President Akio Toyoda has reportedly told his engineers that the Toyota 86 must not feel like a Subaru BRZ copy and will go to some lengths to ensure that. Or at least that’s what a report from Japan’s Best Car Web claims, stating that the Toyota president wants drivers to immediately know they’re in an 86, not a BRZ.
To achieve that, the development team is said to be looking at new gearing and even changing the engine tuning.
And Toyota seems committed to making the little sports cars different. The outlet writes that Toyoda is willing to wait for the 86 to be ready. Initially intended to be ready for launch by the end of 2021, it is now being suggested that the reengineering could push the Toyota’s launch to late 2022.
We reached out to Toyota USA for comment and a spokesperson told us: “TMC-Japan has made no official announcement about exact timing for the next iteration of 86.”
Read More: 2022 Subaru BRZ Coming With New 228 HP, Stiffer Chassis, And More Tech
Unveiled late last year, the 2022 Subaru BRZ is broadly similar to the original but features many mild improvements. Indeed, it’s curious that Toyota is (reportedly) looking to alter the engine’s tuning since that’s something Subaru already seems to have improved significantly.
The famed valley in the BRZ’s torque curve appears to have been flattened in the new version, which should help significantly help with drivers’ perception of speed.
That same engine tuning will give the car 30-ish more horses than the first-gen car, with 228 hp total and 184 lb-ft of torque. Its redline will be painted at 7,000 RPM and will weigh just a few pounds more than the original at 2,900 lbs.
How different two cars based on the same hardware can become will be interesting to see. Naturally, it won’t be the first time Toyota tunes someone else’s sports car. The Supra and the BMW Z4 are based on the same platform, though the original BRZ and 86 were more similar than those two vehicles.
Hat tip to Autoevolution
