2018 Toyota 86 Review

It's easy to count the 2018 Toyota 86's downsides. It's small inside, with limited cargo and passenger space; it's not particularly comfortable, especially for taller drivers; and the technology on offer feels totally outdated. The 86 has also only received modest power bumps over the years, so it's slower than a lot of competitors. Also, Toyota's never fixed the car's lack of midrange punch.

But there's no denying that the 86 still succeeds at being a ton of fun to drive. It provides a sporty experience even when you're just tooling around town. It's always engaging, and it's the kind of car that begs to be driven harder — it's just too bad it runs out of steam before too long.

Still, the market has evolved, and there are a lot of great performance coupes on the road right now at comparable prices. Today's 86 isn't as easy to recommend over the competition as the FR-S was back when it first launched.

What's it like to live with?

The Toyota 86 has barely changed in all the years since it was the Scion FR-S. (Remember Scion?) While that's a bit of a problem in some ways — cough, cough, we want CarPlay, cough — it means our impressions of the 2013 Scion FR-S that we bought to live with for a year are still just as relevant today. And we lived hard with the FR-S, slapping on a supercharger, exhaust, and fresh wheels and tires. You can read all about our long-term test with Toyota's entry-level rear-wheel-drive sports car.