"But the AE86 ALWAYS feels just a little bit alien, it has a beautiful mix of certainty and doubt. Like a little puppy dog, for every day is a new day. For a AE86, every drive is a new drive" -Mr.Regular
tomo55554 If you consider a lot of the vehicles that came out when this car came out, it was actually decent, for performance, in comparison. The NA miata didn't come out until a few years after the AE86 was roaming the street. You had the FC RX7, which was quicker, but drank gas about 3 times quicker. There was the MR2, but that had major oversteering issues. The first silvias and 180sx worth driving, also didn't come around until a few years later. (I'm speaking about japan, specifically) so the AE86 kind of gained a bit of legendary status for a few short years, when there really wasn't a lot of performing competition on the market. Compared to today's vehicle it's a 30 year old p.o.s., but it still retained some of the fun of the old times. Knowing plenty of people who drift the american AE88, I am glaringly aware that it really isn't that good of a car without some modification. If anyone wants to start drifting there are a number of cars to start with before the AE86/88 that will leave you less frustrated, and happier.
Car Of Doom Every honda with a fartcan that passes by makes me wish their engine would blow up.... my Mk6 GTI however just like they said in EDC reviews the took all the good sounds and made her sing them loud and proud.
Huh, 3:18 "[AE86] make you doubt your abilities that little bit" funny, that is just about what Takumi said when Bunta asked him to try out the newer car via his Impreza.
Cuz the people writing for Initial D knew their shit, Tsuchiya helped with technical stuff as well, the fucking drift king, and he even had his own cameo as one of Buntas friends
Just imagine flooring either your brake or throttle will make tire spin compared to modern TC and ABS, preventing you from even locking your tire, that is very scary car.
I love that the 86 magic bit you :) they are truly special, you actually hit the review right on the nail better then the big sport car reviewers because of the emotion. Any real car lover will fall deep in love with one of these after just one drive. The frs/brz will never be as special as the original. Great review!!!
I kick myself every day for not importing one back from Japan after being stationed there. I had a 1984 AE86 Trueno Coupe with a 20v 4AGE from the AE111, and it was rust-free with a fresh paint job. What did I do with that reliable little gem that I paid $3k for? I sold it for $4k, bought a GT-R that was too "new" to import, and I regretted it ever since now that the value of the car is too high for me to stomach spending almost $20k to import. *sigh
Ya know I love this review. I may like initial d but I can really appreciate a guy who can take a step back and review this car for what it is. I'm happy he enjoyed it
This was my first car back in 1994 when I first learned to drive. I didnt have a license but since my school wont pick me up for school, I drove it everyday to and from school for 8 months until I got my license. My mom didnt care, as long as she didnt have to drive me. When I got my license, the ride along license guy said.....looks like you've been practicing. I had a big grin on my face. One time, a cop actually stopped me. I told him I only had my permit, but I was just practicing bc my mom was so busy working. He let me go and said just go around the block. Good times!!!
I almost cried watching this as a ae86 owner knowing that you understood truly why the enthusiast would tune these things and keep them alive. Great video
I've watched the anime and somehow it seems like I'm the only one who gets that its not specifically the car being magical but the driver behind it who has the talent and skill to bring the car to full potential. also I believe in the beginning of the series the 4A-GE engine was tuned up to about 150 hp, after that blew up the new engine in it was a TRD Group A AE101 20v Silver Top producing 240 hp, making the car more competitive against tougher and faster opponents.
True lad. Even in first episode they say that car isn't a monster that driver is. So yeah but still ae86 probably has good amount of potential with mods of course. But why would you mod it.
a year ago I posted a comment bashing this car and the crazy prices they go for. Then I drove one. Now I am a few days from buying one with a 20v silvertop in it. What have I gotten myself into?
+Float You have gotten yourself into a beautiful love affair with something truly amazing. This car is far more than the sum of it's parts. I have two. An 85 hatch with a 20v silvertop and a megasquirt an an 86 coupe that is a factory restoration. Love them both equally and would not part with them for anything. You will also LOVE it when people driving m series bmws try to buy yours from you in traffic.
I had a 1986 American version of this car. I still won 7 Championships in 3 years (1989 - 1991) in SCCA and NCSCC Autocross. My last year I entered 55 races and finished 1st in 47 of them. 2nd and 3rd for the rest (except one 4th). I loved that car and drove it until it was totaled by a semi in 1994. It died and I didn't. I still miss driving that car. I was WAY TOO MUCH FUN. It turned a 40-minute ride in the hills on switchbacks to a 13-minute joyride.
Even the looks of the car isn't familiar. The Miata looks cute and happy, but the AE86 looks like an outsider, and its "panda" style mascara paintjob just hides its identity more. And that being said, it looks better than a MX-5, take THAT internet.
The 4A-GE engine is quite a screamer. No artificial piping & almost no low end torque, but that snick-snick 5MT and that 1.6 would rev cleanly to 8000rpm every time. Unless you're importing one, either a used Miata or a Elise is the closest you can get to a mechanical RWD perfection like this, and despite the FR-S (or GT86) being a nice tribute to it, like a band the original is always the most pure.
The AE86 will always occupy a little soft spot in my enthusiast heart, not because of the anime but because it was a very popular and common car in my early days in the Southern California car community. Whenever I see one, it takes me back to the days when you could drive to the top of a mountain and find 20 cars all up there to hang out and run the road, and pretty much every one of them was either an AE86, a 240SX, or an FC RX7. The sound of a 4AGE (or, for that matter, a 13B) echoing off a canyon wall is something I don't hear much anymore, and something I miss dearly. They're tremendously fun cars to drive, if done right. Stock ones are wallowy, and if they're too heavily modded they turn into rock-solid gokarts with no character, but there's a sweet spot in the middle where it's everything that an NA Miata is, but without the claustrophobia and with a bit more dynamic adjustability. A friend of mine had a really clean GT-S coupe with a 20v swap, good shocks and springs, and just about every piece of TRD hardware that was in the catalog in the period. It was an absolute riot to drive, and even though it's been well over a decade since I last saw that car, I still want one. I'll always regret not buying one when they were $1500 cars, almost as much as I regret passing up an E30 M3 when they were $10k.
"How can I see you again" Do a series where you travel to Japan. Drive this and some other unique Japanese cars stuff that we don't really see in North America
It's not the first time they have mentioned the Grand National. Someone needs to offer one up for review. A GNX might be tough to swing given their collector status.
Ive never been interested in the 86 even after watching the show. But to compare its feel to that of a na miata peaks my ears up. Greatest video since the miata review.
Well it did have a successful racing background and was popular in Japan before initial d. The show didn't make it what it is, it only made it known for what it was.
That cover at the end was driving me crazy! I was like "wow, I definitely know this, why can't I pinpoint it?!" 😂😂😂 For anyone wondering, it's a cover of Thinking About You by Frank Ocean.
RegularCars It's running good. Currently hibernating from the cold. Bought some cheap NB 15in wheels with much better tires than mine. Have nearly all the wear parts bought that I need to replace before Spring. Hopefully some time lapse vids with the GoPro when I stop ordering parts and actually work on it, ha.
Salvatore LoPresti good luck with the car, have to say i'm a little jealous. had a twin cam 86 in the uk back in the 90's, still miss it. i'm importing a 99 ver6 sti ra v limited, should be here next week.
The AE86 was my first car in Gran Truismo 3, and my 4 year old self literally couldn't handle how fast it turned in. All of my runs after that started with an NA MX-5 Miata. Only a few months ago, after digging up my dad's old racing wheel that was designed specifically for that game for the ps2, after having watched these videos, have I given it another try. It was exquisite.
I would have mentioned how even though it shared an engine with the MR2 and was physically larger and muuuuuch more practical, the AE86 in some specs was LIGHTER than some of the AW11 MR2s that Mr. Regular loves so much. :) Can you imagine back in 2007 when Toyota was still making the MR-S, that they also made a 2dr hatchback that could carry four people and their luggage, get 30mpg, and still be LIGHTER than the MR-S? That car does not exist, but Toyota managed to do it in the 80s, with the AE86. If only the GT86 had actually been really practical as well... It would be a true sucessor. Underpowered for the sake of beating on it daily, light and nimble, very fuel efficient, and still practical as an only car. I think toyota made a mistake trying to make the GT86 too "pure" of a sports car. They missed the point just a little.. the AE86 was as pure a sports car it could be... for a Corolla. It was still practical, but it didn't detract even slightly from the experience. As Mr. Regular put it, it was lean. It was just slow on straights. It also made up for its slow straight-line speed with one of the best 4cyl exhaust notes ever. (Something the GT86 unfortunately does not do) Anyway, I ramble a lot. Sorry. Ignore me. :)
Would be interesting if you could test a 205 GTI, if you can find one in the US that is, it's even leaner and about as powerful in later models, but it's FWD (on the upside that probably means more power to the wheels).
This review was very well thought out. Knowing plenty of people who have the american AE88, I was very aware of how the USDM car is. This review is very good, but doesn't actually make me want to get an AE86 any more than I already did. Instead, I feel, even more so than I did before, the desire to import an R32 GTR, which has been my dream car ever since the first gran turismo came out, before I even knew what Initial D was. IF (big if) I ever get one, I would feel no qualms in driving it across the country for you to test out. (Too bad a car payment, house payment, and a plethora of bills stand in my way.)
***** Here it varies from car to car (or even same car for different markets) even on new cars, I've given up trying to figure out which is which but you just get used to them after a few minutes unless you constantly switch between cars with different configurations so you occasionally end up turning on the wipers when turning a corner.
That's the best part though about the ae86, even in the anime his dad knows its a crap car that only has it's handling which is why it turned the driver into something that can drive it like that (and can only exist in an anime). Also it seems his dad was at some point in time was a racer of sorts so you know it is not stock, to give you the suspension of disbelief. finally in the second season they do put a different engine in the thing so then the power bit is handled. just have to say for reference i'm not a weeb how do i know? when you were one at 13 you just kinda know. I just love the show because it combines two of my interests cars and anime even if its physics and plot is kinda half baked. always have liked light cars with just enough power they kinda fit me cause i'm a frikin tight wad PS you hit the nail on the head about his friends...
+Forbiddina the engine swap didnt make too much sense now that i think back. the formula atlantic engine is not a daily driver's engine. pretty sure it isnt road legal either.
+Kevin Wang I've had some ricers outright admit that in California they just bribe someone to give them a passing smog certificate. With how strict the inspection part of the smog test is, I can't blame them (have a catalyst without an EO number but pass the emissions part of the smog test? Tough luck. You still fail the visual inspection.)
Reminds me of my first vehicle; a Chevy tracker. It was the year Chevy had their name on it instead of Geo, but before it became another series of regular sized SUVs. It was cute, got like 40 mpg, had 4x4, and could turn on a dime. However, the soft top didn't fit, I struggled to find one that did, and eventually I gave it away as I felt it was falling apart. Even though it was drafty and the heating didn't do much...I still kind of miss that thing. I love reliable little manual transmission vehicles.
This, the R34, and the Mark IV Supra are cars that annoy the hell out of me simply because of the JDM fanboyism behind them. They are great cars, but I swear there are folks who would perform cunnilingus on a goat just to back one out of a driveway.
I have a 1995 toyota corolla with a 4afe and a loud exhaust in it and it gave me the same experience. Shitty interior sketchy ride but when you ramp up the RPM's or take a tight corner you just love it.
RegularCars Thanks to your advice I bought an AW11 some months ago. It has the same 4AGE as the AE86. I was thinking of making it look like the Panda Trueno-desu from Initial D. Thank you for your awesome car reviews! On a side note, it's always a pleasure catching you in /r/cars on Reddit sometimes.
Compact cars in the 1980s were not fast (Note the 4.0L Jeep Cherokee was one of the fastest vehicles on the road) but they were terribly fun to drive because they were not bloated. My 1989 Subie DL was a blast to drive and while it only had 92 hp and it was only moving 2800LBs of car. Those days will never return. Every compact car on the road today will need a ton of aftermarket suspension parts to firm up the soggy rides to make them feel like the 1980s Sentras, Corollas, and 323s. The modern motors are amazing, but the suspensions really suck (I am looking at you, Ford Fiesta SEL).
I knew a guy who actually owns an AE86. He technically swapped the engine with the slightly later model AE-101 Levin. He kept the original block and drivetrain however he replaced the headers, cams, and cranks that came from the Later levin. He dynoed the car and it produced a beefy 236 BHP.
i'm still wondering whether they'll do a review of fairlady z s30 bc of being featured in a lesser-known anime inspired by 90's japan highway racing scene i doubt anyone will get it, especially them, must be something similar to mistranslation
Out of curiousity, what was that dark, American knight that defied the atypical American convention of trying to fix problems with adding more displacement?
+Dr. Cannibalism I think Grand National, but it also looked like he was talking about Knight Rider; Because, the Firebird Trans Am also used the 3.8 V6 turbo, just like the Grand National.
That engine sings. I have joyful flashbacks to my mums 1980 Australian KE55 Corolla. It was surprisingly sporty with its 60 horsepower, or at least with the engine running at high revs constantly it certainly sounded and felt like a beast. Those things were bloody light though .
yes we do, actually all cars that are not needed are sent to us for recycling. I actually feel so bad when I get to disassemble and destroy something like this and GTRs or Fairlady Z with just a few scratches. :(
trexeater101 what make model and part? to what country? :p i havent tried shipping outside japan and i have no idea how to and if it's legal to send vehicle parts through regular shipping. I'll try to ask tomorrow and do some research! You can message me about the specific part you want though :p
I had one of these in the US coupe version. It's still one of my most favorite cars I've ever owned and driven. You actually felt the road with this thing. It was slow, it was ugly, it was old, but my god was it a fun car to drive. My next car to replace it (accident and part were VERY hard to source) was a Nissan 240sx. That car was a blast, but still played second fiddle to the GTS.
warning.. "I feel I was redundant and could have written this a lot shorter so I apologize if this is annoying to read"..... I'm gonna cry man so hard I loved cars since I was 5 mainly cause of nfs on the ps1 and I loved them even more when I grew up and knew about them even more today I drive a nissan sentra 2004 its not amazing it gets the job done but.. . I want a trueno not because of the anime my main want for this car was because my friend showed it to me and it was beautiful it was the only vehicle I could find that was my style.. a boxy low hp hatchback flip up head light manual car that is simple to take care of (toyota makes simple cars I don't want a rx-7 rotary that can blow up cause i missed an oil change by a couple days) I want a vehicle with this style rwd manual drive but i couldnt find one that is like that except this one, maybe im blinded by love cause I keep coming back to it I don't have one and I want one. I don't know much about the retro car scene I only recently discovered that older cars are a thousand times prettier then the new "Sports" cars they just don't feel like there is any love in them anymore. I want something like this but it is hard to obtain and wish I could find something similar thats easier to find if I could get assistance in cars that have a similar build and appearance with manual and rwd being the main needs before cosmetics and the cosmetics are close please assist I know nothing and my friend isnt really into these he wants an fc or a e30 and I want something that is hatch back so I can fit what I need into it manual cause i love to be able to feel my car as I drive more so with the boring autos and rwd for various reasons one being it can give better handling and balance and can take a bit of abuse as opposed to fwd. I dunno I feel I was redundant and could have written this a lot shorter so I apologize if it was annoying to read. I tend to ramble and get lost in my thought and type what i think on the spot and may not get the point across right away so I am sorry >.
Going back and trying to read this hurts a little xD I want a MR2 Aw11 now adays but man I tried so hard to beat around the bush pretending I didn't wanna drift this. I love the look of the aw11 better now but man I was such a dweeb xD
I had a American 1985 Corolla GTS and it was the BEST handling car I ever drove! And I drove many exotic cars. This car would leave most cars in the dust on a mountain road. I put 500.000 miles on it. The only problems I had was a blown rear end at 350.000 miles and timing belts every 15.000 miles.
Why are you being so angry? Let's just enjoy cars as a car enthusiast family. My Miata is significantly newer than an AE86 and is a Mazdaspeed. I'm not being a braggart, I'm stating fact. :)
skurtov I do not disagree there, LOL! It has the unfortunate consequence of jacking the prices up, But they're still reasonable as far as purchase. Mine is a weekend toy and time trial machine. Serving along side my turbo RX7 and Conquest TSi.
