TTEETT wrote:I would not say its a decent amount of car, on paper its a poorly specked car with low power, low torque, cheap tyres, cheap interior and little else so its not great value there, on paper it could be a Kia Coupe at 25k with those specs and if you compare it to a new Subaru Impreza WRX at 45k-50k that is two seconds to 100 faster, better equipped, more practical and easier to live with day to day.
I think you could say its a lot of fun for your money, if it drives as it should do (cant wait to drive one) its a pure sports car and probably the cheapest of its kind on the market, it has a bespoke platform and the ability to make you smile like you would in a Porsche Cayman for less than half the money.
As you pretty much just said, these sort of cars shouldn't be judged by numbers, they should be judged by things like driver involvement, steering feedback, i.e everything to do with a car being "fun". It shouldn't be judged on how fast it goes 0-100, or how fast it does a 1/4 mile - both of which are "on paper" measurements, and really almost entirely useless in the real world.
That said - even on paper it has some good points - Fuel efficient (D4-S 2.0L), cheap to maintain (less weight = less brake pads, less wear on clutch, tires, etc.), Dual Zone Climate Control (optional).
When you start comparing it to something like a 2.0L 4WD Impreza, it's actually pretty impressive, where the GT86 (production name) has ~60hp more, 150kg's less, lower CoG, FMR layout instead of FA/F4 layout, probably better overall driving feel, then it looks to me like you're getting a better deal with the '86.
Even compared to a WRX, it's not bad - not everyone wants an AWD car, it's not down on power too much compared to the WRX, it's a good 300kg's lighter....etc. etc.. I'm sure you get my point.
I guess what I'm saying is that these cars are in different categories. There are very few cars that follow the same lines as the 86 - Apart from the Mazda MX-5, what other NEW cars are in this category for roughly the same price? Lightweight, fun to drive isn't exactly in the vocabulary of most manufacturers at the moment, because the majority of people are not car enthusiasts like the people of Toyspeed...