2024 Toyota GR86 Trueno Edition First Test: Now Oozing JDM Cool

Tracing Toyota’s usage of the “Trueno” label gets a little confusing given it was originally associated with a Corolla product sold globally in the 1980s. The link today is essentially the “86” branding—for the old Sprinter Trueno compact hatchback, it was part of the carmaker’s internal chassis designation. Modern usage makes the Trueno Edition a limited-run version of the 2024 GR86 entry-level sport coupe, a sports car modeled after those past rear-wheel-drive Toyotas enthusiasts love to get sideways in.

You don’t have to know this to dig the 2024 Toyota GR86 Trueno Edition, but it is sort of useful nerd knowledge among tuner fans. It explains the coupe’s distinctive exterior styling and badging. But do the changes, added to the six-speed manual Premium model, make the car a better performer?

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Drifting Beans

Like non-Trueno GR86 models, this car is in its element when hucked through corners. Turn-in is extremely sharp, and the car rotates willingly, even stepping out a little if you want it to—without the threat of a spin. Just engaging Track mode doesn’t disable all the nannies, though. For the full-drift beans, both stability and traction control systems need to be off.

We delight in driving this car, Trueno or not. The manual model’s pedals are in the correct position for heel-toe downshifting. The shifter is notchy with relatively short throws, and the model-specific knob looks cool, like it could’ve come on an OG Trueno.

That’s why we’re not bummed in the least that the upgraded dampers and tires didn’t translate to better test results. In fact, the changes make the car a tiny bit less capable on average—and we mean tiny. Compared to the 2022 GR86 six-speed manual, this Trueno trim comes up 0.02 g (average) short in lateral acceleration (0.96 vs. 0.98 g) and in our racetrack-in-a-bottle figure-eight test at a slower clip (25.2 seconds at 0.74 g vs. 24.7 seconds at 0.76 g). Both are in the ballpark of the significantly more powerful 2024 Ford Mustang EcoBoost, though.

We suspect a meatier tire would do this chassis a world of good. Although pressures didn’t vary much from the beginning to the end of testing, we could tell the grip was falling off after about four laps of the figure eight. Even so, the 2024 Toyota GR86 Trueno Edition was commendably poised throughout.

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Braking Performance

The brake pedal feels good, and its travel is short. Stopping distances from 60 mph were relatively repeatable, and the car even felt solid halting from 100 mph. But its best was still a foot longer than the 2022 model’s 108 feet, while the Mustang with its freakishly good brakes needs just 100 feet.

Here again we expected better from the upgraded kit but aren’t too annoyed because it looks fresh, namely the red-painted Brembo four-piston front and two-piston rear brake calipers. The rotors are bigger, too, growing to 12.8 inches up front (from 11.6 inches) and 12.4 inches at the rear (from 11.4 inches). A bigger, stickier contact patch would almost certainly make more of these mods, as well.

Power Out

GR86 Trueno Edition specs don’t include any additional grunt, and once again our straight-line assessments show the slightest backward step in performance. Launching to 60 mph is 0.1 second quicker in the older model, and the latter car is also 0.2 mph swifter in the quarter mile at 98.7 mph but with the same time, 14.3 seconds. Boasting 315 hp and 350 lb-ft of torque, the turbo-four Mustang is decidedly quicker, getting to 60 mph in 4.9 seconds and registering a quarter mile of 13.7 seconds at a slower 97.8 mph.

We achieved our best launches by holding engine revolutions at roughly 4,000 rpm and dumping the clutch. The 2024 Toyota GR86 Trueno gets out of the hole well enough but loses steam at higher rpms. It’s a touchy subject, but this car’s flat-four could stand a bump in output.

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Factory Mods

The black side graphics look most apropos with the GR86 Trueno’s Halo white exterior paint, a fitting tribute to the panda motif on those old Sprinters (any Initial D fans out there?), but it also looks good with Track bRed red. The car’s exterior is enhanced further with a factory-wrapped hood, model-specific black metallic forged 18-inch wheels, black door handles and mirror caps, and a rear Trueno Edition badge on the trunklid. Our favorite bit is the black painted duckbill spoiler—you can bet non-Trueno GR86 owners will be looking up that part number.

Inside the GR86 Trueno Edition, there’s faux-leather seats trimmed with red, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, a shift boot with red stitching, and more special badging. Designers could have easily gone overboard with the red (we’ve seen it, can’t forget it) but surprisingly it’s refreshingly understated here.

Can Daily

If you’re considering a Toyota GR86, you should be OK with this stiff ride and mostly cramped cabin. Enthusiasts already know this, but it’s always useful to point it out for the uninitiated. Bolstering on the car’s front seats is especially robust, almost unforgiving. Dash controls look carried over from another era, and the 8.0-inch touchscreen seems downright small.

There’s just 6.3 cubic feet of space in the trunk, which is at least more than today’s Mazda MX-5 Miata’s 4.6 cubes. The Mustang’s capacity is essentially double the size of the GR86’s. The Toyota’s trunk is big enough for a modest grocery run, and the company still claims that with the rear seats folded you can squeeze a set of wheels shod in tires in the back (you know, for track days).

Highway fuel economy has worsened a smidge over the years, now rated at 26 mpg from 27 mpg for 2022. City fuel economy is unchanged at 20 mpg, but you can travel farther than the 2022 version because the latest model’s tank is 0.8 gallon larger at 13.2 gallons. The Mustang EcoBoost returns a slightly better 21/29 mpg city/highway.

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Price

Including the optional $640 strut-tower brace, pricing for our 2024 Toyota GR86 Trueno Edition test car came out to $36,495. Not that anyone would cross-shop this JDM homage against a Mustang, but a similarly equipped EcoBoost coupe comes in at $33,515. Given this special’s exclusivity, though—Toyota will only make 860 Truenos—we’re shocked the manufacturer doesn’t charge more.

Who’s the GR86 Trueno Edition For?

We originally thought this treatment was a little too insider for most car fans until we saw two other GR86 Trueno Editions on Southern California streets just in the limited amount of time we had our test car, also white. Maybe Toyota has something here.

Like other GR86s, this one isn’t terribly quick or capable of overwhelming output. It’s a small, athletic coupe, which limits its practicality. Its cabin tech and design come across as dated, too.

But, man, is this a good car to drive, especially when it stretches its legs. The Toyota GR86’s limits are so easy to approach, you can dance around them without trouble. In Trueno Edition spec, Toyota tastefully gives a nod to a hardcore set of fans that’s sure to only deepen the original’s legend. Whether you’re a driver or a JDM-head (or both), this mashup seems like a match made in tuner heaven.