characteristics were clearly top of the priority list for Tada-san’s development team. This has led to further tuning of the electronic control systems and the introduction of a new selectable “trade” mode which alters the stability and traction control to be optimised for use on a circuit. The changes have not been made on a whim – data gathered from the 24 Hours of Nurburgring in which a racing version of the GT86 competes has been used for fine tuning, and certainly justifies the “track” mode name.
The exterior of the GT86 has been heavily revised with new designs for the front and rear bumper, while aero-stabilising fins have been introduced on the side of the car. New design 10-spoke alloy wheels have been fitted, as have new LED headlamps at the front and new light guides in the LED rear tail lights.
Inside the new 2017 GT86 there has been a revised cockpit which gives the driver and even more connected feel with the car. The key ingredient in this of course is the steering wheel, and the new one is 3-spoked and just 362mm in diameter, the smallest ever fitted to a production Toyota. Audio controls have been fitted to the steering wheel this time around.
A new 4.2-inch TFT screen is positioned next to the rev counter, and includes switchable menus for the fuel economy and trip information, but also included are power/torque curves, a stopwatch and a g-force monitor – very handy on a track day! Attention to detail is highlighted by the fact that the rev counter has been reoriented so that 7,000rpm sits at the top of the dial – 7,000rpm being the point of peak power delivery.
There are just two models in the GT86 range this time around – GT86 from £25,945 and GT86 Pro from £27,095. Both are available with a manual or automatic gearbox and all models come with adaptive LED headlights, cruise control, electric folding door mirrors, aluminium sports pedals and keyless entry with push button start.
Contact your nearest Ron Brooks Toyota centre for the latest information or to book your test drive.
