• Solid, functional interior
• Simple infotainment system
• Not luxurious – it’s a sports car!

How’s the quality and layout?

The GR86 is noticeably better built than the lowlier cars in Toyota’s line-up. The materials used in its interior can’t match the quality of a BMW or Mercedes, but you can tell Toyota paid close attention to how it screwed the 86’s cabin together. It’s very well assembled – the panel gaps are tighter than your local council’s purse strings and there isn’t a single squeak or rattle from any of the trims.

And even though the plastics used for the dashboard and door cards are a little low rent, Toyota compensates for that by providing plenty of padding on the parts of the interior you’re most likely to hit yourself on, such as the armrest and seat bolsters. That means your arms won’t be covered in bruises when you’re done hammering the car down a country lane, which is more than can be said of other focused drivers cars, such as the Caterham Seven.

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It isn’t a luxury car by any means, but it’s a pleasant place to spend time. Plus, Toyota has kept just enough old school charm to make the car’s cabin easy to live with. We love the physical heater controls, the simple rocker switches for the heated seat controls and a proper volume dial. It means you can divert more of your brain power to the task of driving.

Infotainment and tech

Every GR86 comes with an 8.0-inch infotainment system as standard. It’s mounted quite low down on the dashboard which means it doesn’t dominate your view out of the front of the car. It’s also compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which means you can easily do away with Toyota’s rather dated-looking software. However, the USB port for the system is in the central storage bin, which means you lose your cupholders if you want to mirror your phone.

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It’s a definite improvement over the GT86’s system, but it still isn’t perfect. It’s almost illegible in bright sunlight, even with the screen set to its maximum brightness. And while its quite a responsive system, the dial-controlled infotainment you get in a Mazda MX-5 is easier to use on the move.

Comfort

The GR86 is a low car, which you’ll relish if you’re young and spry. But if you’ve got achy joints and a bad back, it might take you a little longer to get settled behind the wheel. Once you’ve plugged yourself into the driver’s seat, though, you shouldn’t have any complaints. The GR86 has an incredibly comfortable driving position – and its seats are both supportive and cosseting.

All the controls are well placed, too. The gear lever falls neatly to hand and the steering wheel telescopes out of the dashboard far enough to allow even tall drivers to set themselves a good distance away from the pedal box to not overreach for the wheel.

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The seats have been designed to provide optimum support during hard acceleration, braking and cornering yet Toyota also claims this is a car you can drive long distances in comfort. That statement is mostly true – the seats are good enough to keep you ache free on a long drive, but the suspension is a little too stiff to tackle the UK’s pockmarked motorways without breaks. The firm damping means you take the punishment rather than the car – but we’ll expand on this in the next section.