The Toyota GT86 is a huge celebrity abroad. It has been lauded for its fun to drive character and at the same time it does not cost a bomb to buy.
Even when it breaks down, it is a Toyota at the end of the day which means fixing it wouldn't mean you selling your kidneys.
The two-door sportscar has even won the acclaimed 'Car of the Year' award from a popular British motoring journalist. In fact, we ourselves like the values the GT86 stands for (even though it is not sold here in India).
Toyota had recently announced that it would be showing a concept version of the GT86 Convertible at the Geneva Motor Show scheduled to take place early next month. And what you see here is not the concept but the actual production ready car!
This GT86 Convertible was spotted in Paarden Eiland, Cape Town, by CAR reader Allan. And by the looks of it, it seems to be ready to be delivered to the customer rather than a test mule.
The engine is expected to remain the same - a 2.0-liter Boxer engine producing 197bhp of power for the rear wheels. The GT86 is known as 'The Drifter's car' as it rides on the extremely slippery, low rolling resistance Toyota Prius tires.
Now, you're probably thinking that its not that big a deal to make a coupe into a convertible: Just take the roof off! But, there is much more to that. Removing the critical roof from a car lowers the entire rigidity of the structure. To enhance the strength and stiffness, added structures are fitted on to the sides of the car. The added structures translates to added weight and the extra weight drags down the performance.
So it is a pretty good task to get the convertible to perform and handle just the way the coupe does.
With Toyota set to announce the convertible during the Geneva Motor Show, a key question remains unanswered: Will there be a Subaru BRZ/Scion FR-S Convertible as well?
[Source - CAR South Africa]
