Toyota offers official 86 bodykit

TOYOTA is offering a factory bodykit exclusively for the top-spec GTS variant of its just-launched, rear-drive 86 sports coupe.

The kit, which costs $3000, includes front and rear bumper extensions, side skirts and a huge rear wing, all of which are claimed to increase downforce to improve stability while maintaining the car’s low 0.27 coefficient of drag.

Headlining proceedings is the rear wing, which has winglets on the uprights to increase downforce and a black-painted horizontal section, no matter what colour the car.

Toyota claims black fins rising from the front bumper skirt control air entering the grille while ‘canard’ winglets angled at 12 degrees aid stability and the side skirts help draw air from the front wheelarch.

The rear skirt effectively widens the bottom of the bumper, which is said to reduce turbulence coming from the front of the car and help draw air from beneath it.

Toyota launched the ‘boxer’-engined 86 in Australia earlier this month with a surprise opening price of $29,990 plus on-road costs for the entry-level GT with six-speed manual transmission.

The GTS is priced from $35,490 and opting for the six-speed automatic on either variant costs $2500.

However, the bargain pricing may not last long as Toyota Australia has admitted it could struggle to maintain it if factors outside its control, such as the exchange rate or global demand, get in the way.

A 2+2 intended to put the fun back into affordable motoring, the 86 was engineered in conjunction with Subaru – hence the boxer engine – which produces the car alongside its near-identical BRZ (which will be launched next month) at its Gunma Main Plant 80km north-west of Tokyo.

The Japanese twins were designed for track-day enthusiasts from the outset, with room to carry four racing wheels and tyres with the rear seats down, an interior shaped to take a roll cage and even helmet-friendly headrests.