[SOUND]
Well don't mourn the now gone Scion FRS much, cuz it's back.
And I've got it right here.
[SOUND]
Spot an 86 by the revised front bumper, cover and grill, more LED's in the head and tail light assembly.
And faux vents on the fenders that try even harder to not look faux.
Now the natural comparison to a Toyota 86, aside from its stable mate, the Subaru BRZ, and the now defunct Scion FRS, is to a Mazda Miata and, or a Fiat 124.
Now, obviously, they're very different in the fact that one's an open car and one is not.
But let's look at them on paper.
This Toyota's over a foot longer than a Miata.
That surprised me.
The wheel base is also measuredly longer.
The weight's a big difference, over 440 more here on this Toyota.
The power-to-weight ratio difference is also notable, better on the Toyota.
One has two seats, and one kinda sorta has this [UNKNOWN] two more.
[SOUND] Now inside the 86, things are pretty cozy, as you can imagine, and the whole look and feel up here is ever so slightly evocative of the legendary Toyota 2000 GT.
Little bit of this arc over here on this side, and this was a The glove box on the original car.
The night of the past continues here in the head unit which feels like the past.
So this is an optional display radio and I would advise you against getting it.
Sources for media and streaming are pretty slim.
Aha is their main Sort of modern app connectivity.
More useful would just be a standard Bluetooth audio connection and beyond that you got the various kinds of broadcast and satellite radio.
Pioneer speaker audio in this setup and it may be the worst sounding system I've reviewed so far this year.
I would deoption that and instead drop in an after market Android auto and car play unit like a Sony AX100 You've got some very simple manual climate controls down here.
A crisp, very simple instrument panel with just the essentials that you need.
I believe the wheel's been revised since this was a Scion.
I think it's a little smaller diameter.
I don't normally swear that a manual is the best thing since they invented cars, but in this car it absolutely make sense.
By the way, believe it or not, there are seats behind me.
Now you know my test.
Can I sit behind myself?
No.
The question really is can anyone sit behind me?
No.
The trunk is not a bad storage bin for a car this size, and that second row seatback folds down easily, and very flatly.
I was pleased by that.
[MUSIC]
[SOUND] I don't get a lot of beautiful engine days in my line of work.
They're usually shrouded in plastic crap.
And this is ironic then that one of the least expensive cars I'll get in all year has one of the prettiest places under the hood.
This is a beautiful, beautiful piece of work.
Two liter Flat 4 Subaru sourced of course as part of the partnership.
205 horsepower.
Five less if you get an automatic.
Same thing with the torque it's 156 pound feet not much and 5 less on the automatic.
Interestingly they get gas in the engine by the way.
They use two different modes.
There's port injection kinda old school injection that goes into the The intake ports at low RPM.
At high RPM, they switch to direct injection, where the fuel is injected directly right at the top of the piston in the cylinder.
And they say it gives them better overall throttle response, and better MPG.
[MUSIC]
But it Thing to know about the 86 as well as the [UNKNOWN] BBRC is that enough really is enough.
You might scoff on 200 or so horsepower on paper, but you won't do it on the road because there's nothing like driving a car you can use all of most of the time.
You know me, I'm not a manual transmission sort of Jihadist.
And I'm good with most of the great automatics today but in this case yes you should be driving a manual transmission.
Now before I send you off to buy a manual though know this a 6 speed automatic gets dramatically better gas mileage.
Great clutch and gear box feel.
Those back seats as we saw are fine for groceries or young-uns And because this car's wheelbase is long enough, it's not a pitchy, porpoising ride.
It's just a very livable sports car.
Full electric power steering and they've got it dialed in beautifully.
It's absolutely the right ratio and linearity with every corner that I take it into.
[MUSIC]
But this may be the part of this car I love the most.
How easy it is to configure.
There's only one way to get it.
You either you buy it or you don't.
27 one choice of seven colors, always black inside and that's it.
Or there is one option that is in our approve of you.
That is that head unit that I'm disappointed in, $900 and you don't wanna see you spend, in general, I love this car and it can fits in the rare five pansy on with Miata S2000 and its stablemates.
And there are not a lot of other entries in that area.
This is a real special car for a nice piece of money.
You know the old axiom.
It's better to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.
That kinda maligns this guy.
But the idea is correct.
I like having a car I can use all of and do so in a really enjoyable way.
[BLANK_AUDIO]
