[A_P]

[dxb335d]

Good vid, thanks for posting AP!

Have you checked out the "Road Testament" vid I posted with Chris Harris a few weeks ago yet mate?

[rogerxp]

What does he know .

[phil200tdi]

I saw the new Toyota on the motorway the other day - thought it looked like one of the new Chinese made MG's!! I'd very quickly grow tired of 150lb/ft of torque - changing down to keep up with diesel mondeos on the motorway would be too much for me to take..

Would have a Cayman S in a heart beat.

Much more tempted by the M135i though. Next year may see what low mileage ones are available.

[A_P]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

Good vid, thanks for posting AP!

Have you checked out the "Road Testament" vid I posted with Chris Harris a few weeks ago yet mate?

I will have a gander now.

[A_P]

Originally Posted by phil200tdi

I saw the new Toyota on the motorway the other day - thought it looked like one of the new Chinese made MG's!! I'd very quickly grow tired of 150lb/ft of torque - changing down to keep up with diesel mondeos on the motorway would be too much for me to take..

Would have a Cayman S in a heart beat.

Much more tempted by the M135i though. Next year may see what low mileage ones are available.

Would have to agree with you there, and the price is quite frankly shocking, but aside from what Harris is saying there are a few cars which offer an excellent platform upon which to modify. Examples being the e46/e90 M and the 911 996/997 ( just a few) these are cars where the chassis's ability way out performs the cars current stock perfomance, and so with a few pounds spent these cars can extrapolate the dynamic ability to out right performance ratio far greater than say a 370z, this was the case when Stillen Motorsport underwent the project.

In all fairness if a 370z is an 8 tenths car, then that's a very nice car to have, as how often do you drive a performance car above 8 tenths on a British road and still have a clean license and/or and empty NHS record?

Point being, the GT86, whilst under powered, and expensive clearly has a special chassis and when it gets older and the prices come down the kerb weight of circa 1300kg coupled with F.I will, in my opinion, be a solid classic drivers car. Especially if Toyota decide to develop the car with future generations. Thus possibly starting another whole new era of lightweight affordable rear drive fun like much missed early Nissans.

[Dave_3]

Originally Posted by phil200tdi

Much more tempted by the M135i though. Next year may see what low mileage ones are available.

Dutch boys have got their hands on one (Englsh subtitles) ... Seems like fun, but it has a face only really its mother could love.

It think it looks awful (awkward and disjointed - lights WAY too big), just don't understand BMW. Land Rover are taking on staff to meet demand for the new Range Rover Evoque and BMW give us this ...

If only it was styled like a svelte 3/4 size 3 series.

D.

[Guvernator]

Originally Posted by rogerxp

What does he know .

I know your comment was somewhat tongue in cheek but I'd have to somewhat agree with this point. Yes he is a professional motoring journalist and it certainly seems he can peddle a car quite well, however he only gives HIS own opinion which is entirely made up of what he wants\needs a car to deliver. Sometime I agree wholeheartedly with his opinions and other times I strongly disagree.

In this case though he is plain wrong . Firstly he has commited the cardinal sin of comparing used with new which to be honest isn't a fair comparison. Yes you could argue that in real life anyone looking for a £30k ish coupe might consider looking at used but then that totally invalidates any new car review as you can always find something of better value on the used market. A 911 GT3 or CSL for £30k would destroy any of those choices and if we did this comparison for every new car, no one would buy new.

Secondly he chose the GT86 because it was "fun", firstly that is a purely subjective measurement his idea of fun won't neccesarily match mine or anyone elses. For instance two major factors that make a car fun for me are accelarative power and noise, both areas in which the GT86 is severly lacking. Yes some people will will argue that this car is real world fun and useable at sensible speeds, yeah whatever. Any road car with less than 300bhp would bore me to tears within a week unless it had some other element which could excite me, the GT86 for me just doesn't.

Out of those two I'd have chosen the 370z as it's 300bhp+, RWD and sounds decent but in the real world if I was after a semi practical RWD coupe, my money would go on a 3 year old E92 M3.

[rogerxp]

I did have similar thoughts whilst watching, who's to say I want my 'sports' car stepping out everytime I hit an appex, I prefer a well planted car that I can force to step out if desired. I could always loosen my rear wheel nuts if I want a bit of wobble .

The interior is plain shite. In 2012 interiors shouldn't be rolling out of the factory like that unless it was made in Korea.

No noise is a real downer too. The Zed, as stock, is frankly a bit shite but a quick exhaust change like mine and it sounds the nuts.

It's an interesting car, light & nimble is good, but the interior ruins it for me alone.

I'd love a Cayman S, absolutely, but for open-top thrills I'll stick with the Zed thanks (I think the Boxter looks girly).

The styling looks a bit awkward to me, rather bulbous towards the rear from a side-view, and the back looks a bit odd (can't make up my mind about the back though).

Oh, and I'd be dead if I drove at 9/10ths or 10/10ths

[shrink]

interesting.. I wonder if (when it comes out) £30k would buy a 328i coupe (or the 4 series if thats what they call it). I wonder how that would stack up, good power, rear wheel drive, good build.

[mowflow]

I had a good look at this car and the Subaru version (same car innit?) at Geneva. It looks like the Hyundai coupe and I have to say it was a completely underwhelming experience seeing it in the metal after thinking it looked quite promising in the magazines.

The quality of the interior was terrible both in terms of the feel and the very dated design. Some of the exterior panels looked like poorly fitting aftermarket affairs.

However, this video does do a good job of convincing me not the write the car off completely. Years ago I owned a type R (the good one, not the current shite one) and it was one of the most enjoyable cars I've ever owned/driven. It was rewarding, forgiving and fun without ever having that feeling that you could be reversing your way through the gates of hell in a fireball at any minute. It was without a shadow of a doubt a 10/10ths car as that's where the fun was.

I guess if you're a would be middle management big wig who likes to win the motorway grand prix on the way home every night then this car isn't going to cut it. But if you enjoy hitting the twisty turny bits and aren't bothered about whether it's you or the Yell rep in the oil burner next to you that's first to make it to the next red light then it could very well be worth a look.

In terms of the Cayman S comparison, I'm glad that he picked one that was half the price of the other 2 cars as I dare say in 3 years of ownership it would eat close to £15k in parts and labour. Still the car most would pick though.

[zltm089]

I think in general "motoring" terms, FUN means anything light, with a firm suspension and rwd that would slide and drift easily...

Haven't watched the video yet...I think a better comparison would be to compare the GT86 to other cars with similar power...as , we get it...this car is not about POWER!!!...ok, we get that!!!...so why compare it with cars pushing over 300bhp???....


I normally like Chris's review...great to watch...

I think a MX5 v/s S2K v/s GT86 would be more "appropriate"....

[AlanQS]

I decided to watch that video. Ye gods, turning deficient handling into a huge plus factor! What wonderful marketing. Big Brother in the book 1984 would be proud.

Using that argument, the 3 litre Capri must be the most outstanding car in history.

I saw nothing in that entire 11 minutes that would prompt me to even look at the Toyota. Performance, price, interior, it's not even that smart looking.

[zltm089]

Having said that....the MINI is considered as "fun"....

[dxb335d]

My M3 is fun and direct, responsive and fast. Chris Harris' favourite performance car over the last 50 years LOL

I would say as much as the Z is not that good it would be more fun than a GT-R because the GT-R is although monstrous, a little less engaging due to being so good and a paddle shift. The pace it has means you really need to be 100+ to enjoy the performance.

[Hotcoupe]

Originally Posted by AlanQS

Using that argument, the 3 litre Capri must be the most outstanding car in history.

If you enjoyed going through hedges,and offroading I'd agree Alan

On a more serious note,if you knew how to handle such a bad mannered car such as the Capri,it was a great fun car,and would drift beautifully

[st4]

If you read Evo Magazine I was the letter of the month winner. 150ft/lb torque is pea shooter hatchback stuff.

A small turbo or better still a 3litre n/a flat six would solve ALL the power/noise issues as well as a set of conti 3 tyres.

There is a great car in the GT86. its just not fully utalised.

Agree re the poster and the M135i. A 5dr one of those debadged is really going to scare a lot of people, and for just under £30k has to be one of the best practical everyday performance cars money can buy.

[chris_s1]

There's no secret how they 'engineered' the back end to feel so loose on that car.
Its running on 215 section tyres. Look at 4:43, they look like pram wheels.

I've looked at one in flesh recently at a dealership. They look great from a distance but when you examine the parts up close it looks cheap. But it isn't cheap, that's the problem.

If they'd priced it at less than £22k they'd have a the best car in class by a mile. A new car in the mold of the original MR2.

But they aren't going to tempt many people that have got 30k to blow

[xenon]

Originally Posted by Dave_3

It think it looks awful (awkward and disjointed - lights WAY too big), just don't understand BMW. Land Rover are taking on staff to meet demand for the new Range Rover Evoque and BMW give us this ...

If only it was styled like a svelte 3/4 size 3 series.

D.

I like it, do I need to see someone? I tend to agree re. the lights but I love the detailing (note proper use of the word "detailing", it does not mean to clean ) around the Hofmeister kink.

[rogerxp]

I'm with you Ian, I really like the M135i, think it looks great in M Sport guise and a fantastic overall package. I've have one in an instant.

[dxb335d]

The hatch still looks like a crapbag

[RCUK]

This months Evo .... the integra type r beats the GT86 and it costs £4k (also beats the E46 M3 and Renaultsport clio too for good measure!)

I still miss mine.