00:00 Hey guys, Chris here from Car Expert,
00:01 and we're back at Queensland Raceway, our test track.
00:04 Today, we've got the Toyota 86 GTS.
00:06 Been excited to test this car
00:07 and see how it goes on the track.
00:09 Now, it's not renowned for its levels of grip,
00:11 but it is renowned for being fun to drive.
00:13 152 kilowatts and 212 newton meters of torque,
00:17 rear wheel drive, six-speed manual,
00:19 driven a lot of boxer engines, mostly turbocharged,
00:21 so this is a bit different.
00:23 We'll be interested to see how it compares
00:24 to say the Mazda MX-5 and then the hot hatches.
00:27 Can it catch those cars, being rear wheel drive
00:30 and a little bit under tired?
00:32 It's gonna be hard, but we're gonna have fun trying.
00:35 First, we'll do the zero to 100 and then the braking test,
00:38 then we'll do the lap times and see how she goes.
00:40 (car engine roaring)
00:43 (tires screeching)
00:46 All right, initial impressions.
01:03 City position's pretty good.
01:05 Nice, small, compact wheel as well.
01:08 Everything is just user-friendly,
01:10 easy to get to, gear shifts.
01:13 Pedal position seems nice and tight as well,
01:16 so it should be easy to heel and toe.
01:18 Seating-wise, I feel like I can go a little bit lower,
01:21 which I will, there we go.
01:23 That feels actually really good.
01:24 I'm in a nice, low position,
01:26 on a good angle and just a good level.
01:29 Don't like being too on top of the car or too low.
01:32 It's pretty important to have a good feeling.
01:35 That gives you a good vibe for the car as well.
01:37 If you're sitting, you feel like you're in it,
01:39 you feel like you can really drive the thing.
01:42 Now, as we build up a little bit of speed,
01:44 I like the steering.
01:48 It's nice and precise,
01:49 and it's also linear with what I'm asking,
01:51 so I can feel what's happening
01:52 and it's responding how I expect,
01:55 which is just a little bit of a confidence-inspiring thing.
01:58 Now, as you expect, the engine doesn't feel crazy,
02:02 but it's more about funness car than outright performance.
02:10 Let's test out the brakes and see how the pedal feels.
02:13 Feels pretty good, actually.
02:16 Nice and consistent, nice and firm,
02:20 and I can modulate it as well,
02:21 which is unfortunately a rare thing in modern road cars.
02:26 A lot of them want to do it for themselves
02:29 rather than letting you control the brake pressure.
02:32 Suspension doesn't feel bad.
02:34 It feels quite progressive.
02:38 Like, there's a fair amount of roll there,
02:40 but there's also support.
02:41 It's not falling over and it's not too hard, so.
02:44 Feel like I can manipulate the car myself,
02:50 like I can add steering and load the car
02:54 rather than it falling over,
02:55 and then I can add some rotation to it, which is nice.
02:59 Now, I've got traction control off,
03:02 and let's try and do a lap time.
03:04 (car engine revving)
03:08 (car engine revving)
03:11 (car engine revving)
03:14 (car engine revving)
03:17 (car engine revving)
03:28 (car engine revving)
03:38 (car engine revving)
03:43 (car engine revving)
03:46 (car engine revving)
03:59 (car engine revving)
04:06 (car engine revving)
04:12 (car engine revving)
04:15 So there you go, the Toyota GTS 86.
04:26 Not the quickest car out here, that's for sure.
04:28 104.74, so off the pace a little bit,
04:33 but there's reasons for that.
04:35 This is a car that seems happy to live
04:37 with a little bit of yaw.
04:38 It wants to be sliding.
04:40 Everything encourages you to want to yaw the car a bit,
04:43 and I got my best times with a slight bit of yaw
04:46 off the corners as well.
04:47 It's just where it wants to be,
04:49 and the cool thing is that it achieves it in two ways.
04:52 You can either ask a little bit of the throttle
04:54 and get the car to yaw,
04:56 or ask a little bit of the steering
04:58 and build up the front grip and get the rear to yaw.
05:01 So you can achieve it sort of whenever you want,
05:04 which is so cool.
05:05 Gear shifts were nice and crisp,
05:07 never had any issues with them.
05:09 Heel towing was good.
05:10 I was able to match the revs pretty well.
05:14 It is hard to actually hear the engine with this helmet on,
05:17 so a couple of times I hit the limiter
05:20 just revving the engine right out,
05:22 trying to get the most out of it,
05:23 and ran into the limiter,
05:24 but fortunately not on the fastest lap.
05:27 Nice how it's got the little gear shift light,
05:29 the little red dot, comes on when you're right up there.
05:32 I'd actually like it a fraction earlier,
05:34 just to give me a bit more of a warning as well.
05:39 Steering, again, really good.
05:42 Everything's just connected,
05:43 so you feel what's happening across the four wheels,
05:47 the chassis, everything's connected together,
05:49 and that's what makes it enjoyable to drive.
05:51 Like, forget about the lap time,
05:53 that's not what it's here for.
05:54 It's a connection to the driver, the steering,
05:58 everything's direct,
05:59 and you can feel the bumps in the road, feel the grip.
06:02 You can manage the limit, which is always nice.
06:06 I never had a big moment.
06:07 Like, whenever I had a moment,
06:08 I could catch that moment, control it, slide it.
06:12 I'd say the engine's just a little bit underwhelming,
06:15 and I know it's packaged to the smaller tyres,
06:19 and definitely on the first few laps,
06:20 I overdid it with the tyres.
06:22 I just went in and just had no lateral grip,
06:25 and then I had to dial it back in my mind,
06:27 bring it back, and try and control the car
06:30 into the corner a bit more.
06:31 But just especially when you shift gears
06:34 and look for it to pull,
06:35 it just is a little bit slow in revving out.
06:39 And I thought it might've been a bit closer,
06:41 lap time-wise, the MX-5.
06:42 It is a bit hotter day-to-day,
06:44 so that's hurting it a little bit.
06:45 But the MX-5 is a couple of hundred kilos lighter,
06:47 which is massive as well.
06:49 And I felt that that just got going.
06:51 Even though it had a little bit less power,
06:52 I felt like it just got going a little bit quicker.
06:55 (upbeat music)
06:57 So there you go, guys, the Toyota 86 GTS,
07:00 our first go out here in this car.
07:02 And it's an interesting one.
07:04 As you leave pit lane, you feel like
07:05 you're at the limit of grip.
07:06 The tires are small, there's not a lot of power,
07:09 and overall, it's a bit of a challenge,
07:12 but that's a great thing,
07:13 'cause the car's actually really fun to drive.
07:15 It teaches you a lot about your driving.
07:17 You're really at the limit all the time,
07:19 and it's down to you what happens.
07:21 You choose the level of oversteer,
07:22 you choose the understeer.
07:23 It's all down to you.
07:24 The car's not doing anything, which is so much fun.
07:27 My three top tips for this car.
07:29 One, really control the balance.
07:31 Walk the fine line on the way into the corner.
07:33 If you're under committed, you won't carry enough speed.
07:36 If you're over committed, you'll waste time.
07:38 So be really focused on that balance release
07:41 of the brake pedal.
07:42 Then once you get to the middle of the corner,
07:44 it's down to the fun part.
07:46 This car loves to slide and just yaw off the corner.
07:48 The quickest times I did was actually
07:50 sliding this car a little bit.
07:51 So I used the throttle, drift a little bit,
07:54 and use that momentum off the corner.
07:56 You can really enjoy the car like that.
07:57 And finally, with this car,
07:59 you can learn a lot about your driving.
08:01 So you gotta think about what you're doing.
08:03 It gives you so much feedback.
08:04 So listen to what the car has to say
08:07 and use that to improve your driving skill.
08:09 Overall, fun car, not the quickest out here,
08:12 but really enjoyed the 86 on the track.
08:14 So I hope you guys enjoyed the video.
08:16 If you did, hit the like button
08:17 and don't forget to subscribe to the channel.
08:19 Plenty more videos to come.
08:20 Give us some feedback as well.
08:22 We'd love to hear what you'd like to see
08:23 out on the track next.
08:24 Thanks for watching.
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