The Japanese automaker is heating things up close to the boiling point in America, where it's breathing in the neck of General Motors after the tally for the first quarter sales revealed a difference of less than 30k vehicles between them.
Now they're cranking up the pressure with loads of 2025 model year introductions that follow the greats of 2024 like the Grand Highlander, N400 Tacoma, or the reborn Land Cruiser - we're talking about the 2025 Crown and Crown Signia, the 2025 Camry best-seller, the Tacoma i-Force Max, or the beloved 2025 4Runner off-road SUV all-rounder. Interestingly, there is one passenger car that was introduced as a 2024MY a long time ago, in 2023, but only reached dealerships a few weeks back - the 2024 GR86 entry-level sports car.
Currently starting at $29,300, it has just three grades – GR86, Premium, and Trueno, which is a $35k special edition honoring the history of quick, nimble, and compact Toyota performance rides as well as the Initial D Japanese street racing manga series written and illustrated by Shuichi Shigeno where a student named Takumi Fujiwara secretly works as a skilled tofu deliver driver using his family's aging Toyota Sprinter Trueno (AE86).
Obviously, the GR86 Trueno has a lot of swagger, but if anyone feels that's still not enough and can't wait for the 2025 model year to appear with a potential refresh, the imaginative realm of digital car content creators has a solution. Evrim Ozgun, a Turkish virtual automotive designer, has decided the second-generation Toyota GR86 deserves his CGI attention and color us impressed – he's done a mighty fine job of facelifting it and then getting it on cloud number nine with a spectacular aftermarket body kit.
As far as the unofficial digital refresh procedure is concerned, the changes are subtle – new, slimmer LED headlights with artsy LED DRLs plus a redesigned LED signature of the taillights. The rest of the modifications are hard to grasp because they may be part of the custom aftermarket procedures. The body kit is more than comprehensive – it's pretty darn extreme if you ask our two cents on the matter. It's all in a positive direction, though, complete with massive front intakes that continue with big breathers behind the front wheels – the wider front and rear fenders accommodate a lot of changes, by the way.
The aerodynamic enhancements include a new radiator grille, new front and rear bumper with integrated diffuser and much larger dual exhaust tips, a triple-layer hood scoop, new side skirts, a rear apron, and a larger ducktail spoiler. To wrap up all the changes, there are new all-black concave aftermarket wheels shod in white-wall Michelin rubber, and the car also features red brake calipers and larger, perforated disk brakes. Cool, right?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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