Honda S2000 vs. Toyota GR86 – back-to-basics manual sportscars are the best

If it wasn’t obvious already, the recipe is very similar in a lot of ways. Overtly Japanese, two seats, driver-focused, plenty of bonnet out front, a manual transmission in the middle, putting the power of four cylinders to the rear wheels. But while we’re not here to declare an outright ‘winner’ – the waters are always murky when as many years separate a pair of cars – there are some key differences to note, having experienced them in quick succession. 

More importantly, though, this is a celebration of these cars, with the comparison serving only to bring into undeniable focus, the intangible X factor that makes them both so special and why if you’re even half considering getting any back-to-basics purist sportscar, you should just go ahead and do it.

It’s ironic that the GT86 was considered quite expensive when it launched costing £24,000 in 2012. The GR86 is one of very few cars that hasn’t soared in price in recent years as inflation has set in. As a result, the £30,000 basic price in 2023 appears to be a bit of a bargain. It’s also quite limited in terms of availability. Just two batches of cars numbering just a few thousand were all spoken for within hours of becoming available and as I’m sure you know, nearly-new values have proven sturdy.

For comparison, if the GR86 were offered for sale in 2006 (when this S2000 was sold new), it’d cost less than £18,000 when adjusted for inflation, compared to the relatively expensive Honda which was upwards of £27,000 back then. Now, though? £10,000 is the price of entry for a ratty one and upwards of £30,000 for the very best, almost as-new examples. So yes, the two are even comparable today on price.

Toyota GR86 – building on the GT86’s brilliance, solving its problems

If you’ve spent time in the GT86, things are immediately familiar when sliding down into the GR86, but just a bit better in every way. The GT’s excellent seats carry over almost unchanged, but a revised wheel, new driver’s display and smartphone-compatible infotainment modernise things, while the controls and general presentation are higher quality than before. Still very Japanese, but better. The notchy six-speed manual transmission carries over too and still needs a good bit of warmth to feel co-operative. Get on the move and the GR86’s broadened chest becomes almost immediately obvious, the extra 400cc and 45Nm (33lb ft) of torque lending what was once a bit of a breathless lump some much-needed alacrity, even at normal speeds.

It’s by no means fast in the grand scheme of the current performance car marketplace but it’s brisk enough that it’s not frustrating like the old GT86 used to be – you can build decent speed at a respectable rate. Once at those speeds, and faced with a challenging enough road like the water-side route along Loch Lomond, the GR’s exceptional chassis, damping and steering come into play. The GT86 was always a great thing but the GR feels a little more focused, a little more polished, but without losing any of the old car’s magic.

The ride and body control are beautifully judged and the extra torque in-gear brings the chassis to life even more, while the more willing shift feel encourages you to row with the car. This is a car you can breathe with, that you can learn, with a transparency to its chassis balance that makes it a willing co-conspirator for thrill-seeking drivers of almost all levels. Yet that approachability doesn’t make it any less rewarding a drive.

Are there any shortcomings? Only one presents itself prior to any immediate comparison with the old Honda. This engine, while stronger and better in almost every way than the old GT86’s, still does not have the feel of a truly willing sportscar’s engine. It still sounds laboured and harsh, with the highest points of the rev range still feeling like the engine is starved for fuel, air and oil all at once. We can’t help but wonder if the three-cylinder from the GR Yaris – itself still quite a rev-hangy thing – would better-suit a car with what is an otherwise entirely jovial character, than this boxer four.

Honda S2000 – rev-happy manual heaven

It’s a shortcoming made all the more obvious when you start stretching out the F20C in the S2000. It remains one of the highest- and freest-revving road car engines ever made, certainly for the price. Critics bemoan its split personality with very little to offer below 4,000rpm, but I never found it the unusable comatose mill so many describe. And any questions of low-down latency were well and truly shouted away once we got past 5, 6, 7,000rpm, into 8,000rpm and up to 9,000rpm and you get up there quickly, too. You feel the razor-sharp tolerances in this engine, you hear the layer of oil atoms only just separating piston from cylinder wall.

The first time you go to deploy it fully, you find yourself short-shifting before truly exploring the engine’s upper limits because of what most modern engines have us used to. Beware that once you do get up there, you’re addicted. This is an engine that revs its way under your skin as your hairs stand on end, that shames your sensibility and mechanical sympathy into timeout.

Then you find shifting gears to become similarly habitual with what a joy it is to throw them around – what a relief, given how needed they are to keep the engine on song. The two play into each other, with the engine’s responses and the box’s accuracy leading to near perfect rev matches right from the off. It’s a purely precise, mechanical change, like the stick links directly to the cogs within, by contrast to the GR86’s accurate but more bone-and-socket-like change, with its longer throw.

The end result is a powertrain you play like a musical instrument and one that has something over the Toyota, or any other sportscar powertrain south of a Boxster Spyder or even a 911 GT3. There’s an eagerness to its personality that honestly would suit the GR86 down to the ground. This is a magnum opus of attainable high-performance natural aspiration and if you can’t work the box to keep it up in the revs, well, there are plenty of turbo cars out there with a pillow of low-down torque to satisfy your needs.

S2000 more satisfying, GR86 more approachable

In terms of the chassis, the S2000 is a bit more serious. If you really love your driving, there’s a satisfaction to be had right up towards the limits that I’m not sure the GR86 can quite reach. There’s an edge to it that is so rewarding when you dial into it in concert with that engine and transmission. You feel like an athlete that’s hitting a personal best as the car gets up on its toes and wriggles underneath you.

In all but the perfect conditions, though, that intoxication turns somewhat to intimidation, depending on your confidence both in yourself and with the car. The steering is edgier and the rear end a little more aloof with a bit of moisture on the surface. The GR86 will be a more relaxed car to drive year-round and when the weather takes a turn.

The GR is more roomy on the inside too, with better storage options and even just more room to breathe. The driving position isn’t quite as hunkered down as the S2000 and you feel more central in the car’s wheelbase, which contributes to the more natural, approachable feel. The S2000 by comparison has you basically sat on the back axle, in a Viper-like position. You’re further from the car’s centre of rotation, so when you do really start bending the tyre sidewalls, you’re swinging faster and more dramatically than you do in the GR86.

If I were to redesign the S2000 today, that’s not what I’d change. Rather, I think less of a vac-packed feel to the cabin – more air around you – would reduce the intimidation factor. The ability to adjust the height and position of the steering wheel, perhaps along with the instruments and flanking vents McLaren Artura-style, would really broaden its appeal.

None of that is to say the S2000 was difficult to drive normally in terms of its dimensions and what you see. There’s a very natural feel for its extremities, with the relatively raked windscreen and low window line making you feel closer to the end of the nose and more confident in the car’s positioning in tight spots – contradictory perhaps to what I was saying about the driving position before, I know. The higher glasshouse of the GR86 by contrast does certainly make placing the corners a bit more of a guessing game. Don’t worry, it’s not exactly an LFA.

The ride is surprisingly good in both, which is if nothing else a testament to the pursuit of lightweight simplicity and sensation over raw speed that both exemplify.

Buy a sportscar. You know you want to

We opened by saying that this back-to-back was more an exercise in sportscar appreciation than a strait-laced comparison, and it proved to be exactly that. I came away nothing short of thankful that both of these cars exist and, if anything more-so, that the GR86 continues to exist today. That being said, I came away only a little short of addicted to the S2000.

Don’t get me wrong, the appeal for me is nothing less than the exact reason why I would recommend some drivers go for the GR86, with its slightly softer character, creature comforts, finance deals and three-year warranty. The diversity these cars offer and their differences are very much something to be thankful for. The GR86 is in no way the lesser choice, in the same way that the latest and greatest MX-5 is a fantastic car too.

But for me, the intensity – from the engine and transmission to the chassis – of the S2000 is a tonic few new cars can match at any price, and surely not something we’ll see again at this end of the market. To drive all the way back home? I’d take the GR86, with its Apple CarPlay, cruise control and softer character. But not before one last blast around Scotland in the Honda.

Photography by Jo Hanley and Simon Clarke.