Toyota GR86 Gets Even Better With OEM Upgrades

Toyota is showcasing enhanced vehicles and parts at this year’s Tokyo Auto Salon, including some upgrades targeted toward owners of the GR86 sports car looking to get more from their transmissions in a motorsports setting. Since launching in 2021, the latest version of the rear-drive sports car has been well received by customers after the unique feeling of a GR-tuned vehicle. Standard equipment includes a fast-revving flat-four engine, manual six-speed, and limited-slip rear axle, forming a solid foundation for a performance motoring experience.

Like competitors including the Mazda MX-5 and Nissan 400Z, the GR86 is built on a sports car platform and not adapted from a high-volume commuter, making it a popular choice for drivers keen on participating in autocross, drifting, drag-racing, weekend lapping, and various other forms of motorsport.

Enhanced Performance Software For Both Transmissions

Still, Toyota says it has concocted a few important upgrades for GR86 owners that reflect recent feedback and learnings, including those of professional drivers who use the GR86 in various forms of racing. Based on this feedback, Toyota has tweaked the throttle mapping on models with the manual six-speed transmission, and the engine speed tolerances during gearshifts for automatic-equipped models. The idea in both cases is to provide even faster and more consistent access to the engine’s torque across a wider variety of situations.

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Specifically, GR86 models with the manual gearbox have revised engine torque control to make the throttle even more sensitive to subtle inputs, which enable easier throttle blipping for rev-matching and throttle-steering at high revs. The engineers say these upgrades make throttle response more direct and pronounced at the upper limits of performance; for instance, at high revs and during high-speed cornering. Toyota says their GR86 customers also participate in motorsports with automatic-equipped models, which are now more responsive to downshifting and have a higher rev-range limit.

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This means drivers can downshift earlier, harder, and faster, than before – gaining easier access to the torque band for accelerating out of corners. Pre-upgrade GR86 owners of models built from October 2021 to July 2024 can buy these software upgrades through GR Garage locations this spring.

Enhanced Hardware For GR86 Driveline

Competition parts are coming too, with a GR Mechanical limited-slip differential announced for automatic transmission vehicles arriving this spring, as well as a GR Final Gear Kit with four available ratios (3.909, 4.100, 4.300, and 4.556), giving drivers a means of tailoring power delivery and gearing to their favorite track or activities. A differential carrier with cooling fins can be added, helping to keep axle fluid temperatures (and therefore response) more consistent across a wider range of situations during extreme use.

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Toyota says the GR Final Gear Kit will be priced at ¥85,800 (about $613) and that the upgraded differential carrier with cooling fins can be had for ¥39,160 (about $279). Toyota notes that long wait times are possible for their incoming GR86 upgrade parts, and interested shoppers can start looking for them to arrive this spring.

Circuit Mode Expanded

Elsewhere, a new Circuit Mode is available for the Toyota GR Yaris, which uses GPS coordinates to automatically identify the vehicle’s presence at over 77 eligible circuits and facilities and activate enhanced performance functions like anti-lag control, a raised top speed, and automatic switching of the vehicle’s instrument panel to its raciest setting. To help further expand this model’s appeal to a wider range of shoppers, Toyota recently added an automatic transmission option too.