This is a picture of the 700hp Toyota GT86 that will take to circuits in UK and Ireland as part of the 2012 Speedhunters Drift Tour. The car is still in the development stage at this point but come September it will be shredding tyres and burning rubber, first at the British Drift Championship's round at Trax, Silverstone, on Sunday September 2nd - followed by ProDrift's event at JapFest in Mondello Park on Sunday September 9th.
Renowned Norwegian drifter Fredric Aasbo is busy building the car ahead of its competitive debut with most of the focus on the engine. The GT86 is famously powered by a Subaru developed flat-four 'boxer' engine but this has made way for a twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre six-cylinder 2JZ from the Toyota Supra. Ease of tune is the primary reason for the transplant (Supra engines are known to run 1,000hp on stock internals), but finding a transmission compatible with a high horsepower boxer unit was also a consideration. The big 2JZ will be mounted lower in the engine bay and adjustments made to the chassis to retain the GT86's low centre-of-gravity.
There will be a certain amount of synergy at the Speedhunters Drift Tour as joining Aasbo and his GT86 will be Irish drift star Darren 'DMac' McNamara who will campaign his Toyota AE86 - the car that the GT86 hopes to emulate.