It’s no secret that we’ve been experiencing dwindling color choices in cars over the past few decades. Nearly everything’s adopted some sort of greyscale palette, washing away technicolor joy with dour corporateness. However, every so often, something bucks that trend and tugs on our heartstrings by painting in shades of the rainbow. Case in point: the 2025 Toyota GR86 Hakone Edition is here to remind everyone how great green-on-tan is.
Keen followers of the Toyobaru will note that this is the second Hakone Edition this automotive bloodline’s seen. You might recall that in 2020, Toyota classed up the 86 with a green-over-tan special edition of the same name. Evidently, it worked well enough to go back for seconds, and that’s precisely what we’re getting here.
The 2025 Toyota GR86 Hakone Edition starts with the Premium trim and first adds the performance package. That means in addition to an eight-speaker stereo and 18-inch wheels, you get Brembo brakes with four-piston front calipers to repeatedly haul this sports coupe down from track speeds and Sachs dampers to keep body motions in check while soaking up apex curbing. However, from there, things turn a little more luxurious.
It starts with a rich shade of paint called Ridge Green, contrasted with bronze 18-inch alloy wheels. Say what you want about forest green and bronze being a cliched color combination, it’s hard to deny that this just works. While I’m not crazy about the contrast of the red calipers, the rest of the exterior package alludes to the classics, and Toyota didn’t stop there.
If you’re coming from the realm of even moderately premium products, you might not be impressed with the standard GR86 interior. Hey, you have to break a few eggs to build a sports car like this at an affordable price tag. However, the Hakone Edition puts a little pizzazz on it with tan leather bolsters, matching contrast stitching on interior trim components, and color-matched piping on the floor mats. It’s an elegant, if subtle, sort of elevation that ought to make the cabin feel just a little bit nicer. Rounding out the Hakone Edition package is some tasteful badging, an engraved shift knob, and a limited edition plaque indicating that Toyota’s only building 860 of these little green coupes.
Of course, should you wish to buy a GR86 and not splurge on the Hakone Edition, all models get a few intriguing upgrades for 2025, starting with revised throttle calibration. Toyota claims this new mapping should make blipping the skinny pedal for downshifts easier, a little fine-tuning for driver involvement. Also on the table? Revised electric power steering calibration, which Toyota claims will offer “an improved sense of direct contact with the road.” Oh, and if you need to have an automatic transmission, you’ll be pleased to learn that the rev limit for driver-commanded downshifts has been raised by a whopping 1,600 rpm. Complementing the software tweaks, models without the Sachs dampers receive revised dampers that have the potential to be stiffer than in the outgoing car. It all adds up to a compelling package.
Regardless of whether you’re looking to pop for the Hakone Edition or keep things simple with the base model, expect the 2025 Toyota GR86 to roll into showrooms across the country this autumn. While Toyota hasn’t released pricing yet, we wouldn’t be surprised if it stays close to the 2024 model’s affordable price tag.
(Photo credits: Toyota)
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