Could the 86 Coupes Replace the Miata as the Answer?

Easy to Build

One of my friends over at the Nürburgring was Oliver Kröll, who worked for TMG,” Robb recalls. The year was 2015, he thinks, and TMG stands for Toyota Motorsports Group, the brand’s factory-backed, German-based motorsports department. 

TMG, now known as Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe, ran Toyota’s Formula 1 effort and currently operates the brand’s World Endurance Championship program–you know, the team that finished 1-2 overall at Le Mans last year. 

“TMG was starting the new Toyota GT86 Cup series at the Nürburgring and wanted a bunch of team owners and drivers to come out and test the car and give feedback,” Robb continues. “I could tell right away that it was an amazing package and that it would do incredibly well in the U.S. 

“Even though it didn’t have the power that a lot of other cars racing in the VLN had, its handling was simply amazing. Through the fast, flowing section of the Nordschleife, between the Karussell and Brünnchen, the 86 would leave every other car in its class–and many faster cars–in the dust. It wasn’t the power of the car; it was the handling. You could just float the car into the corners at such high speed for a production car on skinny tires.”

Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe continues to offer GT86 turnkey race cars, with the current lineup featuring one rally-spec machine and a pair of road racers. The CS-Cup car, the quicker of the two track models, has become a staple in Europe’s VLN series–the group that calls the Nürburgring home.

While the SCCA now offers a successful spec autocross series for the Toyota 86 chassis and a group called 86Cup sanctions a one-make West Coast time trial program, the U.S. never got a spec road race series for the car. Robb reports that he nosed around but just couldn’t find the right corporate partner to make the concept a reality–even though Toyota displayed a CS-Cup car in its 2016 SEMA booth and fielded it in Pirelli World Challenge competition the following year for just two races. (Craig Stanton drove that car to third- and fourth-place finishes.)

Aside from an exhaust header and oil cooler, the engine bay remains quite stock. The interior’s big changes all pretty much relate to safety. 

Eight years after the car’s launch, however, Robb argues that it’s still a strong candidate for a spec series. Take those benign track manners and add in the fact that more than 116,000 units have been sold to date in the U.S. 

Aside from the small horsepower and gearing tweaks introduced for the 2017 model year–which, as even our own testing showed, didn’t significantly impact performance–this model has been relatively unchanged since its unveiling for 2012. The only real option has been the transmission: six-speed manual or six-speed automatic.

“It’s been the same car for eight years now,” Robb stresses. “All the parts are stocked by the dealer.” 

And the high production number means there are lots of cars out there that would make perfect starting points for track car builds. “The great thing about these is that they’re coming up on the salvage market for five grand,” Robb adds.

Alex Nelsen, owner of NRG Motorsports, built this one–perhaps that future spec racer–from two such salvage cars. “I bought this car and a ’14 BRZ,” Alex recalls. “$8300 delivered for both.”

The pair had been caught in a flood. The 2016 Scion FR-S, the car shown here, saw the water rise halfway up its doors. The engine wasn’t running at the time, though, so it didn’t ingest any water. That wasn’t the case with the Subaru, though, so it donated the parts needed to convert the FR-S from an automatic transmission to a manual.

“Mechanically, it’s not a big thing at all,” Alex says of the swap. “Or electronically.”

The conversion involves transplanting the major hard parts–transmission, clutch, pedals, driveshaft–plus the engine and dash harnesses. All of the control modules also need to be swapped. “You can switch one module, but if swapping more than one, then you need to start from scratch,” Alex says, as the immobilizer starts to become an issue at that point. 

Since both cars had been flooded, Alex replaced all of the modules. “There’s a pretty solid aftermarket of guys dismantling these cars,” he explains. For about $450, Alex purchased a matching set of control modules with keys. Problem fixed. 

One thing Alex learned during the swap: Keeping it Subaru to Subaru or Scion to Scion makes the process easier. The Subaru starts with a push button, while the Scion uses an old-school key. The harnesses are similar but not identical. 

The actual race prep was fairly simple, with the biggest upgrade being the suspension package found on those Euro-spec 86 Cup series cars: a set of two-way-adjustable Bilstein dampers fitted with threaded body coil-overs and camber plates. That’s about a $6000 setup, Alex notes.

The brakes, engine, gearbox and differential are all still stock. Even the bushings remain original, and the stock anti-roll bars are perfect, Alex says. A 6x18-inch Setrab oil cooler can be found in front of the radiator. 

“We haven’t even tuned our motor,” Robb notes, calling this one of perhaps a few modern cars that can be easily converted from road to track use because its stock electronics don’t get in the way. 

The header was developed in Europe and helps eliminate the torque dip found around 3500 rpm. Alex is looking to having something similar built stateside.  

Then add in the usual race car setup, meaning a gutted interior, full cage and all the safety equipment. The tires are the long-wearing Hankook Ventus R-S4 wrapped around 17x9-inch Enkei wheels–a model found on the Tire Rack website.

The cost of duplicating this car depends on who’s doing the labor, Alex notes. He figures $30,000 to $35,000 to deliver one to a customer; budget less if you do the work yourself. 

In this trim, the car’s power-to-weight ratio lands it in the World Racing League’s GP3 class. “The WRL format, I think, is great for motorsports in general,” Robb says. “It’s some of the most accessible, inexpensive racing that you can do. 

“Their endurance format, with a lower bar to entry, has the ability to draw in people who might not otherwise have an interest in the sport. Additionally, it’s just good, fun racing that mixes some top pros in with the amateurs and gives everyone a ton of seat time.”

Easy to Race

The build was simple, but there’s still one question we haven’t answered: Is it fast? At this June’s World Racing League 14-hour enduro at Daytona International Speedway, Robb qualified with a 2:21. 

Toward the end of the race, while taking it easy to secure a second-place class finish, he ran about a second or so off that pace. “There’s at least a 19 in it,” he says of the car. 

Compare those times to the Miata benchmark: The top SCCA Spec Miatas–which run on the faster, stickier Hoosier SM7.5 tire–can turn a 2:19 at Daytona. Budget at least $30,000 for a turnkey build from a known shop.

The beauty, both Robb and Alex note, is in the 86’s reliability and undemanding maintenance. During the 14-hour Daytona race, the car suffered just one issue: An axle failed as the nearby exhaust pipe got it just a little too hot. 

“It basically burns the grease off,” Robb notes. “You have to run motorsport grease and motorsport boots.” Alex is having some race-spec axles built. He figures they’ll last a season or two.

“The cars are light, so they don’t eat up brakes,” Robb continues. “They don’t eat up tires.” The Daytona tally: 14 hours on one set of Hankooks and just a single set of brake pads. 

The underside is still fairly stock, too, aside from a set of Bilstein coil-overs developed for the Nürburgring. The key to the car’s success: simplicity and good bones. 

Alex’s shop has long campaigned Spec Miatas, and last September he entered the World Racing League’s 24-hour contest at High Plains Raceway with two cars: one of the two 86 coupes in his stable and a 1994 Miata. After the race, he spent just one day servicing the 86. “The Miata, on the other hand, for the same level of prep took five days,” he recalls. “Everything on that car is, for us, 26 years old.”

As Miatas get older, he continues, finding good parts for them becomes tougher. He cites alternators as an example: Today he can only get them from aftermarket suppliers, and they only last for one enduro. In fact, Alex’s data shows them slowly petering out even before that single competition is over. And that lifetime warranty doesn’t help if the unit burns out mid-race, he notes. “We were getting very frustrated with the Miata with the level of maintenance in order to keep the car reliable.”

He compares that to the coupe. “The 86 has been stellar,” he reports. When Alex purchased the Scion, it had about 11,000 miles on the odometer. After four major endurance races to date covering about 4000 miles total, the engine still puts down the same dyno figures–about 165 horsepower at the wheels. Over-revs haven’t hurt the engine, either, he notes. “All we’ve done is change the oil.”

“They’re very elegantly put together,” he continues. “This is like an Asian Porsche as far as its simplicity and elegance.”

Easy to Organize?

In addition to the Pirelli World Challenge held here in the States–the series now known as SRO Motorsports Group America–Robb has raced around the world thanks to time in the British Touring Car Championship, World Touring Car Championship and TCR International Series. He also makes regular appearances at the Nürburgring. 

Get a pack of 30 or 40 of these spec coupes together, he says, and it should be exciting. Plus, it’s a current car still supported by both Subaru and Toyota dealer networks. “It makes too much sense to me.”

Two fans of the simple 86 build: car builder Alex Nelsen (seated) and pro driver Robb Holland (suiting up).

The trick, he says, is finding someone to apply the necessary muscle to develop and support a series. Robb envisions something like the original Spec Miata, where multiple sanctioning bodies adopted a single ruleset. 

He muses that the formula could even be expanded into multiple classes based on prep level: mild, medium and radical. The parts and technical support already exist. 

Robb’s part in this plan, he says, is to simply get the idea off the ground. “I’m just into seeing good racing,” he says. 

“This could be the next Spec Miata,” he continues. “The cars are newer, quicker, better-looking.”

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