While quick to admit that the GR86 shares its base with the Subaru BRZ, Toyota says the GR86 has a unique driving feel—a result of a “friendly rivalry” with Subaru’s development team. As such, the GR86 promises “instinctive responsiveness and outstanding agility at the upper limits of performance.”

Now, the focus of attention has always been on the top-trim models, represented in Toyota Japan’s GR86 line-up as the RZ and SZ. However, buried in the official press material is a tuner-friendly, base model variant dubbed the GR86 RC.

This isn’t the first time Toyota has come up with a stripped-down version of the Toyota 86. The previous RC came with unpainted bumpers (no fog lights) and 16-inch steelies. Heck, they even stripped out the radio, climate control, dash trim, and even the plastic engine intake cover.

Now, the current GR86 RC doesn’t go to such extremes, but it still rides on the same 16-inch steelies with 205/55R16 tires. It also omits the tailpipe finishers too. Inside, it deletes the trunk lid carpeting, trunk light, engine cover, and some deadening. It does, however, keep the fancy digital gauges (with three modes), air conditioning, and even two speakers.

For the new model, the GR86 RC shares the same 2.4-liter Boxer producing 235 horsepower and 250 Nm of torque, but because it strips away a lot of the niceties, it weighs just 1,260 kilograms—seven kilograms more than the smaller-engined outgoing Toyota 86. Even better, Toyota opted to keep the Torsen limited-slip differential on the new GR86 RC as well, something it deleted in the previous model.

Without a doubt, the bare bones GR86 RC is meant for those who’ll use their rear-wheel drive sportscar on the race track, or perhaps go straight to the aftermarket to spruce it up.

Naturally, the Toyota GR86 RC is meant as a Japan-only exclusive where it’s priced at 2,799,000 yen or about P 1.239 million. This is about 237,000 yen or P 105,000 less than the next model up the GR86 ladder, the Toyota 86 SZ.