2010 Toyota FT-86 Concept

The speculation is over, the Japanese automaker Toyota has finally shown the world the highly anticipated successor to the original AE86 "Hachi Roku" with the FT-86 Concept. The old Toyota Corolla was celebrated for its lightweight fun to drive layout. The new project has previously been referred to as a Toyobaru because the affordable sports car was developed in collaboration with Subaru and is scheduled to make its world debut in just a few weeks at the Tokyo Motor Show. We are happy to report that even though this is just the concept, the production model will look a lot like it, with the only revisions being done to the cars interior. However we won’t know for sure until the end of 2011.

The Flash Red FT-86 Concept is inspired by the Corolla based AE86 sports coupe from the 1980s, and carries a very strong resemblance to the FT-HS Concept that was revealed back in 2007 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The FT-86 is a compact, rear wheel drive sports concept powered by a 2.0 Liter horizontally opposed, naturally aspirated four cylinder gasoline burning engine supplied by Subaru. In its non boosted form, the flat four make a maximum output of 150 HP, but the automaker is toying around with the idea of a more powerful super charged version depending on consumer demands, but for now we will have to settle for a simple boxer engine connected to a 6 speed manual transmission and equipped with ADVICS brakes.

When designing the FT-86 Concept Toyota’s engineers wanted to give the car a very low center of gravity for improved handling and efficient aerodynamics so that it can cut through the air with ease. So the four passenger FT-86 ended up being 4,160 mm long, 1,760 mm wide and 1,260 mm tall with a wheelbase of 2,570 mm. Toyota’s design team has also included quite a few sporting touches to the concept’s interior; starting off with a flat bottom steering wheel, aluminum pedals and red stitching to accent the leather wrapped steering wheel and parking brake lever. The grey instrument panel is seamlessly molded into the darker dash and from the looks of things, is ready to hit Fuji Speedway.

Updated 05/03/2010: Toyota revealed new images of the FT-86 (Future Toyota-86) during the concept’s European debut at the Geneva Motor Show. Check the gallery to see them all!