Famed aftermarket and motorsport specialist HKS has released a new video of the Toyota 86 race car it is working on to participate in the 2012 season of Japan's D1 Grand Prix production car drifting competition. The new clip shows the 86 being tested on the dyno.

As well as the motorsports version of the 86, which you should know by now is a sister model to the Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ rear-wheel drive coupes, the Japanese company is also preparing a raft of tuning parts for the production model.

The North American version of the Toyota 86 rear-wheel drive sports coupe will be available in in the U.S. this spring as the Scion FR-S. Despite the absence of the “86” designation in its name, Scion makes no attempt to cover the fact that the FR-S is a descendant of the original Toyota Corolla AE86.

This is why Scion will launch a first batch of 86 cars in the States before the FR-S becomes available to the general public.

It was only to be expected that Scion would prep its new FR-S rear-wheel drive sports car for the Formula DRIFT series and at the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the Japanese company presented a race-spec version with which veteran driver Ken Gushi will participate in the 2012 season.

The FR-S racecar is the result of a collaboration between Scion Racing and GReddy, a long time racing partner of Toyota.

Among all new car presentations made in 2011, the models that received the most attention from auto enthusiasts all over the world this year were arguably the sports coupe triplets born from the partnership between Toyota and Subaru.

But that was to be expected as affordable and focused rear-wheel drive sports coupes have become an increasingly rare sight in our days.

A lot of people are eager to get some time behind the steering wheel of one of the triples that was born from the joint venture between Toyota and Subaru, but in the meantime, the Scion FR-S is making several appearances on the track as well as on the streets.

We stumbled upon two new videos featuring the Scion-badged version of the Toyota 86, the most interesting of which shows the rear-wheel drive coupe drifting on the track.

The second clip is from a recent presentation of the FR-S at a Cars and Coffee meeting in Irvine, California. What's special about this FR-S is that it is equipped with a Greddy sports exhaust system. You can check both videos for yourself right after the break.

Some of us may have been slightly disappointed by the conservative transition of the original Toyota FT-86 and Scion FR-S from concept to production, but there's a lot of enthusiasm out there, especially from young buyers looking for an affordable, rear-wheel drive sports coupe.

You can see that from the interest shown in all three derivatives of the collaborative project between Toyota and Subaru, despite the fact that the BRZ, 86 and FR-S are virtually identical sans for some insignificant styling and trim differences. In the States, the plan is to bring the Subaru BRZ and the Scion FR-S (instead of the 86 / GT 86).

Last week, Scion lifted the curtains on the third and final (unless Lexus and Daihatsu have other plans…) iteration of the 2+2 rear-wheel drive coupe developed by Toyota and Subaru, the North American market FR-S.

For those of you that missed the presentation in Los Angeles, Scion has released official coverage from November 30th's launch event that includes an introduction by the firm's Vice President, Jack Holl.

The third chapter of what has turned out to be a very long saga came to an end tonight with the official presentation of the new 2013 Scion FR-S, which follows the Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ introductions at the Tokyo Motor Show earlier today.

The name Scion chose for the North American version of the Toyota 86 stands for Front-engine, Rear-wheel drive, Sport. The 2+2 coupe is the fifth model to join the Scion family and will go on sale in the United States and Canada in the spring of 2012.

“Serving as a laboratory for Toyota, Scion is always experimenting with new things,” said Jack Hollis, Scion vice president. “The brand is iconic with the xB, adrenalized by the tC, and groundbreaking with the iQ. The FR-S will no doubt serve as the halo car, expanding Scion into a new dimension of driving performance," he added.

Our coverage on the production version of what we came to know as the FT-86 in concept form but which Toyota decided to name GT 86 for the European region and simply '86' in its home market of Japan, continues with two fresh videos that depict the rear-wheel drive sports car in action.

The first clip is from a quick spin around the Fuji Speedway racetrack, while the second video includes a more comprehensive test drive from a Japanese car magazine that provides us with a more in-depth look at the sights and sounds of the 86 as well as in a wider palette of colors.

Toyota is highly optimistic about the '86', which it describes as an "entirely driver-focused sports car, designed to recapture the fundamental joys of motoring".

The Japanese firm's recipe includes a 200HP naturally-aspirated engine mounted up front matched to a six-speed manual (or 6sp automatic) and a limited slip differential driving the rear wheels, and a near-perfect 53:47 front-to-rear weight distribution.

Your daily update on the Toyota FT-86 sports coupe-related leaks from Japan continues today with a few more revealing scans.

These include catalogue shots of the FT-86 wearing parts from the Toyota Racing Development [TRD] division including a front grille surround with a matching apron, side skirts and a chunkier rear diffuser.

Adding to a long line of leaks these past few days, the specification sheet along with a few more brochure shots of the JDM 2012 Toyota FT-86 made their way onto Japanese forums revealing new details on the firm's rear-wheel drive coupe.

Cutting to the chase, the FT-86 measures 4,240mm (166.9-in.) long, 1,775mm wide (69.9-in.), and 1,285mm (50.6-in.) tall, while riding on a 2,570mm (101.2-in.) long wheelbase.

In its home market of Japan, the FT-86 is powered by a Subaru-sourced 2.0-liter flat-four churning out 200-horses at 7,000 rpm and 205Nm (151.2 lb-ft) of peak torque at 6,600 rpm. It is very likely that the output numbers will remain the same for the global Toyota FT-86 and the North American Scion FR-S.

If we are to believe to a new report from Car&Driver - and we have no reason not to, Subaru will finally lift the veil off a concept version of the BRZ sports coupe with actual sheetmetal at the upcoming 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show in mid-November.

And unlike the BRZ's sister model from Toyota, Subaru won't be showing another concept as both the BRZ and FT-86 (we're still not sure about the name), will be making their world premiere in final production trim at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show in December.

Our spies dropped these photos shot in Germany into our email box as the Subaru BRZ prototype. After checking out the cool assortment of BMW M3s in the background (the E30 still looks the part, doesn't it…), we went over our previous spy shots of the BRZ's Toyota sibling, the FT-86, and well, it looks the same.

However, we still don't know if the BRZ will share the same body styling as the FT-86 as Subaru has yet to reveal an actual concept of the sports coupe –the Geneva Salon prototype was a see-through concept designed to exhibit the car's mechanical hardware.

The wait for the unveiling of Subaru's version of the Toyota FT-86 (and let's not forget, the Scion FR-S) continues but the Japanese company has at least given us a name for the car and more importantly, a launch date.

Subaru’s new rear-wheel drive sports coupe, which is still currently under joint development with Toyota, will be named BRZ. According to the automaker, the name stands for “Boxer engine”, “Rear-wheel drive” and “Zenith”.