Toyota GR86 Yuzu Edition (US) review: a truly sunny delight

What’s this juicy thing?

This is the Toyota GR 86 Yuzu Edition, a freshly squeezed variant of Toyota’s affordable sports coupe.

All these citrus jokes…

Making it hard to concentrate? Sorry. Moving on, the Yuzu Edition is a limited-run special edition of the Toyota GR86, one that celebrates the ‘release series’ of the Scion FR-S. If you recall, the FR-S was what the GR86 – then the Toyota GT86 – was called here in the states when it debuted under the now-defunct Scion brand (Toyota’s early-aughts marque meant to sell cool cars to cool kids on the cheap).

The ‘Release Series 1.0’ FR-S was limited to 1,500 units and came in a bright Yuzu yellow paint scheme, along with a body kit and performance parts from TRD. Built from the sports coupe’s premium trim level, the Yuzu GR86 reflects this in a number of ways, with the paint and name being the most overt callbacks while including its own body kit, black wheels to match its interior and a cat-back exhaust as loud as the paint job.

Any performance upgrades?

There’s a modest handful, though they are part of the performance pack that’s not exclusive to the Yuzu. These include Sachs dampers and Brembo brakes that should bring a bit of refinement to an already tight package. The dampers are filled with a high-pressure nitrogen and oil mix designed to absorb vibrations at low to high speeds while the four-piston front Brembo brakes and two-piston rears bring more effective stopping power.

What remains untouched is the Subaru-sourced 2.4-liter four-cylinder boxer engine that cranks out 228hp and 184lb ft of torque. Power is sent to the rear by way of either a six-speed manual gearbox or a six-speed automatic.

What’s it like in person?

The yellow certainly pops, and avoids looking like the raddest taxi or smallest school bus, while the body kit adds a bit of extra substance if you felt the GR86 was visually a bit plain. This comes in the form of more aggressive side skirts and a slightly more pronounced front lip. The back, meanwhile, is tweaked to accommodate the quad exhaust tips featured on the Yuzu. With the contrasting black accents and wheels, these are small but significant adjustments to the Toyota’s look that work well without looking like an exaggerated Need For Speed Underground creation.

Inside, the Yuzu continues its bid to be the next Transformers Bumblebee with an all-black interior highlighted by yellow stitching throughout the cabin, along with black and yellow mesh seating. The rest of the cabin is marvelously spartan, in that it’s a simple setup with the basic features, yet it has a digital driver display and a touchscreen for all the requisite computer stuff we’ve become attached to.

How is it to drive?

Whatever badge it wore, the GR86 has come a long way in terms of performance in a very substantial way. This might seem like hyperbole given the inherent simplicity of the build and the fact that the coupe gained only a modest power increase between generations, but the proof is in the pudding. Since the current version’s debut in 2021, the GR86 has demonstrated improvements across the board – quick to deliver power, sensitive to inputs and generally more capable.

The Yuzu, being mechanically the same as any non-special edition GR86 sporting the performance pack, carries itself in the same manner, but with more… yellow.

Fitted with a manual transmission, the GR86 can sprint from 0 to 60mph in 6.6 seconds while those equipped with the automatic can do so in 6.1. Maybe that’s a bit slower than the average modern sports car, but the car’s strength lies in its agility more than raw straight-line speed. Like the vaunted Mazda MX-5 Miata, the GR86’s great at rewarding experienced drivers while remaining approachable to those new to the performance game. It lacks the GR Supra’s rev-matching manual, but this is a great platform to hone your heel-toe talents without much fear of the dreaded ‘money-shift’.

How does it rank within the current GR lineup?

Ooh, good question. We’d say the GR86 has the lowest point of entry yet the potential to be the most rewarding. Its low-stake buy-in and manageable power output combined with tight controls makes for a very approachable car that will delight on the track or on windy back roads. Contrast this with the Supra – while we still can – which has a more intimidating output, twitchy road behavior and is just generally uncomfortable in the real world yet is a screamer on the track. For the record, the GR Corolla is the all-rounder, though with the Supra’s exit, the dynamic in the GR garage will certainly change.

What’s the final takeaway?

Like the Hakone edition that preceded it, the GR86 Yuzu is another special variant that doesn’t bring any performance upgrades that aren’t available to the ‘normal’ car, yet don’t let cynicism dismiss it for that reason. Sure, it’s just the GR86 with a new suit, but so what? The yellow speaks for itself while the body kit does fill in the gaps, visually speaking, along with differentiating it from the rest of the pack.

Frugal shoppers can get the base GR86 for around $30k, but anyone looking for an off-the-shelf sports coupe with street racer style can nab the Yuzu for $37,465 (automatic) or $36,365 (manual). Only 860 will be produced, so hop to if you wish to be amongst that number.