The fact that the AE86 is the last sporty rear wheel drive Corolla is known even amongst people who arent interested in Toyotas that much. The number of versions in which it was produced might confuse even people who own an 86 though. This article should help you if youre lost in all those models like most of us were at some point.

Lets start with the “AE86″ code itself and its meaning. Toyota terminology says that the first letter marks the engine type, second letter marks the model code and third marks the generation of that model. The A then stands for the 4A-GE engine, E is the letter used for the Corolla model range and 8 marks the fifth generation of this model (E8). The last number 6 should stand for the sixth revision of the Corolla model. So the “AE86″ can be translated as “sixth revision of the fifth generation of Corolla model range with A series engine.” But we dont really recommend saying it like that in public since you wont get any more girls in your life after that.

Hatchback vs. Coupe

Corolla AE86 came in two body versions: three-door hatchback and two-door coupe. While the coupe was about 10 to 15 kilograms lighter and had a slightly more rigit chassis, the hatchback was more popular and also much more practical. While there are plenty of 86s available in the US and Japan, finding a nice example in the rest of the world is pretty hard. If youre planning to buy an AE86, we recommend picking the one thats in better shape even if its not the body type you want.

Levin vs. Trueno

There are some big differences in the 86s front too. There were two versions of AE86s front made: one with fixed headlights known as “Levin” and one with pup-up headlights known as “Trueno“. However only the Japanese buyers could choose between these two versions, other markets recieved only one model. While the North American buyers had only pop-up Truenos, European markets offered only the fixed Levin version. There are more differences in each region but we will talk about that in a separate article.

GT vs. SR

There are some significant differences under the 86s hood too. Not every AE86 was powered by the legendary 4A-GE twincam engine. A less powerful model with a a single cam and a carburetor 4A-C engine was offered too. This 70bhp model is known as SR in Europe and SR-5 in North America. This model had a different rear axle with drum brakes and an open differential instead of a limited slip unit. The Japanese version was offered with a slightly different 1500cc 3A-U engine and is reffered to as an AE85. While the American and European buyers could only choose between the GT and SR model, the Japanese recieved many more trim versions like GT-Apex or GTV.

The 4A-GE version was equipped with a mechanical LSD from the factory, had disc brakes on all four wheels and a more sporty interior.

Zenki vs. Kouki

The last major difference between AE86s is the one  between models that came before and after the facelift which it recieved in the middle of 1985. Early models are reffered to as “zenki” and late models are known as “kouki” like with most other Japanse cars. Revised models recieved mainly cosmetic changes. The only techincal change that you should be aware of was the slight enlargement of rear driveshafts which make the zenki and kouki LSDs not interchangable. Slight changes were also made to the brake booster.

The easiest way tell apart between zenki and kouki models is by the head and tail lights and front bumper (except the US model which used the same bumpers even after 1985). Facelifted bumpers had larger turn signals that were extended into corners (check out the left photo). Kouki Levins also recieved little headlight eyelids and a lexan mask instead of a regular black plastic grille. Many 86 owners however like to mix things up and its pretty regular to see kouki Levins with zenki radiator masks and so on…

The thing that will really confuse you however are the tailKapitolou samou pro sebe jsou pak zadní světla. Každá modelová variace dostala svůj vlastní design světel a tyto designy se navíc měnili i u regionálních verzí. Proto můžete na evropských kouki Levinech vidět japonská zenki světla a na amerických Truenech zase japonská Levin kouki světla. Více o těchto rozdílech se dočtete ZDE.

Even though its really not cool to drive a boro car in Japan (unlike in the US), these two guys stand proudly behind their boro style and are not ashamed to call their AE86s like that. They wanted cheap cars for skids and these two coupes do the job so theres nothing to be embarrassed for.

There aren’t any specs available because these guys don’t really waste their time with writing up speclists and showing off on the internet. And by the looks of it they probably dont even know all the parts on their 86s. As long as it works then who cares, right?

There isn’t much to spot from the photos either. These 86s are obviously 2 doors but who knows how did they look like when they rolled out of factory. Both are running kouki Trueno rear lamps, kouki bumpers with a zenki lip and the Levin also has kouki headlights with Japanese spec kouki foglights.

Theres the classic combination of bolt-on rollcage and Bride seats in the interior together with desired electrical mirrors (we didn’t get them here in Europe). We have no idea whats under the bonnet nor what chassis setup they use but we’re pretty sure there’s a set of excessively hard coilovers and some LSD on both of them. The Levin owner evidently likes RS Watanabe wheels while the Trueno runs more distinctive SSR Mk.II wheels at the back and some meshes at the front.

We personally think both cars started life as kouki GT-Apex Truenos but, like we said, who knows what they were put together from. And thats one of the things that we really like about these boro bangers!

PART 1
PART 2
PART 3
PART 4
PART 5
PART 6

Keisukes 2door Levin is a great example of how close the Japanese and NZ scenes are. His 86 looks like it came straight from a Japanese mountain pass (well, it actually did) and it has all the things that you would see on other daily drifted 86s in Japan – a bit of dents and rust here and there, drivers bucket seat, a set of amazing oldschool Japanese wheels and the obligatory panda paintjob.

Keisuke is running a set of 14×8,5″ SSR Superstars with extremely low -22 ET (seen in the first picture). Just like many other street spec Corollas he left the engine more or less stock and focused on chassis and drivetrain instead. The typical coilovers are completed with all kinds of adjustable stuff like Nagisa Auto tension rods, panhard rod and stuff like that. The most noticeable change in the drivetrain is a 3,7kg Toda flywheel coupled with Silk Road 3puck clutch. Its all about the driving feel!

There are obviously dozens of other details that Keisuke added over time. Dont forget to check out his 86Fighters blog to see all he did on this ground up build since the day he bought it bone stock.

Heres more about this Levin from the words of his owner. Thanks for your time K!

Why did you pick the 86?
I picked the 86 as when I was younger and got introduced to drifting, I found that my father was friends with a local 86 Hero here in NZ, Reo Yoshimizu from Tama Autos and fell in love with the style and culture of the car (Option Videos, Initial D etc). Loved the uniqueness of each 86 and how they were driven and wanted to do the same.

Why this model and not a Trueno or a 3 door?
I’ve always been a fan of notchbacks no matter what type of car, originally the TA22 Celica was the first car that made the difference. I started off with a Trueno Notch, progressed to a Levin Notch which I regrettably had to sell on so thought to myself that I definitely had to get my hands on another one.

What do you like about your 86?
I have a mindset of “Its no fun without a challenge” and this car suits that phrase like bread and butter. The variety of styles and personality that makes each 86 individual is what I love and to become part of that culture is probably the best part of 86life. I love driving the car and working on it, its definitely a enthusiats car, and depending on what you do to the car, it either rewards you or tells you that its not working.

What do you hate about your 86?
Like all 86 and pre 80’s car owners, I hate rust. But thats all apart of it I guess.

How many times did it piss you off so much that you wanted to sell it?
I have never been so angry at my 86 so far. It has treated me well and I hope to have done the same for it haha.

How many times did you crash your 86?
Ive never crashed an 86, although I have taken off a rear bumper on a grass hedge before getting a bit wide.

Got a blog or a website where we can follow you?
I have been running the blog 86Fighters for a while now which follows the journeys of my friends and I through NZ and sometimes Japan when I have the chance to go back so check it out there.

One of the best things about Flyrat is that they dont sell only overpriced vintage cars like old GT-Rs and 240Zs but many reasonably priced and not-that-old-but-already-cool-as-hell models like this awesome KE70.

Here are some basic facts about this 1983 kouki Corolla DX: it has an obligatory 4AGE swap with 65.000 Km on the odometer, TRD 6/5,1 kg/mm coilovers made by Revolver with Tokico HTS inserts, 15×8 SSR XR4 Longchamp wheels with pretty agressive -14 offset. All yours for only 750k Yen or 7k Euros.

Ok, thats a bit more then you would pay for a rusty KE from some old guy from countryside but dont forget whats included in this package. Just take a look how much XR4s in this offset sell for…

Another thing that makes us love this 70 so much is that the owner didnt swap the headlights for the more popular 4 eye ones. We know why everyone loves them so much but you have to admit that this setup looks way smoother.

If you follow the world of AE86s closely then you certainly noticed how very specific the British and Irish scene is. Partially thanks to the right hand drive that makes importing cars from Japan so much easier, partially thanks to their automotive and motorsport history, the northern islands have probably the second most raw Corolla scene there is after Japan (being on par only with the Aussies). For us Europeans this is as close to Japan we can get without traveling to the other side of our planet.

While we continental Europeans tend to make our Levins look pretty much stock (on the wheel and height side) and most of the US Truenos have the burden of USDM bumpers, the Brits and Irishman can freely enjoy all the good stuff from Japan first hand and its pretty apparent. Ben’s Corolla is a perfect representative of that as he takes the best Japan can offer and adds a little bit of typical British straightforwardness thats usually reserved for Caterhams and Mark I Escorts.

There are no unnecessary mods over here, just the most basic stuff that every 86 needs when you plan to drive it hard on the roads – refreshed and more firm suspension, a Nardi steering wheel for better grip and a 1.5way LSD for extra throttle response in the corners. No silly engine setup that revs to 12.000 RPM, no super wide wheels – a street spec 86 doesnt need any of that. Check out The Corolla Brotherhood feature for more detailed specs and photos.

We’ll let Ben introduce his Levin a bit more and explain why he loves it so much using his own words. And we cant forget to give credits to Daniel Bridle for these amazing photos! Bens thanks goes to Damien O’Neill as well for supplying the car and parts.

Why did you pick the 86?
I picked the AE86 due to videos of them on the touge. The Best Motoring video of Keiichi Tsuchiya outrunning an R34 on the mountain roads first made me take note of the 86, I never got into Initial D so this was my first exposure to one. It showed me that with enough balls and skill you can drive them right on the edge. I still watch the video now and again to inspire me to either fix the car or take it out.

Why this model and not a Trueno or a 3 door?
I’ve always promised myself that I’d own a Trueno at one point. I LOVE the Run Free Truenos, they are my favourite eight sixs in the world with the exception of Team Mouse cars. After owning and selling a 3 door Levin, I wanted something different so when the 2 door Levin was offered to me I did all I could to own it so much so that I convinced the ex owner to let me have it and pay him off monthly!! I still aim to own a Trueno one day.

What do you like about your 86?
I love that the 2 door is much rarer than the hatchback. Eight six’s are a common sight at UK drift events now but very rarely is there a 2 door. The 2 door shell is far more responsive in corners and when drifted than my hatchback was but that may be down to suspension setup. I love that you HAVE to drive the car, you cannot rely on power to compensate for mistakes in corners, so satisfying to catch much more powerful cars on tight and twisty tracks/roads.

What do you hate about your 86?
Rust, bane of any hachi. It also has the little problems that make all eight sixs unique.

How many times did it piss you off so much that you wanted to sell it?
My hatch pissed me off so much that I swapped it for an RX7 which was the worst mistake I’ve ever made. I hated the rotary engine, which is a shame because they are stunning looking cars. I’d own another RX7 if it had a proper piston engine like James Deanes Prodrift SRX7. With the 2 door, i’ve learnt to except its little flaws and appreciate that nothing i’ve driven before or since has put a smile on my face like wringing the neck of the little 4AGE all the way to 8000rpm!

How many times did you crash your 86?
I’ve never “crashed” any car I’ve owned, I’ve had the odd drift related bump but never crashed properly. I wouldn’t want too either! the metal is so thin on them I probably wouldn’t survive. eeesh!!

Got a blog or a website where we can follow you?
No blog or website, I just drive my car daily and drive it hard. The way I think all Corollas should be driven, flat out.

Things have obviously evolved and changed over time. Rough World became Rauh Welt and AE86s turned into all kinds of 911s but the essence was always the same. No matter if it was “rough” or “rauh”, Nakai-sans creations always represented the very core of this word. No matter if he was building 86s…

… or 911s, his cars were always ROUGH. Ever since we saw his creations for the first time we were mind blown and we were even more impressed when we started learning more about the history of RWB.

Thanks to various blogs and journalists all of us could follow every Nakai-sans move and see his creations almost first hand. We could see the peak of his work in cars like the “Penthouse” 964, “Natty Dread” 993 and of course his personal “Stella Artois” 930. We see these three as the ultimate representation of a “rough” approach to building a car and we secretly hope that our 86s will one day give the same impression.

So whats the problem then? Well, calling it a problem is an overstatement but somehow we just dont see that much roughness in Nakai-sans new cars anymore. Dont get the wrong idea, we still think theyre amazing…

… but ever since he switched to the new “Royal Montegobay” 993 we just couldnt see the same amount of roughness in them. It was clean, tough looking, maybe even mature but it was just too clean to be called “Rough” in our opinion. There were no mismatched panels, no dents, no crazy aerodynamic details, no ruckus in the interior…

And the same thing popped up in our minds when we first saw the Pandora 911. It is extremely well built, has an absolutely mental engine setup, looks very good… but it just isnt rough. It is hardcore, but not rough.

Maybe its just because these cars are too new and they will roughen up gradually. Maybe we just take this shit too seriously. Maybe… Either way it seems that Nakai-san has evolved to a new level. Just like your favourite band that youve been listening to for ten years and to whose newest CD you just cant get into. You still love them but you keep listening to their older stuff more often. Catch my point?

Theres one person though who still seems to stick to the same idea. Nojima-san, the RWB painter, still drives his trusted 86 that he transformed into a complete beast. The car was pretty mean before (check out Noriyaro or Speedhunters for more pics) but its latest transformation is, in our opinion, the truest embodiment of the word ROUGH.

Hidden deep in the English version of JDM Options website lies a translated article featuring many details of Ueo’s legendary Trueno. It won’t be fair to simply copy and paste the whole article though, we will just pick our most favourite part and let you enjoy the entire Engrish piece on the original site over here.

So how did Ueo managed to destroy others who had twice the horspepower? This might give you a hint…

“One of the secrets to the fact that Ueo hardly ever spins out is in the front tires. Since his debut, Ueo had always used 14 inch rims with 185 spec tires. The key setting in this setup is when the machine is drifting and the throttle is depressed, the front tires begin to slide as well. As result of this, when the countersteer is maxed out and the drift angle is at its peak, the vehicle still resists spinning out. If wider tires are installed on this setup, the deep angles that are currently exhibited would not be possible.”

See? We keep saying it over and over again, it’s all about balance and sometimes less is actually more. Keep that it mind!

Remember to visit Options site for the whole article, it’s definitely worth reading over if you haven’t seen it before. If you have the time then take a look at HR.com.au’s comprehensive post on Ueo too, it gives you an insight into his career like noone else does. Also, Super Street featured Ueo’s machine in 2009 as well.

Toms car started life as a regular kouki Levin that was rebuild to do some rallying. As you can see though it barely resembles a rally car these days thanks to its genuine Origin bodykit, although some parts like the Compomotive wheels or the huge rollcage are something that you can still see on almost every European rally machine.

It doesnt really stop with the usual “coilovers, LSD and wheels” mods this time. This car is a serious track machine with Wilwood brake kit, Whiteline swaybars and a fully built engine with standalone ECU waiting to be mounted in the engine bay. If you have places like the Spa Francorchamps and the infamous Nurburgring less then 100 miles away from home you know you have to take it seriously.

We gave Tom our standard set of questions so that he can tell you more about his 86 in his own way. Dont forget to check out his team-mates monkeymagic86 blog for a full speclist and hi-res photos!

Why did you pick the 86?
Long long time ago when I first noticed the hachiroku , I guess it was in an old bmi video, I felt like I should have one. I just loved the looks and the performance of it. Lightwheigt n/a rwd just sounded soo good. But being very unknown in my country and with almost no examples left I never considered buying one, especially not one out of my country. So after having sold my Honda S2000 this year (2011) and a mate having almost totally restored his ’86 Levin 2 door, who by the way teased me all the time that I should buy it, I finally bought that 86. Another factor was that a good mate owns a pumpkin orange Levin 2 door and showed me several times the pleasure of driving an 86.

Why this model and not a Trueno or a 3 door?
Pure coincidence, I never preferred a model! Every model got its own style and soul, every model can be made very beautiful. For now I feel like a 2 door is more like a man’s car. And it’s lighter too.

What do you like about your 86?
The smell of the interior, it smells like the cars has given a lot of smiles. I love that my 86 is very stiff and raw. I love that the 86 is a car from the 80s. The 80s and 90s are just my favorite production years. Another thing I love about the 86 is that is easy to work on.

What do you hate about your 86?
I hate that I love the car. Otherwise I would just missile it to junk like a lot of people are doing it over the world. But a LHD 86 in good shape just became too rare to do so.

How many times did it piss you off so much that you wanted to sell it?
Almost after every trackday some bits had to be replaced or serviced but it never came into my mind to sell it. That doesn’t means that it hasn’t pissed me off!

How many times did you crash your 86?
Went off the track several times but never crashed it. Well I only drove it for one season until now.

Got a blog or a website where we can follow you?
You can follow team NBU on my mate’s blog with the orange Levin – monkeymagic86.wordpress.com

Thanks for your time Tom! To all you out there: if you want your car to be featured on our blog, dont be shy and email us or send us a message on Facebook!

No matter if you love the series or hate all the hype around it, you have to admit that this is one really well build AE86. And as you probably noticed its an exact replica of the famous tofu supplier.

And when we say exact replica we mean it. It obviously doesnt have a race spec Silvertop that revs to 12.000 rpm but otherwise it has absolutely everything taken from the cartoon version.

The base is of course a zenki GT-Apex Trueno that sits on 14×6.5 Watanabe RS (just like in the series, right?). The car was build by Carland 86, one of the most respected AE86 specialists in Japan. They added a few bits and pieces that make this Trueno not only look good but go pretty fast too.

Like we said earlier its not a race-spec Silvertop but were sure this slightly tuned Blacktop can make the drive interesting too. Naturally theres a TRD LSD and a set of Carland 86s own suspension too. The Type-D exhaust is also from Carland 86 and amogst others there are parts like Custo sway bars, Endless CC-X brake pads, KOYO cooler and many more.

While you have to be Akira Iida to get the same engine as in the series you wont have any big issues with replicating the interior. This 86 has it all – red zenki interior, obligatory cup holders and a tiny rev counter on the steering wheel column. And dont forget the ItalVolanti wheel.

And thats it. Were still not sure if we should love it or hate it but we have to say that this is one damn well build Corollas. What do you guys think?