The Toyota GT86 has run rings around the competition to set the pace in the 2013 honestjohn.co.uk awards.
The thoroughbred sports coupe has been named the popular motoring website’s Most Popular Sports Car of the year, the latest in succession of accolades it has gathered since being launched in 2012
Dan Harrison, honestjohn.co.uk editor said: “The GT86 has fought off some tough and very established competition to win the hearts of our readers. It’s affordable, distinctive and fun to drive – it’s no surprise it’s been such a smash hit on the site.”
Unlike many other honours, the honestjohn.co.uk awards are not determined by expert judges. Instead they are based on the number of page views each of its car reviews attracts in the course of the year. The fact the site has around 1.5 million visits every month makes it a good gauge of public tastes and opinions.
The GT86 was developed as a car that’s all about the pure joy of driving, combining inspiration from Toyota’s sports car heritage with modern engineering and design. The result is a sleek, low-slung 2+2 coupe with a finely balanced chassis. In classic sports car style, a front-mounted, normally aspirated 197bhp 2.0-litre “boxer” engine drives the rear wheels. Adding standard tyres – the same as those used on the Toyota Prius – adds to the car’s great handling character.
As well good looks and rewarding performance, GT86 comes at an accessible price too: the range starts at £24,995.
Customers wanting to add authentic sports parts to their GT86 can specify the new TRD model, equipped with a range of official Toyota Racing Development styling and performance accessories. All versions are available with either six-speed manual or automatic transmission.
