The redesigned 2022 Toyota GR 86 is pretty much everything everyone wanted. It’s not turbocharged (yet?), but its enlarged flat-four means it’s still more powerful and quicker. Better still, it keeps its standard six-speed manual transmission. And because Toyota couldn’t resist adding a cherry on top, it’s even a good night out cheaper than last year’s model.
New 86s carry an MSRP of $27,700 for the standard manual model, which with a $1,025 delivery charge comes to $28,725. For reference, the outgoing 86 started at $28,775 according to CarsDirect, making this year’s 86 $50 cheaper. The automatic option, by contrast, starts at a slightly loftier $30,225 delivered, giving those insufferable manual elitists another reason to pooh-pooh the two-pedal car.
Premium trims run $31,325 and $32,825 shipped, respectively, and combine heated Ultrasuede front seats with a leather steering wheel, shift boot, and handbrake. They also include a duckbill spoiler and 18-inch, 10-spoke alloy wheels that are shod in upgraded Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires. All, of course, share a new 2.4-liter flat-four engine with 228 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque, up 23 ponies and 28 torques from the last gen, with peak torque coming lower in the rev range at 3,700 rpm versus 6,600. Acceleration consequentially improves too, with the automatic registering a zero-to-60 time of 6.6 seconds and manuals a still quicker 6.1 for reasons we’ve previously explored.
Every 2022 also comes with a one-year membership to the National Auto Sport Association membership, which includes a free HPDE track day session with a driving coach. Not only will buyers get a chance to safely learn the limits of their car, they’ll also get performance driving training far better than any glass of water in the cupholder could ever offer.
The 2022 Toyota GR 86 will hit dealers this December, though unlike coal in my stocking, a low-cost, stripped-out 86 RC does not appear to be coming this year. Oh well—it’s not like you were gonna switch out your wheels and tires before burning through the stock rubber anyway, were you?
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