Delve deep into the 86’s tightly packed orifices and you’ll spot plenty of Subaru logos stamped on body panels, floor panels, engine block... all over the place. But something struck me about the 86 on a recent Friday drive to Hatta.
Basically, Subaru makes more of this car than Toyota. But anybody with a 20-million-dollar Schneider stamping machine can whip up some body panels or cast a few blocks. It takes engineers and designers to put the puzzle pieces together properly, and assemble a car in a way that it turns nicely, rides well and all that. That’s where Toyota’s boys come in.
So the debate whether this is a Subaru or a Toyota is irrelevant, but what is relevant is that the only component that is 100 per cent Subaru is that flat-four engine, which is a bit forgettable. So Subaru was really given one job, and they mucked it up.
The flat-four groans on and on at highway speeds, complains at full throttle and generally delivers quite little power to the rear wheels. Two hundred horses in a world of 500+ horsepower family saloons is like inviting friends to your birthday via carrier pigeons instead of Facebook. So it’s not that I dislike the engine, but there’s also not much to like. I do, however, appreciate how the compact motor allows the bonnet to slope away from me and the fender tops to crest up.
During that long-ish trip to Hatta and back, the 86 also exhibited its cheapness in cabin refinement, noise and vibration insulation, tyre and wind roar… We all jumped for joy when Toyota launched the 86 at under 100 grand, but it’s priced cheaply for a reason. So don’t go in expecting a packaging and production miracle. It’s only a superb sportscar. With an engine made by spanners... Stampers! Sorry, stampers...
