It seems the 086A development team has been under pressure recently from Toyota and Subaru to shift the market focus of the car to suit current trends. Again it’s Justin from 7TUNE has more info:

With new reports though it now seems that the specification of the 086A will change slightly once again to meet other criteria, that being the dreaded “eco car” movement and a switch to a much older target market than what was first considered.

This involves apparently power output drop (but apparently more weight reduction too)

We should now expect the 086A’s FJ20 2000cc boxer four to produce 160PS, a good 40PS less than was previously quoted which is all due to stricter economy and emissions targets. Toyota/Subaru haven’t let this dilute the performance as we’re told the car has also lost some weight in order to keep a respectable power to weight ratio.

Not only this but a shift towards providing a car more mass-market friendly with the emphasis on ‘eco-friendlyness’.

The car that will be exibited will include styling cues that could very well be changed before the car goes to production giving show goers the opportunity to express their like or dislike of the design. It goes to show how serious Toyota is about the success of the 086A and the lengths taken to ensure that their development team are well aware of what the market is thinking.

Whatever all this means, one thing is for certian: Toyota/Subaru havn’t yet axed the project so with this shift to an older market, one who contains the older car enthusiasts who bought, or grew up with the original AE86, maybe all this talk is for the better for us AE86 fans? A lesser-powered, more-lightweight FR sportscar with a emphasis on tasteful design: It all sounds good to me so far. I guess all we can do is wait until the still unchanged release date of December 2011.

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