GR86 Real World Road Tests & Reviews

[Arthur-A]

Still a small dip around 4 - 4.5K RPM lol

[austintampa]

Originally Posted by Blighty

Dyno from savagegeese

Niiiiiice.

209 at the wheels, 173 lbft. That's less than a 10% loss indicating more power at the crank than advertised (similar to the other GR products) - the dyno looks more in line with what we see in the in car image as far as general plot.

Was done at King Motorsports Unlimited

They note that in comparison on their dyno the OG 86 was 162/132.

hoping with bolt ons/tune we start seeing around 235whp. thats so much more power to spool a turbo now. if the new pistons/rods/trans is enough to hold the power Id think 320whp would be a safe goal with a turbo kit. these things are going to be rockets at HPDEs.

[Blighty]

Originally Posted by Arthur-A

Still a small dip around 4 - 4.5K RPM lol

Yeah - Lets call it in keeping with the originals character

This confirms what almost everyone said at the drive days. I feel like the engine is in a really great space, cannot wait to see what people do with it.

[alan7467]

Originally Posted by Kona61

I’m curious what he means by less fun. Like I’d agree top down, a Miata is likely more fun and is probably hard to beat. Guess I’ll have to wait since I’m a cheap SOB

Here’s some notes from what he said, mostly verbatim. The ND2 is the better street car because:


“Sense of whimsicalness, it’s fun to operate on the street, it makes you feel like you want to pound it around and have fun all the time with it.

86 looses some of that because it doesn’t have the open top experience. The engine doesn’t sound great and the fake engine noise is horrendous. It’s the next best street car though (compared to ND2, FRS, s2000). Power is accessible down low. You can reach limits on the street and still have fun. “


Me copying that here doesn’t mean I agree with it BTW. I’ve owned three Miatas (including a ND1 RF), but have never driven a 86. So I don’t really have an opinion either way. I like the option of an open top myself, but not everybody does, and that alone can really color ones preference.

[Kona61]

Originally Posted by alan7467

Here’s some notes from what he said, mostly verbatim. The ND2 is the better street car because:


“Sense of whimsicalness, it’s fun to operate on the street, it makes you feel like you want to pound it around and have fun all the time with it.

86 looses some of that because it doesn’t have the open top experience. The engine doesn’t sound great and the fake engine noise is horrendous. It’s the next best street car though (compared to ND2, FRS, s2000). Power is accessible down low. You can reach limits on the street and still have fun. “


Me copying that here doesn’t mean I agree with it BTW. I’ve owned three Miatas (including a ND1 RF), but have never driven a 86. So I don’t really have an opinion either way. I like the option of an open top myself, but not everybody does, and that alone can really color ones preference.

Interesting. Well, it seems the fake sound is easily fixed and a boxer is one motor you can easily change the sound of from fart can rasp to classic subie rumble. So I guess I’m sold lol.

[LancePower]

Originally Posted by Arthur-A

Still a small dip around 4 - 4.5K RPM lol

So are you up-shifting into the dip now that it is higher?

Where on the first-gen cars if you shifted at redline you where past the dip.

[DarkSunrise]

Originally Posted by LancePower

So are you up-shifting into the dip now that it is higher?

Where on the first-gen cars if you shifted at redline you where past the dip.

No the gen 2 dip ends even earlier. Looks to be 3500-4200 RPM based on that dyno. The gen 1 dip was 3200-4600 RPM.

[Blighty]

Originally Posted by Kona61

I’m curious what he means by less fun. Like I’d agree top down, a Miata is likely more fun and is probably hard to beat. Guess I’ll have to wait since I’m a cheap SOB

Oh he loved the GR86. The primary reason he gave that Miata is more fun on the street was because its an open top.

I'm not sure who coined the phrase, was it haggerty? The feeling you get from the takeaway is that this is a goldilocks car, cheap, high levels of performance all around now, with those same compromises that you can live with - just all better.

[fitcious]

The new one doesn’t come with a spare tire right? and MPG sucks?

[Blighty]

Originally Posted by fitcious

The new one doesn’t come with a spare tire right? and MPG sucks?

Dont think so. Though the 22 BRZ in Australia has been specced with a full size spare, so perhaps wait till we see the final specs.

MPG? Is 10% less mpg really a concern - its ok for a sports car.

[Yoshoobaroo]

Originally Posted by Blighty

Dont think so. Though the 22 BRZ in Australia has been specced with a full size spare, so perhaps wait till we see the final specs.

The full size spare probably requires that weird trunk floor again:



The Japanese options list shows a space saver spare option too:
https://www.subaru.jp/accessory/cata...?date=20210729

[nikitopo]

Don't take Savagegeese too much seriously. He was saying for years that the old car didn't have a good engine. Is he saying now that the new one is not as fun on the street and is better on the track? Getting a much better lower end torque curve offers a bigger advantage the other way around (i.e. more fun on the street).

[Lantanafrs2]

All that bullshit whining about the Japanese dyno chart.

[Blighty]

Originally Posted by Yoshoobaroo

The full size spare probably requires that weird trunk floor again:



The Japanese options list shows a space saver spare option too:
https://www.subaru.jp/accessory/cata...?date=20210729

Yeah I'd assume so.