Photo: Kolesa.ru
Every JDM fan knows that Toyota and Subaru collaborated on this famous sports coupe project last decade. It's even got the nickname "Toyobaru." But while the all-new 2022 Subaru BRZ just got released, it appears the 86's launch will be pushed back until next year.
Japanese scoop website Best Car Web reported last week that the new Toyota 86 had been pushed back. The reason? CEO Akio Toyoda wants his product to be differentiated from the BRZ in terms of performance. That doesn't mean it should be much faster, it just needs to have its own handling characteristics.
The delay hasn't been confirmed, but our source states that due to the "difficulty" imposed by President Akio, the development team is having to push back the launch. The debut is now believed to take place in March 2022.
Ironically, we think this decision benefits Subaru, not Toyota. While the relationship between the cars is known by literally every buyer, Scion and later Toyota appeared to get most of the sales. That was mainly due to the cult status of the 86 nameplate, even though Subaru actually carried out much of the engineering and development for this project.
But if a new BRZ debuts first, it's going to get a lot of attention. On paper, it's a much better sports coupe than its predecessor, featuring a 2.4-liter horizontally-opposed 4-cylinder which sits even lower in the body, makes more hp, and has a flatter power curve. It's going to make the outgoing 86 obsolete, and since the two are made at the same factory, we presume there's not even going to be a 86 on sale this year.
So what are the engineers actually going to change? Well, the new 86 is supposed to have different gearing and engine tuning to make it feel like it accelerates faster. Also, they're going to change the ride in some way. The same story also talks about the Supra GRMN, a hardcore version of the other Toyota sports product. It's reportedly going to make over 500 hp but it will also be limited to just 200 examples when it goes on sale in 2023.
The delay hasn't been confirmed, but our source states that due to the "difficulty" imposed by President Akio, the development team is having to push back the launch. The debut is now believed to take place in March 2022.
Ironically, we think this decision benefits Subaru, not Toyota. While the relationship between the cars is known by literally every buyer, Scion and later Toyota appeared to get most of the sales. That was mainly due to the cult status of the 86 nameplate, even though Subaru actually carried out much of the engineering and development for this project.
But if a new BRZ debuts first, it's going to get a lot of attention. On paper, it's a much better sports coupe than its predecessor, featuring a 2.4-liter horizontally-opposed 4-cylinder which sits even lower in the body, makes more hp, and has a flatter power curve. It's going to make the outgoing 86 obsolete, and since the two are made at the same factory, we presume there's not even going to be a 86 on sale this year.
So what are the engineers actually going to change? Well, the new 86 is supposed to have different gearing and engine tuning to make it feel like it accelerates faster. Also, they're going to change the ride in some way. The same story also talks about the Supra GRMN, a hardcore version of the other Toyota sports product. It's reportedly going to make over 500 hp but it will also be limited to just 200 examples when it goes on sale in 2023.
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