To turbocharge or supercharge the Toyota 86? It's the puzzle facing enthusiasts around the world. Gazoo Racing's solution, the Sport FR Concept, takes a leaf out of the Old El Paso girl's book, answering: 'why not have both?'
The Gazoo Sport FR Concept takes the Toyota 86's standard 147kW/205Nm 2.0-litre four-cylinder Boxer engine and adds a turbocharger and a supercharger, taking its total output to 239kW of power and 421Nm of torque.
The double boosted system is similar to the concept employed by Volkswagen's 1.4-litre twin-charger engine, found in the Polo GTI and Golf, among other models.
Full performance specs of the Gazoo are still to be revealed, although with power to rival a Porsche 911, the Sport FR Concept is likely to shave more than two seconds off the 86's 0-100km/h time and slide into sub-5.0 second territory.
Other mechanical enhancements include Gazoo-tuned suspension, brake calipers and rotors and dual exhaust system.
The unique body kit, which adds a decidedly Lexus LFA flavour to the rear-wheel-drive coupe, adds new front and rear bumpers, racing spoiler, Gazoo logos and a new alloy wheel and tyre combination.
Inside, the Sport FR Concept features a full roll cage, bucket seat with four-point seatbelt, black skin tone surfaces and an additional meter with boost gauge, water temperature gauge and oil temperature gauge.
There's no word yet if Gazoo has plans to turn the Sport FR Concept into a kit or a ready-to-race product.
We expected the Toyota 86 to be good and it is. Brilliantly bringing together the strengths of Subaru's Boxer engine (both in performance and packaging) with Toyota's design smarts and production quality, the 86 marks a stellar return to mainstream sport scars by the world's number one car-maker.
Not as raw as the Nissan Z-car, the Toyota 86 is intended to appeal to a wider audience and succeeds because it brings to the table Toyota's every-day-car prowess but with a distinct sporty edge when pressed.
If you're considering a sporty coupe, definitely wait until the first quarter of 2012 when the Toyota 86 goes on-sale in Australia.
More Pictures of 2012 Toyota 86
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