2021 Toyota 86 GTS track test & performance review
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TechTranscript
00:00Hey guys, Chris here from Car Expert and we're back at Queensland Raceway, our test track.
00:04Today we've got the Toyota 86 GTS, been excited to test this car and see how it goes on the
00:08track.
00:09Now it's not renowned for its levels of grip, but it is renowned for being fun to drive.
00:14152 kilowatts and 212 newton metres of torque, rear wheel drive, 6 speed manual, driven a
00:19lot of boxer engines, mostly turbocharged, so this is a bit different.
00:23We'll be interested to see how it compares to say the Mazda MX-5 and then the hot hatches,
00:27can it catch those cars, being rear wheel drive and a little bit under tired, it's
00:32going to be hard, but we're going to have fun trying.
00:36First we'll do the zero to 100 and then the braking test, then we'll do the lap times
00:39and see how she goes.
00:57Alright, initial impressions, seating position is pretty good, nice small compact wheel
01:07as well, everything is just user friendly, easy to get to, gear shifts, pedal position
01:14seems nice and tight as well, so it should be easy to heel and toe.
01:18Seating wise, I feel I can go a little bit lower, which I will, there we go, that feels
01:24actually really good.
01:25I'm in a nice low position, on a good angle and just a good level, don't like being too
01:31on top of the car or too low, it's pretty important to have a good feeling, that gives
01:35you a good vibe for the car as well, if you're sitting, you feel like you're in it, you feel
01:40like you can really drive the thing.
01:41Now as we build up a little bit of speed, I like the steering, it's nice and precise
01:49and it's also linear with what I'm asking, so I can feel what's happening and it's responding
01:54to how I expect, which is just a little bit of a confidence inspiring thing.
01:58Now as you expect, the engine doesn't feel crazy, but it's more about fun this car than
02:08outright performance.
02:09Let's test out the brakes and see how the pedal feels.
02:16Feels pretty good actually, nice and consistent, nice and firm and I can modulate as well,
02:22which is unfortunately a rare thing in modern road cars, a lot of them want to do it for
02:29themselves rather than letting you control the brake pressure.
02:32Suspension doesn't feel bad, it feels quite progressive, like there's a fair amount of
02:39roll there, but there's also support, it's not falling over and it's not too hard, so
02:48I feel like I can manipulate the car myself, like I can add steering and load the car rather
02:54than it falling over and then I can add some rotation to it, which is nice.
02:59Now I've got traction control off and let's try and do a lap time.
03:17Let's go.
03:47Let's go.
04:17So there you go, the Toyota GTS 86, not the quickest car out here that's for sure, a 104
04:3074, so off the pace a little bit, but there's reasons for that.
04:35This is a car that seems happy to live with a little bit of yaw, it wants to be sliding,
04:40everything encourages you to want to yaw the car a bit and I got my best times with a slight
04:45bit of yaw off the corners as well, it's just where it wants to be and the cool thing is
04:50it achieves it in two ways, you can either ask a little bit of the throttle and get the
04:55car to yaw or ask a little bit of the steering and build up the front grip and get the rear
05:01to yaw, so you can achieve it sort of whenever you want, which is so cool.
05:05Gear shifts were nice and crisp, never had any issues with them, heel towing was good,
05:10I was able to match the revs pretty well.
05:13It is hard to actually hear the engine with this helmet on, so a couple of times I hit
05:19the limiter just revving the engine right out, trying to get the most out of it and
05:23ran into the limiter but unfortunately not on the fastest lap.
05:27Nice how it's got the little gear shift light, the little red dot comes on when you're right
05:32up there, I'd actually like it a fraction earlier just to give me a bit more of a warning
05:38as well.
05:40Steering, again really good, everything's just connected so you feel what's happening
05:45across the four wheels, the chassis, everything's connected together and that's what makes it
05:51enjoyable to drive, forget about the lap time, it's not what it's here for, it's a connection
05:56to the driver, the steering, everything's direct and you can feel the bumps in the road,
06:01feel the grip, you can manage the limit which is always nice, I never had a big moment,
06:08whenever I had a moment I could catch that moment, control it, slide it.
06:13I'd say the engine's just a little bit underwhelming and I know it's packaged to the smaller tyres
06:19and definitely on the first few laps I overdid it with the tyres, just went in and just had
06:24no lateral grip and then I had to dial it back in my mind, bring it back and try and
06:30control the car into the corner a bit more but just especially when you shift gears and
06:35look for it to pull, it just is a little bit slow in revving out and I thought it might
06:40have been a bit closer lap time-wise, the MX-5, it is a bit hotter day-to-day so that's
06:45hurting it a little bit but the MX-5 is a couple of hundred kilos lighter which is massive
06:49as well and I felt that that just got going, even though it had a little bit less power
06:53I felt like it just got going a little bit quicker.
06:57So there you go guys, the Toyota 86 GTS, our first go out here in this car and
07:03it's an interesting one, as you leave pit lane you feel like you're at the limit of grip,
07:07the tyres are small, there's not a lot of power and overall it's a bit of a challenge
07:12but that's a great thing because the car's actually really fun to drive, it teaches you
07:16a lot about your driving, you're really at the limit all the time and it's down to you
07:20what happens, you choose the level of oversteer, you choose the understeer, it's all down to you,
07:25the car's not doing anything which is so much fun.
07:28My three top tips for this car, one, really control the balance, walk the fine line on
07:33the way into the corner, if you're under committed you won't carry enough speed, if you're over
07:37committed you'll waste time so be really focused on that balance release of the brake pedal.
07:43Then once you get to the middle of the corner, it's down to the fun part, this car loves
07:47to slide and just yaw off the corner, the quickest times I did was actually sliding
07:51the car a little bit so I used the throttle, drift a little bit and use that momentum off
07:56the corner, you can really enjoy the car like that.
07:58And finally, with this car you can learn a lot about your driving so you've got to think
08:02about what you're doing, it gives you so much feedback so listen to what the car has to
08:06say and use that to improve your driving skill.
08:10Overall, fun car, not the quickest out here but really enjoyed the 86 on the track.
08:15So I hope you guys enjoyed the video, if you did hit the like button and don't forget to
08:18subscribe to the channel, plenty more videos to come, give us some feedback as well, we'd
08:22love to hear what you'd like to see out on the track next.
08:24Thanks for watching, hope you enjoyed it.