Another post about my view on the Pro’s and Con’s of the Toyota Corolla AE86 to be used for fun or competitive drifting.
I have owned and ran a semi-harcore AE86 racer for two years, so I have at least some experience on these magnificent little cars.
Keep in mind however I have not used my AE86 for competitive drifting, so experiences may vary. Again, don’t take this personally it’s just the view I’ve grown to have on this particular chassis. Also, if you plan to run on the streets only it won’t be as expensive obviously.
Simply put, the AE86 is phenomenal for somebody who loves performance driving. That is down to the fact that not many cars manage to give the driver such a feeling of immersion. That means that at any point, the car gives an amazing amount of feedback trough the pedals, steering and just the entire ride. It’s hard to explain but if you’ve driven sports cars at the limit the AE86 is in a class of it’s own when it comes to immersion.
The reasons for this are probably down to these simple factors:
– Only the bare essentials (no power steering, ABS or other electronic helpers)
– Very little weight
– Front engine, rear drive chassis
– Short wheel base with solid rear axle
– Mechanical LSD as stock, and oil cooler
– Extremely rev-happy little engine that’s just so much fun to push
HOWEVER to truly get all that feedback and immersion out of the AE86, you need to invest real money into the car. Generally if you get an AE86 now in the 2011, it will be almost 20 years old and falling apart.
So for all wannabe takumis:
The AE86 is a expensive car to maintain and run! I would go as far as saying it’s more expensive than running a specced up S14! If you just want an AE86 because you’ve seen initial D then get an S14 instead. Ha ha.
Ideally you are mechanically gifted so you can do much of the refurbish work by yourself or it will get expensive quick. Trust me, this car almost ruined me since I was building an S14 at the same time. That’s why I had to get rid of it actually!
First step: Get it in perfect technical shape or you will start to hate the car before you properly drive it.
– Check for rust and get it removed. Being an 80’s japanese car, there will be more rust than on a second world war battleship
– Replace all bushings since they will be falling apart. Ideally get pillow ball arms instead of bushes for drifting
– Make sure the differential and ring & pinion are in good shape. At least replace the oil but ideally get it refurbished since it won’t be working 100% anymore with the age. The stock mechanical diff has a 60% locking rate, more than enough for a novice
– Replace the worn out shocks. They *will* be dead already if it’s still the stock items and give a very unstable feeling.
– At least replace the brake pads – the stock ones feel like they’re made of wood. And they will fade quicker than Justin Biebers career. Ideally, refurbish the entire brakes… Mine were completely shot, and even with good brake pads offered no braking performance at all, almost killing me on various occasions. Nice!
– Make sure everything concerning cooling is in perfect working order. The water cooler *will* be dead. The oil cooler will most likely be dead or close to it. Get proper engine oil in there but use mineral oil, not the new science-fiction stuff! Replace all other fluids (DOT-4 brake fluid!)
– Check the wheel bearings for play. They could be dead already
– Get proper tires. For drifting high performance front tires and low-grip rear tires are recommended. For drift, push in 5 bar of tire pressure if you’re a beginner or you won’t be able to get sideways at all.
Congratulations, you’ve just invested ~10’000 CHF into your AE86 and it’s still slow.
But with this you will be able to start having fun in it! One absolute great point about the AE86: Since it has such little power, you are forced to drive it smoothly and properly or you will be going even slower.
It really teaches you perfectly how to be fast with a rear-wheel drive car. Just awesome! Another good point is that engine & drivetrain are almost unbreakable, so you can really rev it up and throw it in now!
Now reading trough this I notice it all sounds terribly negative. I’m not trying to bash this great little car, it’s just that it really really is an expensive choice to make!!
Using a AE86 for drift can be compared to rebuilding any oldtimer and then appearing at a vintage car meeting by flying in the parking lot at a million km/h sideways at full opposite lock and full throttle like an absolute madman while screaming profanities! In the end, it is a sporty car but not *really* made for drifting in stock form.
BUT let me say this: If you get trough all the issues and fight trough – refurbishing everything we talked about, and then go one step further and truly get the car into competitive form with at least 180 horsepower, and many other performance parts. (expect additional costs of around ~15 – 20k CHF)
Then I’m convinced an AE86 can be almost unbeatable on a drift track if driven by a skilled drifter with a perfect setup. Most AE86 drivers are held back by the lack of power in their cars on high speed competition tracks, or because running it costs them too much and they give up.
If you manage to get it right, and keep fighting for the dream then you could become an unstoppable force on virtually any track.
So stay tuned for Toby’s Speed Industries „AE2000“. And be ready to get smoked, doubters!