Turn 5 at Aldo Scribante Race Circuit is known as Hanger and it was a pretty apt description on a summer's morning at the national launch of Toyota's new GR86. Even with all the electronic nannies on full alert, there was still enough rotation from the rear end to make you momentarily hang it out before the run-up to the hairpin.
Price: R698 100
Engine: 2,4-litre horizontally opposed four-cylinder
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 174 kW@ 7 000 r/min
Torque: 250 N.m@ 3 700 r/min 0–100 km/h: 6,4 seconds
Top speed: 226 km/h
Fuel consumption: 9,5 L/100 km
Rivals: BMW 2 Series Coupé
As we came out of turns two and three, which constitute the Esses, at the end of third gear, my driving instructor suggested we upshift into the kink and momentarily lift off the throttle on the approach to Hanger.
Depending on how you interpret that command, it is either a slow-in-fast-out approach or virtually flat-out. If you chose the latter, quick responses served you well as you snatched the GR86 from the jaws of disaster. In our case, going farming in full view of media colleagues. The GR86 is superbly balanced and it handled itself predictably.
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