Well I headed out to Northpoint Toyota tonight to test the new 86. During some complementary nibbles and soft drinks, had some good conversation with a few young prospective 86 buyers, most of them namely with existing modified (turbo) cars. Also seems if you park an MR2 turbo in the carpark, most people including the salespersons, show some keen interest. "oh I was wondering who's MR2 that was"?
anyway to the 86 experience...I'm waiting, waiting outside where they depart and return,
young guy jumps in to the drivers seat then salesman asks if I wanted to come along too, so I said "yeah, why not" even though it was an Auto GTS and I was there for the manual. I'm kinda squashed up riding shotgun, salesman behind me in the '+2' section and young guy behind the wheel. Instant impressions: firm ride, but not harsh in any way. Comfy supportive seats. HIDs give great visibility in the rain. Seems to have good poke at low revs and it changes gear very fast. Overall a nice place to be. He took it around the block a couple of times and then we swapped so I could have a go. Drivers position is great, instruments easy to read, select 'D' and off I go. Instant response and doesn't feel like a slushbox I've driven before. The 'sport' button loves to hold on to gears accelerating and decelerating -great! paddle shifters work a treat, and are very quick to respond. Motor is strong and willing to rev. Body control is nice and tight through turns and soaks up big bumps nicely. Even with the standard rate tyres and wet road it holds the road confidently, but you can feel it'll kick the tail if you want it to. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to turn off stability control :(
still come back with a smile though. Now the GT manual didn't feel any more responsive or quicker than the auto really underfoot. Very precise and great shifting though, snick, snick though the gears. Clutch isn't too heavy either. Easy to throttle blip on downshifts if you like but pedal positions a bit different than the old MR2. Brake and accelerator are very close. Motor doesn't really feel like an atmo 2l but more like a 2.5 down low, probably due to the DI. Quite willing to rev too and linear in its delivery. You can really punt the thing though roundabouts and I *tried* to hang the tail out of one of them but later realized the traction control and stability control were having none of it
Would love to take it out on a wet track and I reckon I'd be grinning for hours after....86 is a brilliant drive.
now the question is would I trade my MR2 for one? well No, as I find it can still make me smile :)