Sydney, NSW -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/23/2012 -- On the 11th of April of 2012, gt86.com.au took part in an official Toyota Google+ hangout with Mr Tada-San, the chief engineer behind Toyota’s newest sports car, the world’s first horizontally opposed engine and rear-wheel-drive package.

According to Toyota, Toyota 86 is expected to be a game changer for Toyota Australia, bringing not only new buyers, but an entirely new sense of brand to the biggest automotive brand in the world.

Below is a video and photos of the hangout session, so please enjoy, and leave your comments in our forums.

We would like to take this opportunity to extend our many thanks to Mr Tada-San for his time, Adam Wise the account co-coordinator of Toyota Australia for allowing us to participate, and of course all the other Australian participants of the hang out session. As all our readers, we eagerly await the launch of Toyota 86 in Australia and cannot wait take one for a test drive at the launch event.

Some of the Questions and Answers from the Hangout are summarized below:

Q: Was the car tuned in any specific way for the Australian market? (asked by Paul Z. from gt86.com.au)

A: The car was tuned globally for all markets, but a large proportion of the track testing was carried out in Australia

Q: While developing the Toyota 86 what was the most intellectually challenging aspect, and how did you feel after overcoming it? (asked by Oliver T. from gt86.com.au)

A: The most challenging aspect was working with the Toyota boxer engine and integrating the Toyota D-4S direct and port injection system. Once the two were integrated everyone was impressed with the power that the engine made and the Subaru and Toyota developed a synergy that made them realize that this would be a very special and successful project.

Q: Why did Toyota take so long to finally release a sports car again?

A: The proposition to develop a sports car, had been reviewed every year by Toyota. Five years ago, this project finally got approval and had since the ground up been built to satisfy the sports car enthusiast community.

Q: Will Toyota release TRD versions of the car, or a convertible?

A: There are always many projects planned, and there is definitely going to be a more TRD oriented variant down the line. However any of the parts that would be standard on the TRD model will fit on your current Toyota 86 so there is no need to wait. Naturally the more sales that the Toyota 86 gets globally the more likely it is that further variants of the vehicle will be released.

Q: Was the car built to specific constraints and was it difficult to fit all the modern technology into a 1200kg package.

A: The aim of the car was to be lightweight and around the 1200 mark. We managed to achieve our goals.

Q: Was the car built to handle aftermarket force induction packages in terms of the engine and transmission?

A: I am sure there will be many aftermarket accessories that will fit this car, and that many aftermarket companies are already working on this.

For a link to the article and the video of the video conference please go togt86.com.au and please remember to check out ourForum