2012 Toyota 86 GT review - Long-term owner

Multimedia and safety technology: 10/10

The radio supports Bluetooth for phone and streaming music. There is no sat-nav, but I know where I am going. Best of all there are zero buttons on the wheel.

Practicality: 8/10

The rear seat folds perfectly flat, so it has no trouble taking rakes, shovels and other gardening equipment. For some reason Toyota fitted a solid rubber mat with high edges, similar to the heavy-duty packs for 4WDs. I have taken steel and rubbish to the tip. Brilliant.

Driving: 10/10

An evening delivery to a family member’s house, only a couple of suburbs away, with not much traffic, eight degrees outside and lovely dense air. The free-flowing Miltek exhaust is a bit loud on cold start but soon settles down to a deep burble. I need no throttle up the slight incline of the driveway. I drive in my ballet shoes (aka Dunlop Driving Volleys). It is slightly difficult to heal and toe in the beast joggers. There is not one digital instrument in the base GT, so everything is calm. There are no reflective surfaces; they knew what they were doing. The HID low beam comes on slowly - I can adjust them up and down from the dash. The lights are nice. I trundle down the road and let the temperature come up. This is not any sort of fast drive, just an appreciation of the night. The 1179kg and the balance provided by the MCA coilover spec. The exhaust has given an 8% increase in torque but also lowered the RPM to 4700 - you just don’t have to work it. It is a joy to drive the car anywhere, in the wet or dry. I concentrate on the lines through corners and chicanes. I try to get every gear change perfect. I leave the dynamic stability control on the standard setting. Since MCA took out the anti-squat in the rear, any intervention is minor and short. I only once run up to 4K in third up a hill. The motor is warm and is promising so much. We are already at the 80 limit on high beam on a country road.

Back home in the warm, out of the ballet shoe on wheels. The car burbled backwards into its home. It does not go out enough.

Running costs: 9/10

Servicing costs have been comparable to other cars we have owned. Country trips usually result in consumption of 6.5L/100km. Urban gives 7.7. The 205/55/16 tyres are easy to source and usually very good value.

Reliability: 9/10

The car went into limp mode a couple of times on a trip. A call to the dealer resulted in them identifying that it was a known problem with the oil pressure algorithm. They obviously updated the software instantly. The car has been recalled twice for potential problems with the power steering and the valve springs. No other issues.