The 2024 Toyota GR86 Trueno Edition Is A Serious Sports Car For Camry Money

If Odd Future did more for you than Young Money, you’ve probably already met the twins — the tail-out sports coupes from Subaru and Toyota guaranteed to give you maximum mayhem for your buck. The first generation was iconic and the second generation listened to the fans with more displacement, more power, a whole lot more torque, all while offering the same formula of drive to the back, a Torsen differential, and the ability to cause more maniacal grins and legally unrepeatable stories than your average bachelor party. For the 2024 model year, Toyota and Subaru have both unveiled the most evolved factory forms of these chaos agents yet, and we’re taking a closer look at Toyota’s contribution to the game — the GR86 Trueno Edition.

We’re talking about the same compact rear-wheel-drive sports coupe that people love, just with some new performance parts and a little bit of ’80s visual flair added, no mullet or aftershave required. However, are the visuals and goodies worth paying a few extra grand for? Let’s find out.

[Full disclosure: Toyota Canada let me borrow this GR86 Trueno Edition for a week so long as I kept the shiny side up, returned it with a full tank of premium fuel and reviewed it.]

Controversial Cosplay

While the Toyota GR86 and its 86 predecessor are lauded as affordable sports cars for the people, there’s no denying these cars were born from famous blood. See, the distant ancestor of the GR86, the AE86 Corolla, is pretty collectable these days, especially in flippy-headlight Trueno form. This collectability seems to have given Toyota an idea.

Thanks in large part to “Initial D”, the mythology’s overtaken the reality of that rear-wheel-drive ’80s Corolla, which means it’s the perfect nostalgic cash grab for Toyota. A couple of vinyl decals here, a badge or two there, and presto! You end up with a sort-of convincing retro throwback that’s sure to polarize. Over a week of testing, the stickers drew plenty of comments, some of admiration and some of complete disgust.

Here’s the thing — underneath the graphics, the GR86 still looks great. Its sheetmetal’s been shrink-wrapped to form a satisfying mix of compound curves and hard surfacing, and the proportions are just about bang-on. Plenty of dash-to-axle ratio, short deck, and an upswept tail that echoes the greenhouse in profile. It’s stylish without being overdone while still sticking to a budget, and that’s commendable. A future classic? Quite possibly.

Five Beats Per Six Steps On Alternating Feet

Even the base GR86 gives you all the permission in the world to slap on some R compound tires of your choice, go hunting for M3s, and become a local HPDE tryhard because you’re only risking a relatively attainable car. The guy in the 911 GT3 has a lot more to lose if he blows a braking zone, so you might end up with some surprising point-bys. However, the GR86 Trueno Edition, and indeed the performance package, adds some important go-fast stuff that people who late-apex IKEA trolleys are sure to appreciate. It starts with a set of Brembo monoblock calipers, four-piston jobs up front and two-piston units out back. Sachs dampers add a cherry on top, and you end up with two modifications that promise a whole lot. But do they deliver?

If rolling over a war zone-spec piece is any indication, the ride’s stiffer than Johnny Sins off five Viagras. Indeed, in the GR86 Trueno Edition, your areolas will be able to discern massive vertical acceleration over big bumps, even if you have the BMI of a McChicken, but that’s the tradeoff Toyota made for ironing out the small stuff you’d see on a track. Are they worth it in everyday driving? That’s debatable. However, if you’re out hunting closed-course apexes on a regular basis, you might appreciate the tighter body control.

As for the brakes, the pedal feels properly good, and pad choices are absolutely abundant. Plus, going up 1.2 inches in brake disc diameter up front and one inch in the back ought to offer greater thermal capacity when you’re really ripping it on track, but it was hard to ascertain any huge difference aside from firmer pedal feel on the street.

The best part is, at the end of the day, this is still a Toyota GR86, so it still has a sublime chassis, a pleasantly notchy shifter, a hilariously eager limited-slip differential, and gearing shorter than the Tasmanian Devil’s patience, meaning it’s still a hoot to drive most of the time. However, it can be a bit annoying around town. Rev hang below 3,000 rpm makes commuting about town a somewhat disappointingly sluggish endeavor. At sensible engine speeds, it’s a three-beat before you can release the clutch for a smooth upshift, and that’s as annoying as a mosquito in your ear. Happily, there’s one obvious solution: don’t keep the revs low, so long as it’s warm.

Pick up the pace a bit, and you’ll soon realize that 228 horsepower is plenty from this 2.4-liter flat-four, as the GR86 is a relatively quick car. More importantly, it feels captivatingly light at 2,833 pounds and rigid, so it’s fully willing to engage in on-ramp and backroad shenanigans. Thanks in part to the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires of this test car, you really can carry a lot of speed through a bend when you wish to keep things tidy, or let the back end hang out when you wish to not. It’s a paintbrush and the world is your canvas, ready for joy at the entry, apex, and exit of every corner.

Softer Cell

Slide into a fantastic, well-bolstered throne, survey the swaths of Ultrasuede, and you’ll soon realize two things. The first is that the driving position is, and there’s no other word for it, perfect. Seat nearly skimming the tarmac, steering wheel in exact reach, shifter perfectly in front of your elbow on the console armrest. The second is that although most of the interior materials are fairly price-conscious, they’re all screwed together well, plus they’re still upgrades over what you get in a first-generation model. There’s nothing slapdash about the Toyota GR86, but as you take an even closer look, there’s also less Toyota stuff in here than you might think.

The key is pure Subaru, the infotainment isn’t shared with any other current Toyota model, the advanced driver assistance system seems more Subaru than Toyota, and even the baggy textile around the handbrake lever shares more in common with the current Subaru WRX than anything Toyota. The icing on the cake? What seem like six million different ways to adjust how the stereo sounds, each landing on different levels of not good. Okay, so if you’re buying a car like this, you probably aren’t too concerned with much more than the driving experience, but still, better clarity would be nice.

Part of the appeal of the GR86 is that you can totally use it as your only car, but that comes with a few caveats. As you can probably expect, the rear seats aren’t exactly suitable for long-distance human transportation, ingress and egress is proper sports car stuff, and in-cabin storage isn’t brilliant. However, all of these compromises are totally liveable if you don’t have kids, and maybe acceptable if you have small ones. Plus, trunk space is rather good. It’s the sort of vehicle that’ just practical enough to give you hope, you make you willing to put up with slight inconveniences to drive a proper sports coupe every day. At this price, who am I to complain?

Simply Brilliant

The fact of the matter is, Toyota and Subaru have joined forces to create a genuinely great sports coupe. Whether a GR86 is your first sports car or your 50th, you’ll still find a ton of joy behind the wheel for an exceptionally reasonable starting price, and that’s nothing short of magic in today’s day and age. Sure, a Mazda MX-5 may be a bit more refined and a bit more of an experience thanks to the folding roof, but the GR86 is heaps more practical and still a hoot and a half.

As for the Trueno Edition itself, with a price tag of $35,855 including freight, or $41,010 in Canada, it’s likely not worth the premium over a non-limited edition GR86 unless you’re really hyped on the looks and are willing to live with the stiff everyday ride. However, it’s still an endlessly exciting way of spending that sort of money on a brand new car. These cars might have tiny rear seats and the occasional whiff of budgetary concerns, but unless you have a bottomless bank account, they’re all traits worth putting up with in pursuit of driving fun. Grab a GR86, then drive until the road signs get all squiggly. You’ll be glad you did.

(Photo credits: Thomas Hundal)

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