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Toyota GT 86 (2012)

Toyota has released the first pictures and details of its forthcoming affordable sports car, the GT 86.

Derek Fung
Derek loves nothing more than punching a remote location into a GPS, queuing up some music and heading out on a long drive, so it's a good thing he's in charge of CNET Australia's Car Tech channel.
Derek Fung

In brief

An evolution of the FT-86 series of show cars, the production car features a 2-litre boxer engine borrowed and refined from Subaru. With the added direct injection, this engine now pumps out 147kW of power and 205Nm of torque to the rear wheels.

Both six-speed manual and automatic transmissions will be available, as will 17- and 18-inch wheels, but other specification details are a bit sparse on the ground at the moment. Measuring around 4.2m long, the car is about the same length as a Corolla or Golf.

In Japan the car will wear the 86 nameplate in honour of the AE86 Corolla that starred in the Initial D comics and anime. In Europe, meanwhile, the car will be adorned with GT 86 badges, which we seem likely to be adopted here.

Outlook

We'll (hopefully) have more details when the car is fully unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show mid-week. And stay tuned, as next weekend we'll follow that up with our first driving impressions of the car.