It beats hooning your mom’s Honda Odyssey.
A teenager took the top spot in the first three races of the Toyota 86 Racing Series this past weekend, beating back the 38 entrants in the fledgling event.
Former kart champion Cameron Hill’s win is exactly what Toyota had in mind when it crafted the three-year series. Designed as an entry point for up-and-coming drivers, the series pits up to five professional drivers against a field of amateurs, with training being top of mind. (Though a $125,000 prize pool sweetens the deal).
The Australia-only series (part of the support program at various rounds of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship) fields manual transmission Scion FR-S Toyota 86 models, outfitted with a control specification kit that boosts horsepower by 18 percent.
Stock stick-shift models leave the factory with 205 hp, meaning the 86 hits the Aussie track with 242 hp, plus a vastly improved suspension, braking and grip.
The automaker claims a driver can get on the grid for under $70,000 — a price that includes all fees, upgrades and the purchase of the vehicle.
Besides offering newcomers valuable training and exposure, not to mention cash prizes for the top three drivers, the series chooses a rising star to race in New Zealand’s Toyota Finance 86 Championship. Five events are on this year’s calendar.
The automaker didn’t need to change any written materials for the series after Scion (remember them?) got the axe, as Toyota sold the “Toyobaru” as the 86 in overseas markets since the get-go.
In North America, the Scion FR-S badging hits the dumpster this August.
How exactly do you race a car that slow?
You put a couple of turns in the track and watch all the hellcat driving jackwagons plow through the tire barriers you pompous dolt.
The timeliness and tone of your responses seems to indicate that your not a fan of HELLCATS…
This is how
BigTrucks,
It do think the Toyota is still much faster than a Fiat/Chrysler sitting in the workshop or mechanics for failures.
Like out cornering the Hellcat in reverse while reading a book.
…and all they had to do was put a REGULAR 4-CYLINDER IN IT and leave enough space so that every ricer with a little cash in his pocket could attempt to build his own:
…wait for it…
“G T R KILLER”
A bunch of noobs at the car shows LYING about how much power their car puts out to make people go ooooh and ahhh.
Politely declining to put it on the dyno.
They believe extra racing stickers adds more HP.
SMGDH.
Yeah well I can take a freaking 80s cutlass and drop a built LS motor in it and lay waste to your damned HellCat to ya Jack@$$
Show me the Cutlass that goes up to 205 MPH and has a factory warranty.
And ULTIMATELY that’s the reason I DIDN’T simply buy a used SRT8 Charger and put a $15,000 Supercharger in it.
#1 I don’t like Chargers – I like 300’s – because they are classy – like me.
#2 Factory Warranties are EVERYTHING.
#3 The only car I’d custom build would be a Lamborghini Replica with all the stuff I want in it that Lamborghini won’t do.
If you are classy then my Kiester is a golden windmill
H E L L C A T and J A K A $ $ killer yo
And what good is a factory warranty if I have to visit a Chrysler dealer. I’d rather have my penis riddled for an STD test thank you very much!
Rodded, not riddled. Damn autocorrect. But I’d rather it be riddled with an STD than visit a Chrysler dealer.
Or read any more of your insufferable MOAR MOPAR @$$hattery.
I’m starting to think you don’t respect MOPAR or FCA.
That’s too bad.
Many a racer has felt the bright glow of our tail lights.
Or I owned many a Fiat Product and have basked in the warm glow of the dome light in the cab of the tow truck on which my FCA product was being hauled back to Johnny Domani’s garage to get repaired again.
Perhaps you could not afford the higher-end product?
So maybe 20 years from now we’ll be watching clips of these on our Visu-Implants instead of the VW Rabbit racers running around on that Youtube clip a few days back.
And I’m guessing that any hope of civility and self-moderation on TTAC has now officially gone out the window…
Dude I’m on my 5th Old Fashioned in a Hot Tub in Romania so My civility is long gone.
And if anyone is going to ban me I demand the old school Dunce cap avatar as I have been here long enough that I think I’m entitled to it!
Quick, before you get banned; tell us a drunken Romanian Hot Tub tale of tails.
“The TTAC Law” as stated in this site’s FAQ (“First to get rude loses the argument”) is more honour’d in the breach than the observance by some, sadly.
Some of the most entertaining racing around involves relatively slow cars, such as Spec Miata.
NeilM,
Especially if the formula is quite strict. It will be talent that wins, not just dollars.
Getting back to the actual article, before all the trolling takes you from it. Toyota 86 one make series started in New Zealand, now getting traction in Australia. They outsell the Mazda MX-5 in Australia by a considerable margin
RobertRyan,
At work we have around 4 sitting in the car park of around 100 vehicles. The complex where I work has at least 15-20 of these vehicles, both Scoobie Do’s and Tee’ota’s.
I only have seen a few MX5s/Miatas.
Young guys seem to own the 86’es and older farts drive the Mazdaratti’s.
The formula should provide for some tight racing among the newcomers.
I do think the 86 would be an ideal cheap toy/race car for a small twisty track.
On top of the 70 grand you will have to have cash to attend the meets. So this is still out of range for the average Billy Bloggs on the street unless he can find a sponsor.