The Toyota 86 is a 2+2 sports car jointly developed by Toyota and Subaru, manufactured at Subaru's Gunma assembly plant — along with a badge engineered variant, marketed as the Subaru BRZ.
The 2+2 fastback coupé is noted for its naturally-aspirated boxer engine, front-engined, rear-wheel-drive configuration, 53/47 front/rear weight balance and low center of gravity — and for drawing inspiration from Toyota's earlier AE86, a small, light, front-engine/rear-drive Corolla variant widely popular for Showroom Stock, Group A, and Group N, Rally, Club and drift racing.
Toyota markets the sports car as the 86 in Asia, Australia, North America (from August 2016), South Africa, and South America; as the Toyota GT86 in Europe; as the 86 and GT86 in New Zealand; as the Toyota FT86 in Nicaragua and Jamaica and as the Scion FR-S (2012-2016) in the United States and Canada.
The development code of the 2+2 was 086A and its main production names 86 (pronounced "eight-six" or Hachi-Roku (ハチロク) in Japanese) or GT86, reference historic Toyota front-engined and rear-wheel drive sports coupés and hatchbacks, including:
Toyota also referred to its first sports car, the Sports 800, given that both this car and the 86 share a boxer engine layout.
Initial layout and design elements for the 86 were presented by Toyota using its "FT" (Future Toyota) concept car nomenclature. The first was the Toyota FT-HS, which was presented at the North American International Auto Show in 2007. It had a front engine, rear-wheel drive layout and 2+2 seating and was powered by a V6 engine with hybrid electric assistance. In 2008, Toyota bought 16.5% of Fuji Heavy Industries, which includes the Subaru automotive brand. Toyota, led by project leader Tetsuya Tada, then invited Subaru to partner in the project, by co-developing the new D-4S boxer engine. The offer, which conflicted with Subaru's reputation for high performance all-wheel drive (AWD) cars, was rejected. The project came to a six-month halt before Toyota invited journalists and Subaru engineers to test a developmental prototype. Following the test, Subaru agreed to become further involved in development.
The collaboration produced a concept car, the FT-86, which debuted at the Tokyo Motor Show in October 2009. Smaller than the FT-HS, the design of the FT-86 was further refined by Toyota's ED2 design studio while the hybrid V6 powerplant was replaced by the new D-4S boxer. Subaru provided the chassis, modifying it from their Impreza. The custom red paint was based on the backside of a Japanese macaque.
At the 2010 Tokyo Motor Show, Toyota launched its G Sports line of aftermarket accessories, along with the FT-86 G Sports concept car. It featured G Sports carbon fibre panels, a vented bonnet, rear wing, 19 in (48 cm) wheels, Recaro race seats, and an interior rollcage. The D-4S engine also added a turbocharger.
In 2011, Toyota and Subaru unveiled five near-production concept cars to show their progress with the project. The first, known as the FT-86 II Concept, was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2011. ED2 refined the design of the initial FT-86, by developing new front and rear fascias, and marginally increasing the dimensions of the concept. At the same show, Subaru unveiled a transparent silhouette of the car showing the new D-4S boxer engine and displayed the "Boxer Sports Car Architecture".
Scion followed in April 2011 at the New York International Auto Show with the FR-S Sports Coupé Concept, co-developed with aftermarket tuner Five Axis. Another semi-transparent Subaru concept, known as the BRZ Prologue, was shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show that September, followed in November at the Los Angeles Auto Show by the BRZ Concept STi, the first full mock-up of Subaru's version of the 86 with input from Subaru Tecnica International (STI).
The production Toyota 86 debuted at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show. All variants are built at Subaru's Gunma Main Plant, with the first cars assembled on 2 February before sales began in March and deliveries in April. 7,000 orders were placed for the Toyota 86 in the first month of production, while Subaru took in 3,500 orders.
In the United States, Scion were allocated 10,000 units of the 2013 model year (MY13) production, while Subaru was limited to only 6,000 units.
The 86's engine, known by the Toyota code 4U-GSE and Subaru code FA20, is a naturally aspirated engine that uses Subaru's flat-four engine design, with the addition of Toyota's D-4S injection system, which uses both Gasoline direct injection (GDI) and multipoint fuel injection. With its front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, its engine runs on 98 RON (premium unleaded) fuel and features a compression ratio of 12.5:1 with a bore and stroke of 86 mm (3.39 in) for a total displacement of 2.0 L; 121.9 cu in (1,998 cc) that results in 200 PS (197 bhp; 147 kW) at 7,000 rpm and 151 lb⋅ft (205 N⋅m) of torque at 6,400 rpm. The 86's low-weight design uses an aluminium hood, a fixed roof, and a trunk as opposed to a hatchback. The boxer engine sits as far back and as low as possible in the engine bay for a weight distribution of 53% in front and 47% in the rear.
The 86, BRZ and FR-S are offered with two 6-speed transmissions: an in-house developed Toyota TL70 manual gearbox (based on Aisin AI's AZ6) and an Aisin-Warner A960E automatic transmission, which is modified from that used on the Lexus IS 250. The latter uses a traditional wet torque converter design, but its software has been engineered to mimic the response of a dual-clutch transmission. The automatic transmission uses three different modes: Sport, Snow, and Normal. A torsen style limited slip differential is standard on most models.
The vehicles are offered with 16" steel and alloy wheels shod with Yokohama dB Decibel E70 tyres in 205/55 size or 17" alloy wheels shod with Michelin Primacy HP tyres in 215/45 size, depending on sales market. The limited editions Toyota Racing Development (TRD) GT86 models are instead offered with 18" forged aluminium wheels, which are shod with either Yokohama Advan Sport tyres Michelin Pilot Sport 3 tyres in 225/40 size, also depending on market. All non-TRD cars feature front ventilated disc brakes and solid rear disc brakes on base models or, on higher models, also ventilated rear disc brakes with two piston-opposed calipers in the front and single caliper design in the rear. The TRD editions instead have an upgraded braking system comprising upsized TRD two-piece rotors and TRD six-pot 355mm front and four-pot 345mm rear calipers (compared to the GTS' 294mm and 290mm calipers and GT's 277mm and 286mm, respectively). Suspension design comprises front MacPherson struts and double wishbones at the rear.
In 2016, for the 2017 model year, the 86 was upgraded to 153 kW (205 bhp; 208 PS) and 212 N⋅m (156 lb⋅ft). The final drive ratio was lowered from 4.1 to 4.3.
The 86's rear-wheel drive configuration and front-mounted flat boxer engine allow a low center of gravity for strong handling characteristics. The bodywork has a drag coefficient of Cd=0.27.
According to the 86's designers, "The goal was to create an authentic rear-wheel drive sports car with compelling style, exceptionally balanced performance and handling, flexible utility and surprising MPG." When asked about the TRD version of the car, the lead engineer Mr. Tada said "There is definitely going to be a more TRD oriented variant down the line. However any of the parts that would be standard on the TRD model will fit on your current Toyota 86 so there is no need to wait."
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