Toyota GT86, as you may know, has a natural tendency to oversteer. Toyota Motorsport (TMG) has now decided to put this tendency to good use by turning the GT86 into a rally car and entering it into the FIA World Rally Championship, but not as a competitor.
Toyota GT86 CS-R3 Rally Car will make its debut next month on the ADAC Rallye Deutschland as the official “pathfinder” zero car; a sort of safety car that makes sure each stage is ready before the actual event kicks off. The car will be driven by Isolde Holderied, a double women’s world rally champion.
The pathfinder duty for Toyota GT86 CS-R3 is to evaluate its performance so that final adjustments can be made to its design prior to homologation to international R3 competition criteria. So it will eventually see action, but it’s not clear when.
Toyota GT86 CS-R3 is powered by the same 2.0 liter boxer engine as the production version tuned to 250 horsepower. We have no idea why Toyota doesn’t launch a road-going version with that kind of power, thus solving GT86’s biggest issue: being underpowered.
The rally car also benefits from a sequential shift six-speed transmission and a limited-slip rear differential, together with a weight-optimised safety cage.
