The first corner on the infield course at Charlotte Motor Speedway is a sweeping left-hander into a double-apex right. You can’t see the second corner because of the barriers and the surprising amount of elevation – you’d think the infield at a NASCAR oval would be pretty flat, but no. After a few laps, I’d figured out the trick was to get into the third of the six gears offered in the 2025 Toyota GR 86 as quickly as possible, then get down into second for the double-apex, so I’d have torque on the exit for the straight leading into the rest of the tight, twisty infield circuit. I also figured out I needed to be wearing brown shorts instead of green for the transition up onto the banked oval, which tended to cause some unexpected oversteer in someone else’s $36,405 limited-edition sports car.
We’ll come back to nearly matching the 86’s new brown interior in a moment. If 36 grand sounds like a lot for a GR86, it is. But the one you see here is special. Only 850 GR86 Hakone Edition models will make it to the US for 2025, and it’s worth betting your local Toyota dealer will want north of that figure for the privilege of owning what is arguably one of the best sports cars on the market today. Hakone models get this excellent Ridge Green paint, bronze 18-inch wheels, Brembos and Sachs dampers carried over from the Performance Package. There’s also a tan-accented interior based on the Premium trim.
(Full disclosure: Toyota paid for our considerations so that we could drive the 86.)
Toyota also says it has made broader mechanical changes to the 86 in 2025, with tweaked shock absorbers and updated steering. Manual models (the one to get, of course) also have updated software to make rev-matching easier. Automatics (skip, of course) should downshift better, and have a slightly nicer torque band. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to sample the automatic during the my time at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
It’s worth saying now that the Hakone Edition, if you can justify the hefty premium over the 86’s $31,085 base MSRP, is absolutely worth it. Just the color combo alone makes this car special, and the added performance courtesy of bigger brakes and slightly stiffer dampers will help with the occasional track work your own GR86 should be subject to.
After nearly greeting the outer wall at Charlotte, the 86 feels planted and communicative around the banking before dipping back into the infield for a quick chicane. The fast way around, of course, is to smash the curbs and take the racing line out the back of the chicane, back up onto Charlotte’s famous oval, and across Toyota’s makeshift finish line just before the pit entry. The fun way ‘round, however, is to jump the curb on the first left-hand turn in the chicane, then nail the throttle while the 86 slides beautifully around the second corner and up onto the banking. Sure, the 86 is fast, especially given the 2.4-liter boxer’s “meager” 228 horsepower (and 184 lb-ft of torque), but this car, like the Miata it competes with, is more about fun. The 86 doesn’t feel like it’s on rails around a circuit, and it doesn’t on a back road either. The movement of the car under you, the heel-toe shifting, the more-pleasant-than-you-think buzz of the boxer, and the feel of the gearbox EM these are the things that have and continue to make the 86 special.
I’m sure that Toyota can provide all sorts of evidence that the reworked steering and other 2025-specific changes make the 86 better on paper. Truthfully, I couldn’t tell. Toyota didn’t have a 2024 car to sample alongside the new one, and frankly, I don’t care. What matters is that the changes don’t change the way you interface with the 86. Simply put, the 86 is still the sports car you buy if you need a little more room than a Miata without sacrificing any of the traits that make small, rear-wheel drive sports cars a blessing to drive.
[Images © 2024 Chase Bierenkoven/TTAC.com]
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