desert wind

You may wanna just hold onto that Honda S2000 a while longer folks...

Just test drive the Toyota GT86 as evidenced in the enclose photos I took from the endeavor. Impressions below the visual candy...

















Basics
The car I tested was the non turbo version, in manual. 200 hp. Subaru (which is now apparently (according to the salesman) fully owned by Toyota. there are places on the frame in the engine compartment that still say Subaru. The car is small, a bit like the S2000 sizewise.
Interior
It does have more headroom and the interior is more comfortable with more space to get in the driving mood. No snug, tight fit of the S2K. But then again its not a convertible. No starter Button. A pleasant if a tad too generic for me after the S2K.
Engine/Transmission
I was expecting quite a lot having watched all the online video reviews and read so much about the car. The reality is that the engine is underpowered in non turbo guise at 200 hp (surely it was not great, as it was a 700KM car, so still not fully run in, yet inspite of that it was nowhere near as good as the Honda engine/transmission combo). I found the transmission laughingly agricultural and the takeup of the clutch set far too high.
For me, the chassis was less rigid than the S2K.
Compared with a Camry its great. Compared with an S2k, its not.
Verdict
Hold onto your cars gentlemen.

ghostsnake

how did the car handle using major slip angle in the twisties?

fishfryer

200HP without much torque is weak .... Horsepower sells cars, Torque wins races.

Seems like a great car to start with if you want to put in another $10k to make it fun, but my guess is I'll be hearing alot of them running around with 201 HP and a loud muffler.

VAD

The dealer where I work has had one for about a month. Five hundred test drive miles and no sales. FWIW.

Hidef1080

I never looked at these cars as being in the same class as the S2K.

I am glad to see RWD "coming back" and hope to see more.
I think these cars will sell but I also think the price is a little high for what you get.
To me these are like RWD Civic Si's.

dombey

There is another thread talking about how these are the fastest selling cars out there right now... 5-6 days on the avg

s2konroids

Piss poor by Toyota, has been really from the good old days.

deepbluejh

This was never meant to be an S2000 replacement, so comparing it to one is misguided. For starters, it's about $10,000 cheaper than an S2000 was - which is NOT insignificant.

It also has Prius tires on it and the motor is practically brand new (500 miles?).

Keeping the car in proper context, most will agree that it's amazing at this price point. I see this car as more or less splitting the difference between a Miata and an S2000.

clag

Definitely. Great to see a driver-focused product at a mainstream price point. 90% of this review is clearly missing the point, and I take the remaining 10% (transmission and chassis) with a grain of salt. At a time when Audi and BMW are pulling manual transmissions off the option list it is great to see Toyota and Subaru put together a car with such purpose. I suppose the miata blows also, no?

cbehney

?? I thought all were non-turbo.