In a press interview at the Tokyo Auto Salon last month, the next President of Toyota Motor Co. Akio Toyoda was asked many questions about where Toyota was heading and also one question which might be of particular interest to Japanese sports car enthusiasts. “How’s the development coming along regarding the sports car jointly developed with Subaru?” His reply to the question was answered fairly assuredly in 3 parts.
The car has been codenamed internally as 086A, an obvious homage to the legendary AE86 Corolla.
Project Moving Ahead
Despite some reports to the contrary, the Toyota/Subaru compact FR sports car was not cancelled (even partially) and will continue to go ahead. It is seen as a vital part of Toyota’s “rejuvenation” efforts and reflects the company’s desire to develop a car that appeals to the younger generation of car enthusiasts. Having a FR sports car at the entry level end of the market is Toyota’s way of cementing its image as an rejuvenated car company and will surely dominate the segment as its competitors struggle to keep up.
Codename: “086A”, Delayed Production
Development of the body and chassis is complete and we’re told the development code for the new FR sports car is “086A”. The numerals “86″ should make fans of the now legendary AE86 Sprinter Trueno/Corolla Levin happy as it’s rumored that the numbers will be carried over as the chassis designation. It was thought that the freeze put on construction of the new Subaru factory slated to produce the Toyota/Subaru sports car was the main reason for delays in production, but this is actually in no way related and the real reason for the delay. Production will be postponed for several months so that D-4S direct injection can be applied to the flat-4 boxer engine. Production will now be postponed until March 2012.
Price Unchanged
Akio Toyoda also confirmed that the price of the Toyota/Subaru compact sports car is still 2,000,000 yen and that there will be no changes to the original plan to build an affordable entry-level sports car. The car is seen to be a formidable model when it joins Toyota’s line up as it will surely push the boundaries of a market segment occupied by front wheel drive compact cars.
Across the internet people are still skeptical of the car ever seeing the end of a production line. Montreal commenter Lohik23 had this to say:
If they release a car that looks like that, it’ll be the end of the world. Why? Because Toyota will have released a car that is beautiful, fast, rear wheel drive and just generally appealing to young people. It’s seems like this goes against everything Toyota now stands for.
Unfortunately this seems to be the case. The coolest ‘youth focused’ car Toyota has made in the last 10 years is the Toyota bB/Scion xB, and they didn’t bother shipping it anywhere but Japan and the USA. Seriously Toyota, the younger buyers want to buy a cool car from your company. Make it safe and fun with all the newest features and im sure you will earn another generation of brand-loyal drivers for decades to come. Just take the AE86 as an example….. so yes, we WANT the 086A, but please please PLEASE drop the boxer engine… If you are truly trying to make the venerable hachiroku’s little brother, why not be true to it’s winning engineering feat, the 4A-GE.
Thanks to Justin Karow from 7TUNE for most of the info. The boys over there have just re-designed their blog so be sure to check their fresh new threads out!
Entries (RSS)
February 20th, 2009 at 12:52 am
OMG this is going to be madddd if they do make it.
February 20th, 2009 at 1:19 am
Yes! that sketch looks alot better then some of earlier renditions that were floating around. Reminds me of when there was talk of a 2-door Altezza a while ago.
Trusty 4AGE would be cool for heritage, but it’s already a 20 y.o. base, maybe a new generation 3SGE? Guess the boxer comes mainly from the Subaru partnership. But if this is definitely going ahead – I’d put down a deposit on one today!
February 20th, 2009 at 2:14 am
[...] Více se o připravovaném projektu můžete dočíst na 7tune.com ZDE a také na Hachiroku.com.au ZDE. [...]
February 20th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Comment 3.
In English! you know i dont speak spanish! Come again? What… you ate a whole wheel of cheese? and.. and you popped in the refrigerator? No im not even mad.. im impressed.. How’d you even do that? Thats Amazing!
February 20th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
actually like a newly made gold top 4age 20v with like 120kw atw would be awesome therefore easyier drop in the ae86 maybe? itll be cool but these days the sleeker round shape looks like crap to me. maybe a more square tougher look. also how heavy is this thing and the size judging by the pic it could be up against some holden sadan. over 2t aint nibble and easy to throw around like the lucious AE86. u know wat they say about big cars, small …..!
February 20th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
i think almost all enthusiast who want this to happen want the boxer engine dumped.
the other problem toyota has is that it doesnt have a 4cyl RWD bar the hilux 3R engines.
they wont use the beams motor as it wont pass emissions, and probably wont make a new engine as it will cost to much money.
toyota’s best plan of attack would be to use the 2.5 V6 or 3.5 V6 from the IS250. they’re already set up for RWD and would make a ship load of power IF the new 086A body is light enough.
if its priced in the 30-40k range, they will sell like hot cakes!! if they keep the current design which looks fantastic, it will be the only japanese medium sized coupe in the market. even though the S15 is long gone there is still a massive following for them.
February 20th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Needs to look more retro
February 20th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
I would buy one
hopefully it’ll be a nice high rev NA 2ltr engine with all the fruit, ITB’s, vvt, high comp etc, 6 speed box and RWD.
PLEASE no limp dik 1.5 econo engine
February 20th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
2012!
I’ll be able to afford a 2009 GTR by then…………….hhahahah
February 21st, 2009 at 10:41 am
u wish youngy
February 27th, 2009 at 1:59 am
The most interesting fact that today, i see same article:).
Although I do not remember there may be a link to the source,
but probably not – but your site look solid.
April 27th, 2009 at 2:03 am
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July 14th, 2009 at 9:22 am
Im looking for a specs of 4AGE 20 V gold top…. its better than black top 20 valves? what is the difference
July 15th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
For everyone wishing for a 4AGE-or-similar engine, come on.
Do you honestly believe Toyota would put a 25 year old engine in a car like this just to please a few of us fanboys? Don’t get me wrong, I love my little 4AGE and i’m an 86 owner myself. But the fact that Toyota are even doing something like this at all is spectacular. You have to remember that Toyota are still trying to make money off this venture; they’re not just trying to be “nostaligic”… And if Toyota are going to choose another car company to work with, I’m pretty damn pleased it’s Subaru and not… well PONTIAC (ie vibe/matrix)… The only thing i’m a little disappointed in is the price. At 20k i’m better off sticking with a real AE86.
July 16th, 2009 at 10:58 am
no we’re not expecting it to be fitted with a 4age.
we want something similar to a the original AE86 and 4age engine. that being a RWD light-ish, nimble, revvy engine (like a beams 3sge) and 2 doors.
the fact that toyota is considering an “AE86″ type car means that for once they might be listening to what people want instead of telling them what to buy.
September 19th, 2009 at 7:36 am
@ adam
They mentioned they want to sell it to a younger generation…
Those engines you mentioned are not quite affordable to have in your “budget” sportscar
September 21st, 2009 at 12:14 pm
this is true, it was just an example really.
there are a heap of better engines in toyotas range (the camry 2.4 springs to mind) that would be a suitable basis for the new AE86.
November 16th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
For me, the Toyota Corolla has the best features, styling and bang for the back sedan.