toyota just let loose a deluge of pics and info of its ft-86 concept coupe (consider this a proto-toyobaru).

what you need to know from me first:
small 2+2 rwd coupe with rakish profile. Power is N/A subaru four. apparently a 2.0L. price to be >~20k.

some links:

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/06/toyko-2009-preview-toyota-ft-86-concept-brings-back-the-hachiro/

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=4594519

http://www.motortrend.com/auto_shows/tokyo/2009/112_0910_toyota_ft_86_concept/index.html

oh, and this. I'm too stunned and to bother to pick and post any particular pics. They're suddenly everywhere. Just google image Ft-86. they're also way better than you're expecting. This looks more s2000-goes-2+2 than anything in recent toyota memory. The car bears a more-than-passing resemblance to the FT-HS concept, but this is clearly a more production-ready concept with less whiz-bang and more vroom-vroom. The fact that I just drove a wrx last week makes this all the more exciting. I don't even care that the car is probably going to have n/a engines... it just looks like it'll be even cheaper then. (I'll be the first to admit that a week driving a miata makes an excess of power look irrelevant though.)

10/6/2009 2:02:28 AM

oh what the hell: I'll post one. This is from motortrend:

10/6/2009 2:05:53 AM

Quote :

"(I'll be the first to admit that a week driving a miata makes an excess of power look irrelevant though.)"

On one hand, I love lots of power, but I've gotten more and more appreciative of great cars that don't happen to be ate up with motor. It's no longer a requirement for me to have a ton of fun with a car.

10/6/2009 2:13:38 AM

PRESS RELEASE (copied from autoblog)

Quote :

" 1. FT-86 Concept (world premiere) The FT-86 ("86" pronounced "hachi roku"), a compact rear-wheel-drive sports car, provides driving joy and excitement. * Compact design gives driver greater control, while body's lightness and low center of gravity allow racecar-like handling * Both power and environmental performance provided by 2-liter boxer engine and light body * Flash Red body color contains hint of blue; interior expresses modern feel with minimal coverage of the highly refined structural components evoking enthusiasm for cruising Vehicle Length Width Height Wheelbase Seating FT-86 Concept 4,160 mm 1,760 mm 1,260 mm 2,570 mm 4 "

a miata is 156 inches long.... 4160/25.4 = 163 inches long for this concept.

an rx8 is 174 inches long...

honda s2000 is 162 inches... how about that. yeah, I'm sticking with that. s2000 2+2 by toyota with subaru power. awesome. Especially if they keep the weight down.... and at less than wrx money? MT had a comment about there being a production version by late 2011... wow...

edit... turns out this and the s2000 are both right around 69 inches wide too...

[Edited on October 6, 2009 at 2:24 AM. Reason : stickin with my description for how I think about this car...]

10/6/2009 2:21:16 AM

"don't even think about badging me a scion"

10/6/2009 2:44:00 AM

10/6/2009 2:46:14 AM

somewhat reminded of the mitsu fto.

10/6/2009 2:48:48 AM

I like the idea, a lot. If it's light enough, I'd love for this car to be successful as a car enthusiast, regardless of if I'd ever own one or not.

10/6/2009 3:02:30 AM

reminds me a bit of the Nissan 350/370Z

10/6/2009 8:44:18 AM

I was just thinking about what'd make a good "carry stuff" sedan/wagon supplement to having one of these as a fun DD. wrx was obvious, but even better, how about a used 9-2x? saabaru and toyobaru "secret subie" garage? lmfao.

10/6/2009 9:21:03 AM

that'd be great if the front wasnt so damn heinously ugly. put a wrx front bumper on that

10/6/2009 9:23:00 AM

very cool technically. very meh design.

10/6/2009 2:16:38 PM

Quote :

"reminds me a bit of the Nissan 350/370Z "

yea looks like a more asian 370z

10/6/2009 3:02:06 PM

I like. But unless it has more than 250hp or weighs less than 2800lbs I'm not interested.

10/6/2009 4:41:47 PM

it's going to need every bit of 100hp/l to be even remotely fun to drive.

good luck subaru.

10/6/2009 4:44:22 PM

H8R approved!

10/6/2009 5:23:32 PM

i like it. wheels look heavy...looks 3200lb

10/6/2009 7:52:09 PM

I'll give Toyota the benefit of a doubt. The last gen Celica was extremely light for what it was.

10/6/2009 8:35:30 PM

^^the current wrx weighs around 3200 lbs, so I'm sure this'll be lighter, what with the significantly smaller dimensions (pretty much dead-on the s2k) and not being awd nor intercooled or even mildly turboed. I mean, an rx8 is way bigger and it's still only around ~3000 (a rotary is small, but it's not THAT much smaller than a subaru four-cylinder). The back seats in this are probably no bigger than the audi tt's, though. I suspect that the flat engine is much further back than where it'd normally be in a subaru, and that even if they wanted to make an awd version, there'd be no way to run the axles far enough back . they definitely have my attention. Here's hoping for 2600 lbs. I think this could be mini weight or lighter. And... thinking of it now... the mini coupe dropped down several notches on the list of cars I'll be looking out for in the next couple of years. Both cars have similar appeal but the mini would almost surely be significantly more expensive. I think the right car to compare this to might be the miata.

... I didn't really even think of it at first, but this is at the tokyo show, so the motor shown might just be a jdm spec. They don't sell any version of the 2.0L here, so maybe we'll luck out and get the n/a 2.5, which has like 170 hp...

[Edited on October 6, 2009 at 9:29 PM. Reason : ...]

10/6/2009 9:22:44 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oOXdKcdpZ8&feature=player_embedded

ft-86 gt5 teaser vid

10/6/2009 9:55:44 PM

sounds like a 240sx redux. underpowered 2+2 coupe.

10/7/2009 8:11:36 AM

It'll have at least 200hp, fear not.


Hopefully Honda is paying attention to this. All they need to do to have a competitor to this is to stretch the S2k's platform a few inches and stick a permanent top on it!

ARGH

10/7/2009 8:25:08 AM

I'd be boning for this if I wasn't sure my next vehicle was going to be a light truck.

10/7/2009 9:47:12 AM

Quote :

"It'll have at least 200hp, fear not."

200hp isn't shit now, it's the modern equivalent of what the DOHC 240sx's were making back in the mid 90s. If the power level is significantly less than a V6 camry then it's underpowered, unless the weight is very very low.

10/7/2009 1:01:03 PM

^I realize that, I was stating that to danmangt40, who for some reason seems excited of the possibility of just 170hp???

As I previously stated, unless its at least 250hp or extremely light I won't care.

10/7/2009 3:02:57 PM

looks like a pissed off catfish

10/7/2009 3:14:59 PM

Hell. I've heard the next gen. Mustang GT will have ~400hp and the v6 variant will have approx. 300hp. I'm in no way using the Mustang as baseline. The hp gap between the c5 and c6 generation is astounding, imo. The point is that hp figures are getting higher and higher, thus making small cars with <300hp look slow. hell, doesn't the new miata still only have like 170hp? I'd still call it peppy because it is light as dust. Not everything has to have massive hp to be fun, though it doesn't hurt.

10/7/2009 3:15:47 PM

Quote :

"reminds me a bit of the Nissan 350/370Z"

10/7/2009 3:54:56 PM

that thing looks hideous

10/8/2009 12:55:26 AM

Quote :

"I've heard the next gen. Mustang GT will have ~400hp and the v6 variant will have approx. 300hp."

The current Camaro V6 is making over 300 HP already while getting 29 MPG on the highway. Pretty sweet for a V6. I know an older guy who bought one. Everyone was ragging on it for being a V6, but hell if any of their old V8 junk could beat it.

There will always be a market segment for nimble sports cars with moderate power levels, but I think we should all be psyched that 200 HP is the new 120 HP. 200 HP, Toyota reliability, in a good handling package for ~$20k sounds pretty good to me.

[Edited on October 8, 2009 at 8:55 AM. Reason : l]

10/8/2009 8:53:55 AM

^ Exactly. Although the powerplant would be subaru reliability no?

10/8/2009 10:00:24 AM

^^let's just hope they don't use that Godawful 6sp manual from the Celica

10/8/2009 10:38:50 AM

I've always heard that Mustangs in general are pretty reliable.

10/8/2009 11:14:23 AM

Yeah, reliability only changes when you get drunk and decide to make friends with a tree or two, but I wouldn't know anything about that since I've never owned a mustang and rarely drink.

[Edited on October 8, 2009 at 11:48 AM. Reason : .]

10/8/2009 11:48:21 AM

^^^ Pretty unlikely that they'll mate the transmission from a FWD car with a Toyota engine to a RWD Subaru powered car.

10/8/2009 1:07:01 PM

lol, I know I'm just using that as an example of shitty toyota manual transmissions

10/8/2009 1:25:23 PM

Quote :

"looks like a pissed off catfish"

thread winnar

10/8/2009 1:45:33 PM

The first person who says anything about an LSx swap gets their ass kicked.

10/8/2009 1:47:03 PM

wonder if an ls- ahhhhh shit^

[Edited on October 8, 2009 at 1:48 PM. Reason : -]

10/8/2009 1:48:24 PM

I like it, and hope it does well. We need more small, light sporty coupes on the market--think how many more there were in the 80's and 90's than there are now.

10/8/2009 4:09:55 PM

fully agree on the power/weight thing, 2.0L flat subie 4 thats N/A usually only puts out ~150hp.... which is going to make that slow as hell unless you are desperately close to 2000lb....

now if it's more like 210-260hp and comes in around 2800-2900lbs things get interesting

10/8/2009 4:36:40 PM

I thought I heard they're already considering using the WRX's turbocharged engine.

10/9/2009 8:23:02 AM

Quote :

"looks like a pissed off catfish"

sorry, but the 98-02 camaros already have the rights to that description.

[Edited on October 9, 2009 at 8:16 PM. Reason : actually, the f-bodies just look like big, dumb catfish. not so much pissed off...]

10/9/2009 8:15:25 PM

I only mentioned the 170 hp 2.5L as encouraging bc the concept only has the na 2L, which only runs like 140 or so. In that respect, I was excited about the 2.5 in the sense that it's the least motor they offer in the us iirc

10/10/2009 5:01:08 AM

this thread, and that fucking car, is a fucking travesty and at the very least, a bad joke aimed at jappo saloon fanboys






the point of the 86 was to be bare fucking bones and haul ass



this car.... nope.

10/11/2009 5:01:11 AM

you know what I hate? when the most successful corporate automobile conglomerate that made its fortune selling milquetoast transportation to the disadvantage of any number of more eccentric manufacturers looks into its past and takes a product that never made a dime, wasn't worth replacing directly with a car of the same formula that was later appreciated by people who were too cheap to buy it new, and then, in the name of a completely unrelated initiative of delivering an affordable sports car with the correct driven wheels using parts borrowed from a competitor that can offer the ideal drivetrain in both new and foreseeably easily modified form, offers me exactly what I always wanted, but just HAS to do it without leaving a 20 year old shitbox's name alone. paaaa-toooey. Guess I'm with you there opt. Oh wait, I'm sorry, my rectum seems to be rejecting my head. I simply can't get it as far up there as you've managed. I'll try again tomorrow. wtf dude.

10/12/2009 5:18:18 AM

Quote :

"Oh wait, I'm sorry, my rectum seems to be rejecting my head. I simply can't get it as far up there as you've managed. I'll try again tomorrow. wtf dude. "

I almost spewed my drink thru my nose... GG

[Edited on October 12, 2009 at 9:21 AM. Reason : .]

10/12/2009 9:21:18 AM

[fail] at life

10/14/2009 9:02:54 AM

here is a rendering of the STi version of Subaru's version of the TOYOBARU FT-86.

http://www.7tune.com/subaru-086a-sti/

10/15/2009 10:41:04 AM

don't you wet the bed?

10/15/2009 2:58:12 PM