Hachi Roku Sequel: Toyota Debuts 2022 GR86 With More Power & More RWD Fun

• April 6, 2021
• Story By
  Mike Garrett

Last fall Subaru debuted its second generation BRZ sports car, sporting the same basic shape and mission but with a number of improvements over the original. But of course Subaru's car was just one half the equation. 

Naturally, we wondered when Toyota was going to debut their version of the car it and Subaru have developed in collaboration and now we've finally gotten a look at the 2022 Toyota GR86.

As before, the Toyota and Subaru versions of the car look quite similar—though in the second generation car the differences between the two seem even smaller than before, and perhaps that's by design.

The new GR86 was actually debuted in Japan as part of a special live event held in collaboration with Subaru, meaning that marketing and branding between the 86 and BRZ are more aligned than they were before.

More Power

Under the skin, the main mechanicals look nearly identical to the new BRZ, with a new larger 2.4L boxer engine making around 30 horsepower more than the old car and the same choice of a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission. 

Some like it Hot, and some like it Cool

As before, despite the similar looks and mechanicals, there should be some key differences in how the two cars drive. During the event the engineers described the GR86's personality as "hot" and the BRZ's personality as "cool."

This falls in line with what we saw on the first generation cars where the Toyota version was tuned to be a little more tail happy and the Subaru version tuned to be a little more "grippy."

Specific info on the US market version of the GR86 hasn't been released, but in Japan market deliveries will begin this fall—a few months after the BRZ arrives. 

Affordable Pricing

There's still no info on pricing, but we expect both versions starting at or just below the $30,000 mark.

Overall, this about what we expected from the new GR86—an improved take upon the original formula and one that we are glad is returning for a second go around.