Toyota GR86 Gets Sportier for 2025; Hakone Edition Returns

The GR86 is Toyota’s gift to sports car enthusiasts that keeps on giving. Following up on last year’s updates, this two-door sport coupe is undergoing further revision, resulting in some re-tuned hardware and electronics, and the return of the Hakone Special Edition.

The upcoming GR86 will benefit from Gazoo Racing’s meticulous polishing of this already potent platform, and handling is, in typical fashion, at the top of the list. The shock absorbers are said to have been adjusted to “improve handling and a sense of ground contact,” sensations also to be heightened by the updated electric power steering system.

To spoil it now, GR has given no extra power to the GR86’s boxer engine; however, they have adjusted the way power is brought on. Throttle response has been made more linear, while throttle mapping has been tweaked to ease the act of blipping the throttle during heel-toe downshifts. Those satisfying blips are bellowed by the eight-six’s 2.4-liter FA-24, a naturally-aspirated flat-four which sends 228 horsepower and 184 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels through your choice of six-speed automatic or, the one we’d recommend, six-speed manual.

If you want even more performance goodies, last year’s new performance package is back for 2025, still available on all grades, containing SACHS dampers and upgraded Brembo brakes. This package comes standard on 2025’s Hakone Special Edition, last seen on the previous Toyota 86.

And like before, the Hakone Edition is finished in green paint (now named “Ridge Green”), meeting the ground through 18-inch bronze-colored wheels. Behind those wheels are the aforementioned Brembo brakes, as the performance package comes standard here, as do all the amenities found on the GR86 Premium grade of which the Hakone is based on. Other special edition identifiers include the tan interior, special edition shift knob and various exterior accents, like the body-color duck-tail spoiler and Hakone badge. And in case you’re wondering, the name is derived from Japan’s Hakone turnpike, of which this limited edition grade pays homage to.

Although we love a good special edition, we’re glad Toyota hasn’t locked some of these performance gains behind a paywall, and those that do cost a few bones extra are not restricted to the 860 U.S.-bound Hakone Editions. All grades will be available fall 2024, with pricing to be announced closer to that time.

We thought the GR86 was already near perfect when we first tested it in 2022, then even closer to perfection when we slid the TRUENO Edition around Roebling Road Raceway this year. Still, it would seem the Gazoo Racing team couldn’t resist tinkering with the GR86 once more; and if it means taking it out to the track once more to see what’s new, well, we’re just fine with that.