FT-86 G Sport Concept revealed at Tokyo show

Updated




The FT-86 G Sports revealed at yesterday's Tokyo show moves the eagerly anticipated 'Toyobaru' concept even further up the Autoblog most wanted list.

The G Sports is an aggressive, race-inspired evolution of the original FT-86 concept that Subaru and Toyota have been collaborating on. The new car previews a series of performance conversions that will be made available to Japanese customers through Toyota dealerships.

Instead of the naturally-aspirated flat-four 2.0-litre engine found in the first FT-86, the G Sports gets a turbocharged version of Subaru's Boxer mated to a manual six-speed gearbox. There's no word on power yet, but expect a significant boost over the original car.

The lightweight, rear-wheel drive FT-86 is intended to fill the affordable sports-car-sized hole in both manufacturers' line-ups, but the G Sports gets a sharper nose, cleaner profile (huge spoiler aside) and lower ride-height to underline its performance credentials.

The car also comes with a specially-developed GPS system that promises to push track days to a new level of intense preparation and analysis.

Rather than simply recording your performance on the circuit, the GPS allows you to upload the subsequent data to a Playstation 3 so you can attempt to beat your lap time in the forthcoming Gran Turismo 5.

All this sounds wildly addictive and very Japanese, but in case you need some persuading the makers of the game have delivered a tantalising promo of what the car will look like in slick, hi-def motion.

Now all you need to do is imagine yourself in the driver's seat.


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