Honda and Toyota Surprisingly Make Some of the Best Sports Cars You Can Buy
It’s no surprise that an auto manufacturer like Porsche or Lotus would create some of the best sports cars. It may be a surprise, though, to find out that sports cars from Honda and Toyota have received some notice as well. U.S. News & World Report just included the 2021 Toyota GR Supra, 2020 Honda Civic Coupe Si, and 2020 Toyota 86 on its list of the 13 Best Lightweight Sports Cars of 2020. Here’s a look at these three affordable sports car options from Honda and Toyota.
2021 Toyota GR Supra
The Supra name returned for 2020, offering only a six-cylinder engine, which produced 335 hp. Toyota announced earlier this year that a four-cylinder Supra engine would be developed for 2021. Now available, it has a 2.0-liter twin-turbocharged engine, which produces 255 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque. The Toyota GR Supra shares an engine and other parts with the BMW Z4, but Toyota’s Gazoo Racing (GR) division made the Supra’s steering and handling unique and very responsive.
The car has an eight-speed automatic transmission and rear-wheel drive. With the four-cylinder engine, it can accelerate from zero to 60 MPH in five seconds. With the six-cylinder engine, it’s even faster, reaching 60 MPH in 3.9 seconds, according to U.S. News & World Report.
U.S. News & World Report gave the 2021 Toyota GR Supra an overall score of 8.4 out of 10. The lightest version of the 2021 Toyota GR Supra weighs 3,181 pounds, and it has a starting price of $42,990 for the GR Supra with this smaller engine.
2020 Honda Civic Si Coupe
The 2020 Civic Si Coupe has a turbocharged four-cylinder engine, generating 205 hp and 192 lb-ft of torque. In addition to the coupe, the Civic Si is also available as a sedan, which features the same engine. This front-wheel-drive car has a six-speed manual transmission. The Civic Si Coupe zips from zero to 60 MPH in 6.3 seconds, while the sedan version is slower.
It has responsive steering along with sporty handling, including a Sport button. Other features that improve handling are an active damper system to reduce bumps and improve cornering plus a helical limited-slip differential to control power reaching the front wheels.
U.S. News & World Report gave the Civic an overall score of 8.5 out of 10. The lightest 2020 Honda Civic Si Coupe weighs in at 2,889 pounds, and it has a starting price of $25,200
2020 Toyota 86
Created out of a partnership between Toyota and Subaru, the Toyota 86 is very similar to the Subaru BRZ. The 86 has a Subaru Boxer four-cylinder engine, which produces 205 hp and 156 lb-ft of torque. U.S. News & World Report found the engine to be a bit weak.
The 2020 Toyota 86 has a six-speed manual transmission and rear-wheel drive. An automatic transmission is available, but that reduces the engine production to 200 hp and 151 lb-ft of torque. It goes from zero to 60 MPH in 6.4 seconds. The car is excellent on corners and has both a sport-tuned suspension and a Torsen limited-slip rear differential.
U.S. News & World Report gave it an overall score of 7.6 out of 10. The 2020 Toyota 86 weighs 2,776 pounds and has a starting price of $27,060.
As a bonus, all three of these sports cars are also lightweight cars. While they don’t have the more powerful engines found in heavier sports cars, their light weights help them with super-handling around corners. If you want the sports car experience without paying a top price, these three cars from Honda and Toyota are ones to consider.