Night Import: Photo from
FT86Club | Words by
William Lee
Finally, the long awaited FT-86 debuted few hours ago in Japan and the Medias were going crazy! Every time I checked my Facebook, there were at least 3 people posting some stuff about the car. I didn't keep myself up-to-date with the now called
Toyota 86, but because I do have some friends in Japan, such as Adam from
7tune, I did get some accurate information and actual photos of the car. What do I think? Well, good that you dropped by v(^-^)v
First off, this post is not about the specs, photos, videos, etc. of the Toyota 86, but my thoughts and opinions about the car after reading comments throughout the months on many different websites. For all the information regarding Toyota 86, please visit FT86club.
Toyota 86 Announcement
Toyota 86 Spec Sheet
Toyota 86 Facts(?)
Most of my research on this car was found through Speedhunters because those guys always keep the automotive crowd up-to-date with whatever happens in the automotive scene. I remember reading one article they wrote about the FT-86 and I took some time reading through everything. Now when an article about a car we all love goes up on the net, then we obviously expect people to post it up on Facebook..right? So it's been about 4~5 months since I occasionally read through comments. One comment I came across many times was the complaint about the
Toyota 86 being badged as a Scion once it debuts in the United States, and that's the comment I want to talk about today.
Being a Scion owner myself and involved with the Scion tC community, I did understand why people were disliking this decision by Toyota. No disrespect to Scion tC owners, but all in honesty, the reason why we (Scion owners, including myself) get disrespected is because of how some, but not all, tC owners drive their cars plus the poorly done modification styles. Scion tCs were, and still is, the leading model in a few automotive sports, but it seemed as if tC owners were taking this as an advantage to 'act' in a certain way. Don't get me wrong, tCs do have a lot of potential and very few take the route of going all out with performance, but still as of today, the Scion community does have a poor reputation. But I see the release of the Toyota 86 and coming here as a Scion is a stepping stone for Scion to become a better brand and have a better crowd. For comparison's sake, look at how much Hyundai brought up their sales after releasing the Genesis Coupe and Equus. Tiburon was such a failure and no one even bothered to buy a Hyundai, but once the brand introduced a Genesis Coupe 2.0L and 3.8L versions easily making over 200HP with great reviews by known Medias, enthusiasts started to look at the brand differently. Who would've imagined a Hyundai owner being proud of what they drove? and now, look at Scion.
Scion was a replacement of the demised Toyota Celica and it was a great hit in the market. No one can't deny the simple and catchy body lines of a tC. On top of that, great mpg, affordable, high resell value, and much more that make it an outstanding car. It's depressing to see such a car not meeting the standards for enthusiasts, but putting those all aside; it's really a new beginning for Scion. I did hear no matter what the Toyota 86 is badged as, the specs and build will be exactly the same, so you can go ahead and take off that Scion badge and put on whatever you want. But do know it will still be a Scion and a fact impossible to avoid. Most of you tuners complain about gas prices, and in return, we have automakers making cars that are now fuel efficient and we still have to complain. Toyota decided to take another route and continued on with a car that some of us tuners asked for.
Without any doubt, Toyota 86 will be a hit. All these aftermarket companies are eager to put their hands on one to modify it in their own style. I can already see TAS with few modified Toyota 86s. The more we wait and see the changes, the more we will start to appreciate the car rather than the concern of its badge. Be more open-minded and start to look at cars with more options. It's the appreciation we should be sharing and accept what comes to us; like a true automotive enthusiast.
