Toyota Uses Racetrack to Improve 86 Sports Car

Toyota has advanced the superior driving enjoyment of its 86 sports car by applying feedback from extensive racetrack experience, including from the world’s toughest endurance race. Driving characteristics have been revamped with better engine breathing that releases more power and torque for manual models along with across-the-board updates to suspension and body rigidity that promote improved handling. Toyota has also focused on design updates that advance the aerodynamics, steering stability and the driver’s sense of being connected to the vehicle which is renowned for its ideally balanced front-engine, rear-drive layout. The update of the compact and engaging four-seater is dynamic evidence of Toyota’s sports-car development philosophy expressed by the saying, “We race. We learn. You win”. Chief Engineer Tetsuya Tada said his team applied information learned from the racetrack to develop the upgraded 86 sports car, including data obtained from class victories at the famous 24 Hours of Nürburgring. “We overhauled everything - primarily as a result of technological feedback from the 86’s participation in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring - and repeatedly tested the vehicle on roads all over the world as we manufactured every single part,” Mr. Tada said. “The new 86 has been perfected to such an extent that, from the moment the steering wheel is gripped and the vehicle accelerates away, every driver will be able to recognise its evolution,” he said. As well as the famed German enduro, the 86 is campaigned regularly by owners around the world in club races and rallies. It has also inspired the Toyota 86 racing series in Australia with competition occurring at selected rounds of the Virgin Australia Supercars championship. The 86 has been Australia’s best-selling sports car in each of the past three years with cumulative sales topping 17,200 cars - the third highest in the world. For the revamp, engineers have revised engine components including the intake and exhaust manifolds for the six-speed manual models, lifting maximum power and torque by 3.4 per cent to 152kW and 212Nm.* The 2.0-litre four-cylinder horizontally opposed engine’s increased torque peak can be generated over a 200rpm wider range of engine speeds, from 6400 to 6800rpm. The torque curve has also been improved at low rpms. All models deliver sharper steering response and improved ride comfort with additional spot welds for the rear pillars and reworked shock absorber valve structures. Aerodynamic performance was the priority for the freshened exterior, contributing to enhanced road holding and turning performance.