True sports cars, in the sense that we all have come to know them nowadays, are few and far between. There are many out there trying to claim sports car status, and even some with four doors want to be sports cars.

To us, a true sports car has only two doors, rear-wheel drive, bucket seats and, yes, maybe even a manual transmission!

So it was that we welcomed a week with the new Hakone Edition of the Toyota 86 sports car (formerly a Scion FR-S) that came with all of the above features and was more than eager to show its stuff out on the road, especially if there were a lot of curvy mountain grades involved.

The car is available in both a manual and automatic transmission, as are most of today’s sports cars, but after a week with the manual we would definitely have to recommend it. It’s much more fun to drive, especially around Utah’s mountains, and it’s about $1,700 less expensive.

We had to ask the question, why the “Hakone Edition”? It is a tribute to a famous stretch of road in Japan about two hours southwest of Tokyo named the Hakone Turnpike. The famous road is on many a car enthusiast’s bucket list, so Toyota chose to pay tribute to it this year through a sports car.

Inside, the 86 sported some unique additions, including tan-and-black Alcantara seats and a tan Toyota 86 logo embroidered on the passenger side dashboard, with this tan stitching being carried forth throughout the cabin.

The Hakone also comes with beautiful green paint matched with 17″ spoked bronze wheels and an all-black spoiler on the tail.

It’s not often that we need to refill the gas tank in one of our test drive vehicles, especially by Saturday morning. Considering we didn’t receive the FR-S until late in the day on Wednesday, it was a quick two-day tank of gas. This goes right to the fun-to-drive portion of the 86’s DNA. We each had an entire day with the car and each used our fair share of fuel motoring around during our turn.

Considering we averaged right at 32 mpg for the week, we had racked up almost 300 miles on the odometer by Saturday morning and had to add to our dwindling fuel supply. After all, letting the little sportster just sit in the driveway was not going to be an option.

As we are both progressing somewhat in age, we found that once in the coupe, it was much easier to spend as much time as possible getting to our destination, as it proved to be somewhat harder to extract ourselves from 86. It was easier to just stay in the car and enjoy the ride, so maybe it wouldn’t be the best mid-life crisis car. However, it was still oh so much fun to drive!

Throughout the entire week we spent with the Toyota, it seemed we could always find a little somewhere else to go or a longer way to get there. Yes, driving in the 86 was really that enjoyable. It is basically a sports car that is affordable for a much larger segment of the market.

The 86 comes complete with everything we would want from a sports coupe, including a fine 4-cylinder, 2-liter, 205-horsepower Subaru Boxer engine. About the only complaint we had during the entire week was that the low-end torque was not that great. Off the line, it was not a dragster, but through the turns at higher speeds it couldn’t be beat.

Eliminating the traction control did enable Craig to get some spin from the tires in first and second gear.

There was a back seat included in the Scion, but with any normal two adults occupying the front seats you would be hard-pressed to get anyone into the rear seats, especially if they were over the age of 5. It did prove, however, to be a good place to throw stuff if needed as we got into the small sportster.

The exterior styling of the 86 is really what we felt set it apart from any of the competition, with the Toyota website listing a few such as the Mazda Miata, Honda Civic coupe and Genesis coupe. The designers at Toyota have done an excellent job of giving it the look of a real contender. It made us really stand out in the crowd, and it also makes it more visible to local authorities.

The climate controls are very simple and easy to use. Heat and air conditioning are limited to the front seats, not that anyone in the back is going to complain. New this year is a dual zone system that kept us happier together in early March.

There is also 7-inch touch screen display that controls the radio and Bluetooth functions in the 86. Ours did not include SirrusXM radio but did have HD radio capabilities. The Bluetooth worked seamlessly, hooking up our phones and also streaming audio from them. We didn’t even miss the satellite radio.

The Toyota 86 is one of the best and most affordable coupes we have had the opportunity to drive. We do need to point out that it is a rear-wheel drive vehicle, so getting around in the snow would be an experience here in Utah. Most likely, you would have to put it in the garage on those nasty days.

Toyota 86 Hakone

Base Price: $29,670

Price as Driven: $30,825