Toyota, Subaru are now selling race-ready GR 86/BRZ

Meet the GR 86 and BRZ Cup Car Basic

The all-new Subaru BRZ, along with its GR 86 Toyota twin, are some of the most affordable performance cars you can buy brand-new today. In Japan, there’s even a one-make racing series for the Toyobaru twins, and it’s called the GR 86/BRZ Cup. For those that want to take part, both companies offer a race-prepped, stripped-down version called the Cup Car Basic.

The GR 86 and BRZ Cup Car Basic come with slight modifications over the standard model to make them safer on track and improve reliability. In the safety department, a six-point roll cage with a side roll bar comes pre-installed in the sports car, along with eyebolts for a racing harness. The manufacturers also added an oil cooler and rear differential cooling fins to improve reliability on track.

As with most track-spec models, the interior is gutted of anything irrelevant to racing. The side and seat airbags have been removed along with the sound-deadening materials. Although it wasn’t mentioned, we suspect the infotainment system has been ditched as well.

The lone interior photo provided by Subaru does give us a glimpse of the roll cage, but it’s hard to tell what else has been removed. Interestingly, the automaker warns buyers that the Cup Car Basic will be more “inconvenient compared to standard cars in terms of ride quality, maneuverability, comfort, and quietness”.

From the outside, the GR 86 and BRZ Cup Car Basic look identical to the standard model. The only difference would be the 16-inch steel wheels. Owners of these track-ready vehicles will replace the wheels with a lighter set of their choice anyway.

By race car standards, both the GR 86 and BRZ Cup Car Basic are very affordable. The Subaru retails or JPY 3,338,500 or PHP 1,486,000, while the Toyota is slight cheaper at JPY 3,334,000 or PHP 1,484,000. Not bad for a track-ready road car which you can technically still drive on the streets. For reference, the local 2022 BRZ will start at PHP 2,399,000.

While we want to see the GR 86 and BRZ Cup Car Basic here, it’s a Japan-exclusive model. The only time we will see them is if Toyota and Subaru decide to hold a similar GR 86/BRZ Cup in the country.