Car: Why the GT86 is the spiritual successor to Toyota MR2

[Hachiroku]

Nice little blurb from Car on why the author thinks the 86 is the spiritual successor to the MR2:





Why the GT86 is the spiritual successor to Toyota’s first MR2

By Greg Fountain
18 July 2012 10:56

Why the GT86 is the spiritual successor to Toyota’s first MR2

I climbed down into the cockpit of Toyota’s GT86 for the first time and thought for a split second I’d gone through the Stargate, emerging in the late 1980s at the wheel of my beloved MkI MR2. It put a smile on my face, I don’t mind telling you.The new car’s cabin is minimalist yet cool, with nicely tactile materials, great sports seats, crisp instruments and a well-placed touchy-feely steering wheel. It doesn’t feel too cheap, yet it’s not blingy or gimmicky.

Driving it massively underlines the timewarp illusion. This is a car mere mortals can really exploit, being both low-powered and agile. You can sling it around without fear, placing it accurately via the chatty steering and urging it through corners, knowing you’ll have to be Ben Barry in a hurry to unstick the driving wheels at the back. And even if you do, the chassis has the right CV to sort you out.

I thought fleetingly about that go-faster giant the BMW M5, a car which is so far out of the range of my capabilities it’s truly scary, and realised that, while BMW has built a machine for super-human autobahn jockeys and people whose address is No.26 The Nordschleife, Toyota has built a car for the likes of me. I can drive the GT86 at maybe seven tenths of its ability; for the M5 it’s closer to a tenth.

The MR2 was exactly like this – an affordable sports car that made you feel good about yourself. Its modest power made it cheap to insure, cheap to fuel and cheap to service, and its lineage meant it never broke down. It also looked lovely (I had a t-bar in metallic light blue) and so does the GT86. Not sure about the front end, but the rest of the car looks exotic, compact, and delicious on the drive.In the build-up to GT86 there was much hoo-hah about rear-wheel drive, and the clamour obscured the true genius of this car, tricking me into expecting at best a sanitised 21st century Celica. What a cracking surprise. The MkII MR2 wasn’t the true successor to the MkI, but the GT86 surely is.

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Communi...tas-first-MR2/

[86drift]

This is interesting, as the MkI MR2 was the car that I thought the 86 was most like. My brother had a SC MKI and it was such a fun gokart type car to drive. Now that I've got some Whiteline gear in my 86 it's even more like the MR2 to drive. Super sharp and fun.

[GuySmily]

All you have to do is look at how many MR2 owners are on this board.

edit: Doing my best to keep the list updated.
Abflug - mk2
arg0naut - 91
atledreier
Blue86 - 86, 92
clintavo - 85, 88SC
CozmoNz
Dadhawk
deucethemoose
driftartist - mk2
GuySmily (me) - 86, 86, 05
firehawk - 91 T-swap
Fox
Frost
Itsjustjoe
K2 K2
Kurenai
Laika
LordTakuban
midenginebias
Mr. Mcoupe
n7011n
Ne0 - JDM 90T #411
mo8ius - 93T
NESW20
PMok
RaceR
Rampage
rmjjensen - 89
ryude - mk2
sevenmgte
silversprint
SpinFin - 89, 93, 91T, 91T
spyderpez - 86, 03
Surok - JDM 90T #750
switchlanez
sw20kosh - 91T HT
ST185RC <--alltracs always welcome
Touge Monster
Turbowned - 87 20v
Unleashed
uspspro
ydooby

[Hanakuso]

Originally Posted by GuySmily

All you have to do is look at how many MR2 owners are on this board.

edit: Let's see... Just a few names I recognize/noticed
GuySmily (me)
Turbowned
LordTakuban
Rampage
uspspro

Must be at least a dozen more.

Yeah that's true. I think the 1st and 3rd gen MR2s have similar owners of the FRS/BRZ. I think the MR2 Spyder will always be one of my favorite cars.

[ydooby]

Amen to that. A pure fun, not number-oriented car, that is the MR2 and now the 86.

[ft86Fan]

MR2 was always the car I wanted to get but for one reason or another it just never happened for me.

[Hanakuso]

Originally Posted by ft86Fan

MR2 was always the car I wanted to get but for one reason or another it just never happened for me.

Same here. When I had the chance to buy new I went with a new S2K instead. When I was in the market for the MR2 I waited a long time but I'm very picky and ended up with the FRS. Maybe one day...

[Mr. Mcoupe]

MR2 fanatic to the core.

[Laika]

Originally Posted by GuySmily

All you have to do is look at how many MR2 owners are on this board.

edit: Let's see... Just a few names I recognize/noticed
GuySmily (me)
Turbowned
LordTakuban
Rampage
uspspro

Must be at least a dozen more.

+ me and dadhawk

Still determined to find a clean low mileage 1995 NA one day.

[Dadhawk]

I was a "First 100" MK1 MR2 owner, as I've stated here before. I agree with everything that was said above. It really is a near perfect replacement for the original "Olivia". For those that didn't get a chance to read it, and are interested, I did my own version of this article in my Owner's Journal here not too long after getting my car.

[Khyron686]

I never owned an mr2 but liked them. I did have an 85 supra which is exactly why I love this car.

Even the wheel diameter is exactly the same.

[CozmoNz]

Originally Posted by 86drift

This is interesting, as the MkI MR2 was the car that I thought the 86 was most like. My brother had a SC MKI and it was such a fun gokart type car to drive. Now that I've got some Whiteline gear in my 86 it's even more like the MR2 to drive. Super sharp and fun.

Really? I had one as well... (Targa, Sc, Manual, with TRD Suspension)....

the little thing was psycho in corners if you didn't know how to drive it... I used to have fun on 90 degree intersection corners by heading into them and jabbing the throttle suddenly, the backend would jump around easily and youd slide the corner with ease. - Damp roads REALLY help here.

You do learn early on to either enter the corner under braking or throttle stab.... never both, as she circles you even when on full lock with throttle.... once shes gone past the point of no return, your fucked. - Early decision making is also very important.

Poor girl only was damaged once, by me curbing the rear left rim after an uphill section lead to sliding a bit further than was to be expected....

anyway, what Im trying to say is she was very unforgiving if you could not learn quickly... (and many a man did not - with trees giving Mr2's hugs all over the show). I hope the GT86 is not like this at all, I hope shes more akin to a supra, commodore or silvia....

if she's akin to the AW11 Mr2, Goodluck lads. Youll need it

Since we are doing pics...





Jeeze, its been along time since I saw her :-/ (still trying to find pics just to keep for my memorys lol)

[switchlanez]

I would say it's the modern successor of the AE86's spirit combined with the slightly more serious/edgy aura of the MkI MR2. It also has an attitude similar to the late MR-S and Celica but in a RWD platform, a bit more serious, and a bit more penache on the fit and finish.

Most of my cars have been MR2s. Never could find a clean MkI example and I still search on occasion.

[PMok]

Originally Posted by GuySmily

All you have to do is look at how many MR2 owners are on this board.

edit: Let's see... Just a few names I recognize/noticed
GuySmily (me)
Turbowned
LordTakuban
Rampage
uspspro
ydooby
Mr. Mcoupe
Laika
Dadhawk

Must be at least a dozen more. (edit: added names)

add me to the list of MR2 owners!



my previous track car:


I originally planned to trade my MR-S in for a BRZ, but I've decided to hang on to it and just add the BRZ to the stable.