What do you think of when someone mentions “Cosworth”? Is it Formula 1, the classic 1985 Ford Sierra Cosworth, or perhaps the Mercedes-Benz 190E specially designed in collaboration with the UK-based high-performance engineering company? Whatever it is, soon you'll also include the Toyota GT 86 nameplate in the iconic range.
For many “oldschool” car enthusiasts, the Toyota GT 86 is almost the perfect new coupe a reasonable amount of cash can buy. You get a classic coupe-shape, with a balanced naturally-aspirated four-cylinder engine mounted up front, a six-speed manual gearbox and transmission at the rear via a limited slip differential.
Add the fact that the GT 86's weight is almost perfectly 50:50 balanced on the two axles and that is more practical than others because is easy to look after and is not such a gas devouring monster and you end up with a stylish coupe you can enjoy daily to work and in the weekend on track.
But some find the 2-liter almost-200 hp engine a bit of a pain in the arse, because even a hot-hatch can smoke the hell out of you now from a standing start.
We admit that around 300 hp is what this coupe really needs, but lets not forget that Toyota and Subaru wanted to create a budget RWD coupe. So its perfectly normal that you'll have to put some money into it if you want to make it faster. The two companies only gave you a perfectly acceptable base to start with.
Thankfully, there are a lot of tuners out there to offer you a supercharger for your new-age hachi-roku, but it looks like a new 'kid' is coming round the block this summer to join the tire-screeching fun – Cosworth.
“For 2014 we are bringing this to our Performance Parts range - providing complete performance upgrade kits that have been designed and validated as a system to provide guaranteed levels of power and reliability. First for the Cosworth Power Package treatment ..? the FA20 engine platform ... coming soon.”
That's what Cosworth says on their official webpage and they even released a short video teaser regarding their new project. They gave no other information on the power-pack but take a close look at the video they released and you'll spot some of the extra bits there.
Google News