There's something rather wonderful about a bright yellow sports car. It's like a statement to all those people who buy grey, silver, or black cars because they're worried about resale values. Toyota clearly thinks the same, which is why they've created this rather excellent GR86 Yuzu Edition.Named after a type of Japanese citrus fruit that could strip paint off a battleship, the Yuzu Edition is a nod to the old Scion FR-S – the pre-Toyota-rebrand version of the original 86. And when I say it's a "nod," I mean it's exactly the same shade of highlighter-pen yellow that made the Scion stand out like a canary in a coal mine. It's refreshingly honest. While other manufacturers are busy trying to convince you that their ordinary hatchbacks are "lifestyle vehicles" with names like "Crossland X Mokka SportsLife Adventure Edition," Toyota has simply painted a sports car yellow and named it after a fruit. No pretense, no marketing nonsense – just a joyfully zingy car that looks like it could give you vitamin C deficiency just by looking at it.The Yuzu Edition is based on the existing GR86 Premium model, which means it comes with the same naturally aspirated 2.4-liter boxer engine producing 224 horsepower and 184 lb-ft of torque. That's not going to set your hair on fire, but it's plenty for having fun on a twisty road. And yes, you can have it with a six-speed manual, as God intended. Being the range-topping model, it comes with the Performance Pack as standard, which adds Brembo brakes and nitrogen-filled Sachs dampers. These are good things to have, especially if you plan to take your bright yellow attention-magnet to track days, where you'll want to be able to stop properly and not have your suspension turn to jelly after three hot laps. The interior gets the same citrus treatment, with black suede sports seats featuring yellow stitching and perforations. Toyota has managed to keep it tasteful, though – it doesn't look like you're sitting inside a banana. You also get an 8.0-inch touchscreen display and an eight-speaker sound system, plus all the tech and driver assistance features from the Premium grade. In typical Japanese fashion, Toyota is only making 860 of these for North America, which means they'll probably sell out faster than tickets to a Taylor Swift concert. And, in a cruel twist that will surprise absolutely nobody, they're not bringing it to Europe or the UK. We'll just have to stare enviously from across the Atlantic, where our sports cars come in exciting colors like "Slightly Different Grey" and "Almost Black But Not Quite."No word on pricing yet, but expect it to command a premium over the standard GR86, which starts at around $32,000. Is it worth it? If you want one of the last affordable, naturally aspirated, rear-wheel-drive sports cars on the market, in a color that makes a statement, then absolutely.Just don't park it in a field of daffodils, or you might never find it again.
