The Toyota GR 86 gets upgrades in handling and EyeSight

In a bit of a poetic move, Toyota has revealed on August 6 (also known as 8-6 Day) that its rear-wheel drive sports car, the GR 86, has received improvements to improve its driving feel and safety technologies five years later since its introduction.

Cosmetic-wise, the GR 86 gets a new Solid Gray color that was a limited-run color back in 2017 with the ZN6 Toyota GT 86. Apart from that, the car remains mostly untouched outside. The interior (on the RZ) gets low-reflectivity black paint on the switches that also improves grip. There’s an option for a two-tone black and red cabin, similar to the late model ZN6.

The powertrain remains the same, with a 2.4-liter, flat-four engine and a choice of either an automatic or six-speed manual. However, this time around, there have been handling and driving improvements, such as adjusted throttle control for improved responsiveness and handling on low-friction surfaces.

The electric power steering has been retuned for better stability in higher-speed corners and rough surfaces, and the manual transmission model now gets a broader chamfer that’s 0.5mm broader to improve downshifting from fifth-to-fourth gear.

Finally, the EyeSight driver assist system now gets a triple-camera configuration versus the dual-camera setup previously. It’s made specifically for the low stance of this car, and gets improvements in pedestrian and cyclist detection to prevent further accidents from happening. 

Considering that we get the full lineup of GR cars with Toyota Motor Philippines, we won’t be surprised to see these improvements trickle down to our local units.

^{Photos from Toyota}