Updated: Toyota GT86 - facts from Japan (Handmade and only 1000 units/yr - DEBUNKED)

[blackknight.ktn]

I'm super stoked and excited now that we are for sure there is no production limit. White Scion FRS here I come!...that is as long as the price is under $25k hopefully.

[tripjammer]

Leeky you are still the man!

Get us some good pics at the show!

[BobbyBalaz]

Well, we could look at the bright side, if it wasn't for Leeky, 'leaking' (I just had to, sorry Leeky) & sharing information with us all, resulting in this massive thread, going 'sort of viral', we wouldn't have this new found information. Again, thanks to FT86club.com & everyone here. Forums always bring results.

[Zaku]

wait a sec if these are not the final production cars... then is there a chance well get red tail lights? and we can stop QQing about them on the Subie and Toyota O__O!

[tranzformer]

Originally Posted by Zaku

wait a sec if these are not the final production cars... then is there a chance well get red tail lights? and we can stop QQing about them on the Subie and Toyota O__O!

Turbo?

[quik1987]

Simple logic would tell you more than 1000 BRZ/FRS/GT86 will be made.

[Dimman]

Originally Posted by Ryephile

While I appreciate Leeky being there and sharing his experience, I also feel bad that Toyota PR took advantage of him and fed him rather fantastic "truths". I'm sure the communication he was given weren't outright lies, but lacked significant context, being massively misleading. This is how PR and marketing effectively work, unfortunately. The article from the significantly more seasoned [and jaded] TTAC staff shows that a healthy dose of experience with PR slime helps temper the misleading path the PR people lead you down. I'm sure Toyota PR carefully crafted the plan to have a media virgin from the forum play excited messenger to the fan base. It did work, but IMO it also backfired by assuming everyone here is naive.

Could be his translator girl, too. I do conversational English language instruction once a week here with Japanese ESL students.

What I've learned:

A) Japanese women have little interest in automotive stuff. (Everyone's shocked, I know...)

B) Technical stuff doesn't translate easily.

C) Japanese don't often stop me and ask for clarifications, usually just nod and agree when they don't understand something I say. I have to catch that they are not getting something myself, and back up.

So put A + B + C and you don't have the best starting point for a good translation about cars, especially for a super-pumped, hyper-stimulated car fan.

It's also possible his translator was having difficulty keeping up. So the info may have been 'lagging'. There were LFA's there, and they may have been talking about them or the tech. Maybe some comparisons between both, and the translator couldn't keep up, or mixed up some info.

I don't think it was deliberate.

[WingsofWar]

Originally Posted by tranzformer

Turbo?

[tranzformer]

Originally Posted by WingsofWar

WoW hopefully you saw it was me who posted it and realized I was messing around.

[WingsofWar]

Originally Posted by tranzformer

WoW hopefully you saw it was me who posted it and realized I was messing around.

yep i still had to do it!

You taunt the newbs and trolls, they all come out and attack like zombie apocalypse ..so watch it!

[Ryephile]

Originally Posted by Dimman

Could be his translator girl, too. .....

I don't think it was deliberate.

It's possible; we'll likely never know for sure if the info was intentionally misleading or if it was simply a language translation misstep. Over time, the actual production info will be known.

[balance]

While I appreciate Leeky's efforts in delivering us with the most updated information from the source itself, he is also at fault for failing to exercise his common sense and titling this thread using the capitalized "FACTS". The notion of 1000 handmade units simply makes no sense whatsoever from any kind of business perspectives. If anything, the extent of radical reaction people have shown here to this bogus information only shows how much we already love this new car. It's all good!

[tranzformer]

Originally Posted by WingsofWar

yep i still had to do it!

You taunt the newbs and trolls, they all come out and attack like zombie apocalypse ..so watch it!

I was just hoping someone would bust out the seagul turbo pic.

[Want.FR-S]

Originally Posted by Dimman

Could be his translator girl, too. I do conversational English language instruction once a week here with Japanese ESL students.

What I've learned:

A) Japanese women have little interest in automotive stuff. (Everyone's shocked, I know...)

B) Technical stuff doesn't translate easily.

C) Japanese don't often stop me and ask for clarifications, usually just nod and agree when they don't understand something I say. I have to catch that they are not getting something myself, and back up.

So put A + B + C and you don't have the best starting point for a good translation about cars, especially for a super-pumped, hyper-stimulated car fan.

It's also possible his translator was having difficulty keeping up. So the info may have been 'lagging'. There were LFA's there, and they may have been talking about them or the tech. Maybe some comparisons between both, and the translator couldn't keep up, or mixed up some info.

I don't think it was deliberate.

Dimman, I concurred on what you said about Japanese ESL students. Heck, I think the same can be applied to eastern Asian (Japanese, Kor,ean Chinese) ESL student. It is very common like that.

Originally Posted by Ryephile

It's possible; we'll likely never know for sure if the info was intentionally misleading or if it was simply a language translation misstep. Over time, the actual production info will be known.

That said, I think IIRC Leeky did said that he talked directly to the head of advertising from Toyota (the last picture shown with two guys stand beside him with Mt. Fuji as the background) without using the translator. As per Leeky, he said his translator has done her best to translate his conversation, but for the info about *1000 unit/year* and "handmade* or *LF-A transmission*, I think Leeky got it directly from those two guys, and even Leeky was correcting the mistake those two people said about LF-A has a V-8 (V-10 is the correct answer).

Poor Leeky is just scapegoated by more season journalists. There is no need to judge his intelligence just because he passed something he heard from the people at scene.