2012-2013 Toyota FT-86, Subaru 0846 Sports Coupe
Sports-car loving Toyota president and CEO Akio Toyoda is committed to producing a Lexus LFA for the masses—or at least some kind of affordable rear-drive sports car—possibly as early as late next year. That is, if the horribly chopped and bobbed Subaru we caught scaring small children in the desert ever fulfills its production destiny, eventually becoming the $20,000–$30,000 Toyota FT-86 rear-drive sports coupe.
As has been previously reported, the rear-drive FT-86 is a joint development project between Subaru and Toyota, which purchased GM’s nine-percent share of Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru’s parent company) in 2005 and then upped its holding to 16 percent in 2008. Toyota unveiled the Subaru-powered 2+2 FT-86 coupe concept at the 2009 Tokyo auto show, but since then there’s been nothing concrete to discuss as engineers have gone to work doing their engineering thing.
With tape covering its hood scoop and upper grille, this two-door mule seems to be testing cooling and cockpit airflow setups for the bottom-breathing sports car, which should be available with both Toyota and Subaru badges and could also feature optional all-wheel drive. The base FT-86 likely will use a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter version of the next-generation, direct-injection flat-four Subaru will unveil later this year, with a turbocharged variant likely coming online later. (This may be a mule for the turbo car, as what appears to be an intercooler sits behind the lower front fascia.) Track width seems comparable to the current production Impreza’s, implying that other Subaru components—such as the rear-suspension subassembly and differential/half-shafts—will almost certainly get used in the FT-86. Nothing in Toyota’s primarily front-drive stable is suitable for adaptation to a small, sporty coupe, and tooling up a new floorpan and suspension would be too expensive for the lower sales volumes the coupe is likely to generate.
Meanwhile, if Toyota fears anything besides American personal injury lawyers, it’s Hyundai. The Korean automaker has been working feverishly to enhance its standing among younger enthusiast buyers by bringing out the rear-drive Genesis coupe and preparing the cheaper, front-wheel-drive Veloster coupe. These cars are aimed directly at the type of buyers that Toyota, back in its can’t-go-wrong heyday in the mid-1980s, owned with the Supra and Celica.
Aside from the recently revamped Scion tC, the $59,885 Lexus IS F, and the $375,000 Lexus LFA, Toyota’s cupboard is embarrassingly bare for buyers who actually like driving. Now that Toyota has quit wasting millions on Formula 1, there should be some money in the kitty for reaching enthusiast buyers with actual affordable product. If Akio Toyoda has any pull in the company—he should, he’s the grandson of company founder Kiichiro Toyoda and the driving force behind both the IS F and LFA—things are about to change. (Hopefully soon—we’re getting a little bored of waiting for this car.)
Sports-car loving Toyota president and CEO Akio Toyoda is committed to producing a Lexus LFA for the masses—or at least some kind of affordable rear-drive sports car—possibly as early as late next year. That is, if the horribly chopped and bobbed Subaru we caught scaring small children in the desert ever fulfills its production destiny, eventually becoming the $20,000–$30,000 Toyota FT-86 rear-drive sports coupe.
As has been previously reported, the rear-drive FT-86 is a joint development project between Subaru and Toyota, which purchased GM’s nine-percent share of Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru’s parent company) in 2005 and then upped its holding to 16 percent in 2008. Toyota unveiled the Subaru-powered 2+2 FT-86 coupe concept at the 2009 Tokyo auto show, but since then there’s been nothing concrete to discuss as engineers have gone to work doing their engineering thing.
With tape covering its hood scoop and upper grille, this two-door mule seems to be testing cooling and cockpit airflow setups for the bottom-breathing sports car, which should be available with both Toyota and Subaru badges and could also feature optional all-wheel drive. The base FT-86 likely will use a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter version of the next-generation, direct-injection flat-four Subaru will unveil later this year, with a turbocharged variant likely coming online later. (This may be a mule for the turbo car, as what appears to be an intercooler sits behind the lower front fascia.) Track width seems comparable to the current production Impreza’s, implying that other Subaru components—such as the rear-suspension subassembly and differential/half-shafts—will almost certainly get used in the FT-86. Nothing in Toyota’s primarily front-drive stable is suitable for adaptation to a small, sporty coupe, and tooling up a new floorpan and suspension would be too expensive for the lower sales volumes the coupe is likely to generate.
Meanwhile, if Toyota fears anything besides American personal injury lawyers, it’s Hyundai. The Korean automaker has been working feverishly to enhance its standing among younger enthusiast buyers by bringing out the rear-drive Genesis coupe and preparing the cheaper, front-wheel-drive Veloster coupe. These cars are aimed directly at the type of buyers that Toyota, back in its can’t-go-wrong heyday in the mid-1980s, owned with the Supra and Celica.
Aside from the recently revamped Scion tC, the $59,885 Lexus IS F, and the $375,000 Lexus LFA, Toyota’s cupboard is embarrassingly bare for buyers who actually like driving. Now that Toyota has quit wasting millions on Formula 1, there should be some money in the kitty for reaching enthusiast buyers with actual affordable product. If Akio Toyoda has any pull in the company—he should, he’s the grandson of company founder Kiichiro Toyoda and the driving force behind both the IS F and LFA—things are about to change. (Hopefully soon—we’re getting a little bored of waiting for this car.)
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