Toyota Mirai vs Toyota GR86

What's the difference?

Toyota Australia is on the record as saying it doesn't want to push one form of electrification over another, and to that end wants the market to choose whether it wants hybrids, plug-ins, full battery or hydrogen vehicles.

While hybrid options have well and truly arrived in models like the RAV4, Corolla and Camry, and we’re all still waiting for the full-electric and plug-in vehicles, Toyota has now brought in its second-generation Mirai hydrogen FCEV.

But with Toyota, and Hyundai with its Nexo, the only brands pushing hydrogen into the mainstream, is it good enough to hold its own against battery electric models like the Tesla Model 3 and Nissan Leaf?

We are approaching a decade and a half since Toyota dipped into its vault and pulled out an iconic pair of digits, 86, and stuck ‘em on the back of a new car it co-developed with Subaru.

Named for, and loosely inspired by, the rear-drive AE86 Corolla of the mid-1980s which was cemented in the pop culture pantheon by the anime Initial D, the Toyota 86 is in its second generation and wears a ‘GR86’ badge to incorporate the name of Toyota’s sports car division. 

The 86 was, when launched, extremely affordable but has since become more expensive, and getting into a top-spec version of the GR86 is a task that’ll sap $20,000 more from your wallet than the original 86 base model.

To find out if it’s worthwhile, we’ve snagged a 2026 Toyota GR86 GTS with optional Dynamic Performance Pack (DPP) to see if Toyota’s accessible sports car still hits the same sweet spot between genuine performance and decent value.