Kiwis keen on trying the 2.4-litre car in track-ready form will have to cross the Tasman.

THE new GR86 coupe just landed here as a road car has also revealed in its motorsport fitout – but in the country that adopted and altered the New Zealand-developed original recipe that is about to undertake its 10th national season.

Toyota New Zealand has expressed no thought of retiring the first generation GR86 (nee TR86) from a national summer series programme it created as a step-up to the TRS single seater championship that has been hugely successful in readying aspirational drivers for professional careers.

When asked recently if there any thoughts about pulling that 2.0-litre car and replacing it with a race-ready development of the new 2.4-litre that has just come on sale for $56,990 – but in limited count (just 10 units here in 2022) – the brand’s motorsport boss was coy.

Andrew Davis responded by saying: “For all categories when a new model is produced you have to consider relevance, however we don’t have anything to announce at this stage. I am looking forward to what looks like the biggest field for the 86 championships in 2023.”

It’s a different story across the Tasman.

Toyota Australia – which assessed then copied the NZ championship, though with enough minor adjusts to ensure their car has too much incompatibility to face off against the NZ products - has already taken the plunge.

 The neighbour’s series announced at Bathurst at the weekend it will shift to the new model. While that transition will not happen until the 2024 series, it already has a track-ready example which was displayed at Mount Panorama with a price tag.

The new racecar has been developed by Neal Bates Motorsport, which also developed the initial car for Australia, and is now available for competitors to order with a turnkey package priced at just under $NZ102,000.

Toyota Australia Chief Marketing Officer Vin Naidoo has said his brand will support the TGRA 86 series through to the end of 2026.

"Neal Bates and his team have worked hard to make this an incredibly sharp, affordable racecar that I'm sure will continue to make the TGRA 86 Series one of the most hotly contested on the Australian motorsport calendar," he said.

The car features a full roll cage, race seat and six-point harness, motorsport spec steering wheel, ECU and instruments, control wheels and tyres, and upgraded suspension, brakes, exhaust, oil cooler and clutch.

Final maximum engine power and torque have yet to be confirmed, but it is expected these will be approximately 10 percent greater than the standard GR86 road car's outputs of 174kW/250Nm. The racecar is approximately 70kg lighter than the GR86.

Approximately 35 racecars will be available for competitors to order for the 2024 TGRA 86 Series season and other performance specifications will be confirmed once final testing and validation is completed later this year.