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Counterpoint- No, it's NOT. People seem to keep implying that there is only A) light, low-power, handling focused and B) big, heavy, speed-focused. An GT86 or a Hellcat. A Miata or a 488 GTB. What everyone is ignoring is that is a huge multitude of ground between those two bookends. These cars' engines are underpowered, tragically slow, unexciting, aurally mediocre, and just generally lackluster. They have no low-end, they don't really rev out, they aren't linear, they don't have character, and they don't inspire you to wring them out. You simply have to drive the balls off them to get them to do anything. They are not fun at virtually anything other than backroad carving, and they leave some to be desired even at that. That's putting aside the fact this car been on the market for what is rapidly approaching a decade, with 0 major changes. It has not evolved to keep pace with the market and industry. It was in development for too long, and arrived on the scene already with unimpressive numbers and performance. This is seeming to be a consistent trend with Toyota performance products. This car needed a turbo model with 270hp 5 yrs ago, or at the very least, a Cosworth-tuned N/A variant w/ 230hp and an exciting powerband. It is a massively underwhelming product that is stale and long overdue for a major upgrade. Point blank.

SIXTEEN YEARS AGO???? MAN, are you camera shy.

To harp on power in these cars is to completely miss the point. These are handling and agility cars. They are extremely satisfying drives without having to break the speed laws to get satisfaction.

They would not benefit form the additional hundreds of pounds of weight in batteries and motor(s).

Here's some fun old ads... Had I been born a decade or so earlier, this one below could have been me.... a cool dude working on a Cray Supercomputer... Or working here...Lawrence Livermore Lab in the 70s...

Heard a fascinating commercial on the radio today, about how the (93-yr old) Mercedes-Benz company "invented" the "work van" over "100 years ago". ? ? ? Daimler keeps using that word 'invented', but I don't think it means what they think it means. The Freightliner / Dodge / Mercedes sprinter triplets used to own the US Euro van segment, now they're a niche player, having conceded huge swathes of the segment to Ford and others. This Ford work van is 118 years old by 2019 :

LOL, I figured it was but still would have to LOL at the womans computer and like the rest, after all if we nerds did not dream up some crazy stuff, where would we be today. Still two thumbs up for entertaining. When has the computer industry not been purely sexual!

Yep, I’ll take a hellcat for power, and and 86 for a joyride.... #loveallfuncars

With the introduction of the Toyota Supra, rumors have been swirling that the 86/BRZ twins might not be replaced when their production lives were up. Autocar UK has a quote from Toyota's European Marketing Chief saying "[the GT86] has been a successful halo product for us" and added that "...the Supra is not to replace that car." The 86/FR-S/BRZ was released in 2011 as a co-development between Toyota and Subaru. It uses Subaru's boxer engine and transmission. It is highly likely that the next generation model would continue to use the signature engine. The new car would continue sit below the Supra in the Toyota lineup. Akio Toyoda has stated interest in building a full lineup of sports cars. Whatever comes from the next generation 86, we're just glad that SUVs haven't killed yet another sports car. View full article

@Robert Hall You are a computer geek, huh? Nothing wrong wit dat! Full respect! I regret that I did not become a computer geek myself. I begged my parents to buy this for me and one XMAS morning in 1982 or 1983, that was under our tree. I would end up having at least 60 games for it over the course of 7 years. Including this game And so I went the video game route, rather than the programming one. A friend of mine had the Commodore VIC 20 But truth be told, I found the Vic 20 pretty boring. What amazes me is, though, is that, as a young kid, becoming a teenager and coming of age in the 1980s, I had the time to: learn to play the guitar, learn to build plastic model airplane kits, play sports big time and coming home late because of it, play video games, listen to music, indulge in movies by going to the movie theater or renting VHS movies and going to school AND doing my homework. And I had time to do all that more or less at the same time. My friends too. And other kids that were not my friends. We stayed active and I do not see that kind of motivation with most kids today. And...to say, that, we had the same 24 hours in a day that kids have got today... What went sooooo horribly wrong the last 30 years or so?

You probably have more storage on your Macbook than in those computers combined.

I don't doubt that. But we don't drive auto-x courses on a daily basis.

@Frisky Dingo And yet at autocross events Miata and GT86/BRZ seem to be in the majority as best suited where good handling is concerned. It seems the spread in the best times of capable drivers at autocross is between Porsche/Corvette and Miata/ FRS/BRZ.

www.motor1.com has published that Ford has shown at the recent dealer meeting a 2 door Ford Bronco and stated a 4 door will also be available. Story states that the bronco is a body on frame solution that will be positioned to compete against Jeep Wrangler. https://www.motor1.com/news/315237/four-door-ford-bronco-rumor/ Story also states that the dealers got to see the new Mustang inspired EV CUV. Very cool if true:

From my personal experience I trust dealership no more than I trust a private shop, actually way less. Most guys at the dealership that do basic jobs like oil change are kids without any experience, because dealers pay almost nothing to most of their mechanics. They usually have 1-2 experienced guys for serious jobs and everybody else is disposable cheap labor. Had number of problems when I used dealers them doing a lousy job. The only good thing about going to a dealer is that if they screw up, they usually liable to fix it, but that can be a struggle as well. Personally, try to avoid them if I can, would rather do work myself if it is something basic like oil or brakes, or go to a private trusted mechanic if it is something more serious.

Puppy love

I change oil myself on both of our cars. In my G37S I used to change every 7.5k miles but after doing a test on the used oil which recommended that I can go up to 10k, so that is what I started doing. My commute is long and mostly highway so makes sense. Currently at almost 178k miles and chugging along happily. My wife's MDX I was doing services at a dealer when it was still under warranty but now I change every 8-9k miles, when indicator shows it is time. I use Mobil 1 synthetic and Purolator filter for both.

a new conglomerate of Saturn Hummer Olds Mercury plymoth(pontiac) AMC - SHAMPO, they will bu(r)y FCA into the fold.

In my last oil change, I had to change the engine air filter and the cabin filter. All done on 3/18/2019 at my local dealership at about $114 completed (all three).

Maybe not crazy console ads, but crazy computer '80s stuff just the same...

That's exactly the type of car they are... a Miata competitor but with a hardtop and slightly more room in the cabin.

Toronado and Buick both get Mobile 1 and a Purloator or Bosch oil filter. The Encore I wait till the meter gets to 20%... that gets me about 5,000 to 6,000 miles. The Toronado gets a good old fashioned window sticker that Autozone gives out for free. I do that every 5,000 miles or once a year. It also gets a can of Zinc in the oil. I was going to do the engine air filter and the cabin filter on the Buick, but oddly enough they're special order at the parts shops unless I go to the dealership. I have a $15 rebate gift card to use at Pepboys, so I'll have to special order it there.

Is this today's 'blu? I'd say there's a good dose of Germanic DNA in the mix. Don't worry ... I won't go off on a language lesson tangent. Happy Sunday.

Dont all those 4 cylinder "street rods" all go 'brawwwpp'? There was a young adult go through my drive-through with a current gen VW Golf that also went brawwwpp. I dont think it was a GTI...didnt look it, but sure as hell tried to sound like it had more bark then it actually had... I cant hate them anymore for that! Actually, quite the opposite as that means they are enthusiasts of the motor vehicle....gotta respect 'em as these are the kids that will grow up and DEMAND that we have enthusiast type self-driving pods... And Im happy that Toyota and Subaru are investing in another generation...as maybe there is a slight sliver of hope that not all sheeple are so much into their smart phones and CUVs that these types of cars COULD still exist!

Looks like my neighbor's teenage son just got a used BRZ/86/FRS...it's red, has no front bumper and goes 'brawwwpp'.

Coming soon to a Toyota dealer near you......with 210 hp and 156 lb-ft.

Great they doing a new one. We need an affordable sports car among the sea of boring SUVs. I hope they make it substantially better while keeping relatively low price.