More reasons not to buy a Toyota GT86

[sasguru]

Drove it in the snow today. That was fun ....

[BoredBloke]

On that basis you might as well ban all sports cars and motorbikes and make everyone drive 900cc Ford Fiestas.

Not really. Sports cars have an emphasis on being grippy so that they can get round corners quickly and safely. This thing is designed for the back end to slip out at low speeds. As I said, wait until they become cheap second hand cars and your local scrotes are sliding them round a street near you, clipping other cars, cyclists and people.

[d000hg]

Being able to drive fast round a corner makes it safe for a good driver. For a 'scrote' it just means they drive too fast while not paying attention... reaction time becomes the more important factor than stopping distance. And of course if you're hit at 30 rather than 60, you probably won't die!

[VectraMan]

Not really. Sports cars have an emphasis on being grippy so that they can get round corners quickly and safely. This thing is designed for the back end to slip out at low speeds. As I said, wait until they become cheap second hand cars and your local scrotes are sliding them round a street near you, clipping other cars, cyclists and people.

Not really. Sports cars are about fun. There are loads of cars you can buy with lots of grip (and lots of power) but without the handling to match: i.e. turbo'd Astras/Golfs/Meganes, Imprezzas, as well as any number of Mercedes and BMWs, none of which you'd call sports cars. Giving the driver loads of grip just encourages them to corner faster, and that just means he's going faster when he loses it, and neither the car nor the driver has the ability to deal with it.

Less grip is ultimately safer. You may get more accidents in snow, but you don't get many serious accidents in snow because the speeds are so low. That's an extreme example, but it does prove the point.

I don't go round doing lurid power slides, but you can still have plenty of fun sliding the car around perfectly safely without going to those extremes. It just doesn't look as good on the telly.

[BoredBloke]

Being able to drive fast round a corner makes it safe for a good driver. For a 'scrote' it just means they drive too fast while not paying attention... reaction time becomes the more important factor than stopping distance. And of course if you're hit at 30 rather than 60, you probably won't die!

You obviously have your feelings on this car and I have mine. I think to purposefully design a car that will slip out at low speeds and advertise it as such is asking for trouble. A scrote in this sense is the tyical kid who drives too fast in his crappy little car with a baked bean tin exhaust - the sort of knob who as soon as they got behind the wheel of one of these would be sliding it around everywhere.

[BoredBloke]

Not really. Sports cars are about fun. There are loads of cars you can buy with lots of grip (and lots of power) but without the handling to match: i.e. turbo'd Astras/Golfs/Meganes, Imprezzas, as well as any number of Mercedes and BMWs, none of which you'd call sports cars. Giving the driver loads of grip just encourages them to corner faster, and that just means he's going faster when he loses it, and neither the car nor the driver has the ability to deal with it.

Less grip is ultimately safer. You may get more accidents in snow, but you don't get many serious accidents in snow because the speeds are so low. That's an extreme example, but it does prove the point.

I don't go round doing lurid power slides, but you can still have plenty of fun sliding the car around perfectly safely without going to those extremes. It just doesn't look as good on the telly.

On top gear they said that this car uses narrow tyres on the back so that it will slide. So if that is fine, why not drive your BMW 318 with space saver skinny tyres on the back? It will have the same result. Also, a large part of the handling is down to grip.

[sasguru]

On top gear they said that this car uses narrow tyres on the back so that it will slide. So if that is fine, why not drive your BMW 318 with space saver skinny tyres on the back? It will have the same result. Also, a large part of the handling is down to grip.

Like many on here, BoringBloke, you're a blowhard theoretician. If you drove the car you would realise why every motoring journo is raving about it and why owners are very happy with it.

[VectraMan]

On top gear they said that this car uses narrow tyres on the back so that it will slide. So if that is fine, why not drive your BMW 318 with space saver skinny tyres on the back? It will have the same result.

Tis true. It does seem a bit reckless of Top Gear to suggest this is a car to buy if you want to drift everywhere, but people aren't going to buy one to do that in reality (it won't appeal to the scrotes because of its pathetic engine). But it's been praised for how controllable it is, which makes it a lot safer than a lot of cars. That was my point.

It has 215/45/17 tyres, which aren't that skinny. Apparently they've fitted "eco" tyres from the Prius, but of course that's only how it comes from the factory - and if you are drifting everywhere it won't be long before you need a new set.

[d000hg]

Also, a large part of the handling is down to grip.

Which is why they weren't talking about this car as having great handling for getting anywhere fast.

[d000hg]

Tis true. It does seem a bit reckless of Top Gear to suggest this is a car to buy if you want to drift everywhere, but people aren't going to buy one to do that in reality (it won't appeal to the scrotes because of its pathetic engine)

People who actually know about cars might - I could see this being a massive hit in Japan where drifting is really big. Since it's from Toyota, maybe that's their main market anyway?