CIRCUIT TALK

Dreamed up at Toyota’s motorsport hub in Mount Wellington, brought together with the help of Neil Allport, and carrying an awesome spec of race gear, the TR 86 version of Toyota’s 86 sports coupe is all homegrown race car.

The New Zealand cars have been built to a much higher spec than their Aussie Pro-Am counterparts, and are the only versions able to contest the Toyota 86 Championship. The TR 86 has been built from the stripped-out RC dial-yourown version. Out has come a lot of interior trim — unnecessary weight. In has gone an FIA sixpoint roll cage, a pair of Sparco touring-car race seats, and six-point harnesses, along with a race steering wheel. The dash has been replaced by a multi-‘page’ MoTeC data display to give the driver access to information about the motor.

The 2.0-litre engine makes 147kW and 205Nm of torque, and has received mild tweaks, mainly to help keep the oil where it should be in corners — those slicks generate a lot of G-force. The exhaust has been simplified, and the engine and trans use Castrol lubricant that reduces operating temperatures and — in the case of that six-speed trans — improves shift quality.

Adjustable suspension at all four corners enables the car to be set up for each race circuit, or for Targa, hill climbs, or even rallying. The massive race brakes with multi-piston calipers slot inside 18-inch Speedline motorsport alloys that wear Michelin race tyres — a choice of slicks or wets.

The cars have been certified by the Low Volume Vehicle Technical Association ( LVVTA), so they can be used on the road by MotorSport New Zealand ( MSNZ) licence holders and can be purchased or leased from TRNZ, or aspiring racers can approach one of the teams racing the championship.