Toyota offers restoration menu for original 86
Toyota is offering owners of early 86 coupes a choice of restoration plans to bring their cars back to tip-top mechanical condition. The “86 Refresh Service” has five different levels for the much-loved sports car that made its debut in 2012.
The 2+2 jointly developed by Toyota with Subaru quickly gained a reputation for being a hugely entertaining drivers’ car with its compact boxer engine giving it a low center of gravity and agile handling. Its 204 horsepower wasn’t overwhelming but the 86 and its BRZ equivalent were shod with relatively narrow tyres so keen drivers could enjoy exploiting it on the edge of adhesion at lower speeds. Given how the car encouraged such antics it’s no wonder that Toyota thinks many will now be due a mechanical overhaul, and the service covers cars first generation cars built from 2012-2016.
First up is an engine refresh which cleans the inside of the two-liter motor and replaces ignition components if required. The next two services focus on the perishable rubber mounts for engine and transmission mounts, and suspension bushings. Stage four swaps out the shocks and, finally, stage five concentrates on braking performance, with pads and discs being replaced as necessary.
Owners can opt for any or all of the different service levels depending on the condition of their cars. The “86 Refresh Service” is only available in Japan at the moment, and if you were to go the whole hog and book in all five levels it would set you back the equivalent of $4500.
I would not expect them to be worn out?
Most I see in the classifieds have close to 100k miles on them by now, which means it’s probably time for at least a full suspension overhaul. Especially since most are probably driven harder than the average used car.
Except for cleaning the inside of the engine – huh? – it all sounds like normal maintenance.
This is curious. I assume it for the track abused car to get back to spec?
In Japan there is a semi-annual inspection. Everything is looked over, brakes usually rebuilt (at least they were on Okinawa) whether they needed it or not. Remember, we’re talking about an island nation with lots of salt water corrosion. In countries where most driving is further away from salt water it’s not that much of an issue. Okinawa is only about 45 miles long and 15 miles wide at the widest point, 5 miles at the narrowest (shaped sort of like a peanut), so you can’t get away from salt corrosion. The larger Japanese islands aren’t as bad, but Honshu (the largest) is 31-143 miles wide — so you’re still only a bit over 70 miles from the coast at the most.