Finally, an affordable off-road sports car. It’s called the Kuhl Outroad GR86, and it’s the RWD alternative to a Porsche 911 Dakar or Lamborghini Sterrato with a few zeros cut from the price tag.
This Time, GR Stands for Gravel-Ready
At its heart, this is Toyota’s GR86 sports car lifted and made more rugged. It’s an answer to the Safari-style rough-road sports cars that have been growing in popularity. Only, instead of a European exotic, it’s built by a Japanese tuning shop that has plenty of experience putting body kits on slammed cars we’ve never seen before on this side of the planet.
Kuhl’s own custom coilover kit starts off the modifications. It lifts the car by 3 inches front and rear over stock. If you need a little more, then you can add a hydraulic lift system that will make it 4.5 inches higher than standard.
It’s still not exactly a Wrangler Rubicon, but this is a start. Combine the shocks with a set of ultra-tough-looking Verz wheels and Yokohama all-terrain tires, and you’ve already got an 86 that feels more like a Subaru. And not that Subaru.
Louvers, Cladding, and Oh So Much Plastic
The Kuhl Outroad GR86 goes wild with the cosmetic extras — rear window louvers, a wild rear bumper, and an even taller ducktail spoiler, just to start. But there are real useful upgrades, like wider fender flares, side skirt cladding that should help protect the body from dings, and a new front end with a better approach angle.
Finish it off with a functional roof rack, and suddenly you’re ready to tackle trails no other GR86 would ever dream of. But the hefty tire and wheel package, along with more luggage on the roof, is seriously going to tax the 2.4L boxer four.
50-HP Turbo Kit Makes Kuhl Outroad GR86 Almost Perfect
Enter a GReddy turbo kit from Trust Power. Horsepower climbs by around 50 to 278. Torque is up even more, hitting 288 pound-feet from the stock 184. Upgraded six-piston calipers in the front and four-pots in the rear make sure the car can stop once you’ve gotten it up to speed.
The end result looks like a blast. The dynamics of the delightful GR86 sports car should be mostly preserved, but the car should also now deliver some off-road capability. Again, not rock-crawling along trails, but definitely on forest and logging roads, or desert areas where you’re not going to sink too far.
Or, just enjoy the extra sidewall and suspension travel as you drive through the pot-holed urban jungle. At least you’ll be a little more comfortable.
Kuhl lists the Outroad for 4.1 million. That’s yen, though, which is about 27,000 greenbacks. That’s on top of the base GR86 ($31K). It also doesn’t seem to include the turbo kit, which is another $8K. Still, these days, it’s hard not to see around $76K for a new safari-style sports car as a bargain.
It’s almost as good as the AWD concept Toyota built itself, but is a real production machine. But, sadly, also not likely to make it to our shores.
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