Sportier Toyota 86 in works

A facelifted Toyota 86 range will add a sportier variant to the range before the end of 2016 after chief engineer Tetsuya Tada confirmed that big-name brands will be used for suspension and braking modifications beneath a more "sophisticated" flagship model.

Speaking with Drive at the international launch of the facelifted 86 at Fuji, Japan, Tada explained that an increase in body rigidity – thanks to increased spot welds – allowed engineers of the new model to soften the suspension of the existing GT and GTS in pursuit of increased ride comfort, and that left a gap for another tune.

"It will have [changed] brakes and suspension," the chief engineer added, before clarifying that while the optional Brembo brake package currently available on the Subaru BRZ will be poached for its Toyota near-twin, the suspension will be vastly different.

"Brembo brakes is BRZ, but Sachs suspension is developed by us," he said.

"Not only tuning but also [different] construction and hardware. [It will be] more sophisticated setting than standard suspension."

Tada said that engineering changes for the facelifted 86 were the result of learnings from the company's stripped-out GT86 CS-V3 Nurburgring race car, and in particular production body stiffness that attempts to emulate that of a rollcage.

"Racing car has a rollcage as you know, so [facelifted 86] body rigidity balance come from that," he said.

"The suspension revisions come from increased rigidity. [Increased] body rigidity makes softer suspension but increased roadholding performance."

The chief engineer said the sportier 86 would be available globally from "end of this year" while Japan "might have some special package with … other parts."

Toyota Australia's product public relations manager Stephen Coughlan did not rule out the sportier 86 for Australia.

"Market by market timings will be different and whether we release it locally as a package or a special edition, time will tell," he said.

The facelifted Toyota 86 will arrive in Australia in November with similar timing to its similarly revised BRZ equivalent. However, Subaru has failed to secure its own optional Brembo braking and Sachs damper package for our market.

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