Car Advice: 'Toyota 86 to undercut VW Golf GTI'

[church]

From http://www.caradvice.com.au/167653/t...t-vw-golf-gti/

By Jez Spinks | April 11th, 2012

The new Toyota 86 sports car will be cheaper than a Volkswagen Golf GTI when it goes on sale in June, sources have revealed to CarAdvice.

There has been intense speculation about the price of Toyota’s rear-wheel-drive coupe, which aims to put the brand renowned for dependable but conservative cars back among the consideration set of driving enthusiasts.

Toyota has previously said only that it hoped to start the 86?s price tag with a ’3?, but CarAdvice’s sources say the local car maker has been successful in negotiating an even better price than $39,990 with Toyota HQ in Japan.

“It will be a little bit cheaper than that,” our insider said when asked if the 86 would undercut the $38,990 three-door version of the highly popular VW Golf GTI, suggesting a price of about $37,990. “We’ve had long discussions with Japan to get there [to that price],” they added.

The near-identical twin produced as part of a joint venture, the Subaru BRZ, is also now expected to be priced similarly to the 86, whereas the original expectation was a higher, low-$40K price point.

Subaru, however, is wary of the BRZ treading on the toes of its hero car, the WRX hot-hatch that costs $39,990 before on-road charges are added.

Toyota is expected to offer two versions of the 86, with a higher-spec model available in addition to the sub-$38,990 entry-level model. Subaru will offer only one specification, with the bias towards lighter weight and handling rather than being loaded with features.

[brufleth]

Took me a minute to realize you were talking about Aus prices. In the US the GTI starts at about $24k but can quickly rise above the price of an 86 with a few options. Similar horsepower but more torque thanks to the turbo. You're still driving a FWD econobox though. Probably a more usable rear seat and you can definitely carry more around in it.

As someone who owns a "hot hatch" I don't really see why these cars are being compared. A Golf GTI or WRX are definitely more practical, they're bigger, weight more, and are just modified economy cars. Don't get me wrong, I love my WRX but it is what it is. I love that I can carry large amounts of stuff and accelerates well. It is still just an Impreza with a turbo though.

I haven't driven the FRS/BRZ/86 yet but my hope is that it'll be sportier feeling and more driving focused. Maybe I'll be disappointed and I'll go elsewhere. I'm looking for a little sports car though and not another hatchback.

[Sep]

So that would make it around 41-42k drive away, which is about right for the lower spec.

Sounds like pretty disappointing news for those who were hoping to get one on the road for low to mid 30s.

[Nardi330]

Mmmmm interesting. A little on the high side but not a deal breaker. Maybe wait a few months to for discount.

[Sep]

Would be interesting to see when they start discounting. When the Golf GTI's came out and were is low supply, dealers were flogging them off at full retail whereas now 8-15% discount is the norm.

[MarksmanR]

This is actually a few grand cheaper than I expected.

[crouchy35]

What happened to the idea that Subaru was only bringing a fully-specced model???

More importantly, how is the 86 a competitor to the GTI? One is a geniune four(kinda 5) seat FWD turbo hatchback and the other is a 2(not really 4) seat RWD non-turbo sports car.

Different markets if you ask me.

[Nardi330]

Originally Posted by crouchy35

What happened to the idea that Subaru was only bringing a fully-specced model???

Subaru's top spec (S) in Japan is actually mid spec for JDM 86 (GT).

Subaru has 3 spec while Toyota has 4. U need to option up the BRZ spec S to get 86 GT Limited spec.

Apparently our top spec 86 is similar to GT Limited so the top spec BRZ here might be below that if Subaru Aus follows Japan.

[PuGZoR]

Probably the reason they're looking at the GTI is to hopefully open the market a bit. There isn't a huge number of people specifically looking for a sporty RWD coupe, so if they want to move a bit more volume they need to look at people who would look at cars in slightly different segments.

They're not going to convince a soccer mum to buy the 86, but for the young professions who'd otherwise buy a relatively cheap Euro... maybe the 86 is something they'd consider. The Golf probably aligns with the markets that Toyota thinks they could steal a few sales from, especially given the infamous waiting period that they've amassed.

Remember that the majority of new car buyers generally don't care that much for cars beyond how they look. They don't care too much for driveline or method of induction, as long as driving it will make them look good. In some cases technical terms (turbo, AWD, symmetry, etc) are used as marketing stimuli without the buyer fully knowing what they mean. A salesman can say "turbo will give you power" or "all wheel drive makes your car safer in x condition", but do they explain how? Rarely. You can bet that these are the features they point out to friends they want to impress that have a similar level of knowledge in cars.

Still, looking good. Whatever helps bring the price down is cool with me.

[davey90]

Usually when they talk car prices are manual low spec car only price, right?

[BigM]

Yeah they will always be talking the bare bones price before any onroads in press material.

Let's hope it's not like a Golf, where you're spending more like $50k drive away to get it with some decent options on it...

Interesting that this article says Subaru are going to focus on a light weight version not one full of features... Perhaps they couldn't get it to the price they wanted or decided they would get slaughtered if it if was higher priced than the Toyota?

[newft86]

Hi guys, word around the dealership at the moment is the 86 pricing should be released around the 20th of June, 2012 with the top spec at around $50k drive away and the standard spec around $40k drive away so that article doesn't seem too far off the mark.

[armythug]

Originally Posted by newft86

Hi guys, word around the dealership at the moment is the 86 pricing should be released around the 20th of June, 2012 with the top spec at around $50k drive away and the standard spec around $40k drive away so that article doesn't seem too far off the mark.

Yea man I have a gut feeling that this may be accurate. If this turns out to be true, for 50k, I would rather buy a 1-2 year old 370z.

[coyote]

Originally Posted by Nardi330

Subaru has 3 spec while Toyota has 4. U need to option up the BRZ spec S to get 86 GT Limited spec.

Could you please link to the spec sheets or tell me the differences between the top spec Subaru and Toyota?