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!

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.

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!

… and thats why we were really happy to come across this set of photos while browsing through the Tofu Trueno owners blog. These pictures are from Hachiroku Festival 2008 where Tsuchiyas GTV was displayed right next to the Initial D replica.

Unfortunately there was no info added to these photos but you all know whats under this Truenos bonnet. But in case you would like to go over its speclist again we added it at end of this post.

TRD SUPER RACING PRO. Well you cant sound any more Engrish then that… Seriously though there are a few details that cought our attention. First of all theres no silly big and loud exhaust tip. Seems like Tsuchiya-san likes to keep it quite in lower revs. Also, did you notice theres no cage inside? The chassis is fully reinforced and spot welded and according to one of the AE86 Club videos its as rigid as the new Integra Type-Rs chassis.

We also had a few lines prepared about its interior but then we found out that we were looking inside of a completely different 86. Well it wouldn’t be a japanese website if it didn’t have a complete mess in the photo section. So heres at least the speclist we mentioned earlier.

Specs:
AE111 20V 4A-GE
DLI ignition with Freedom ECU
Toda cams with 272in/288ex and 9,8mm lift
Toda valves and valve springs
Toda 82mm pistons with 11.3:1 compression ratio
OEM 295cc Blacktop injectors
Custom made TRD exhaust (incl. manifold)
Aluminium 3row water cooler
TRUST oil cooler
DG-5 coilovers (used to be TRD)
All suspension arms adjustable with pillow balls
TRD 2way LSD
4,778 TRD final gear
1-3 TRD gearset
MZ20 Soarer brakes
SSR Dori-Dori Meshes with 15×7 ET+2

Garage Hachi’s Kev and Dave built a pair of absolutely amazing Corollas and we’re not saying that just because we have a soft spot for Trueno Coupes and biege 3-door Levins. Lets take a look at Dave’s Trueno first…

The 2-door chassis with a Trueno front is something that can really divide AE86’s fans. Some see it as an ultimate representation of the 80’s futuristic design and love it above everything else, others think its a hideous abomination and can’t get over it. We weren’t sure about it when we started learning about AE86s too but as time passed and we were getting older and more mature (haha), we couldn’t ressist and fell in love with its boxy shape as well.

Dave’s 86 started life as a Kouki reverse-panda in Japan before it was imported to Ireland with the help of Powervehicles. After having a lot of fun with it over the time Dave gave the chassis a full restoration this summer and added a few goods to that to get his car where it is now. Amongh them was a complete grey metallic paintjob and a set of bronze Rays TE37Vs.

And as you can see the combination works great. Here’s more detailed info Dave sent us about his ride..

Early front splitter combo with Runfree aero, flared steel arches, full respray in special colour
Original 16v T-VIS 4A-GE
Standard T50 and LSD drum axle (for now!)
Fujitsubo Super Ex Header, stainless decat into Fujitsubo Legalis R muffler
Complete ARC super intake system;
Coilovers all round with 6kg front, 5kg rear MCN springs, all MCN/AVO dampers;
Volk TE37V: front 14×8.5 -5 with 185/55 Yokohama, 14×9 -15 with 195/60 Falken
C’s shifter, works bell rapfix, Nardi, And some other interior comforts

We can’t help it but in our eyes this is the perfect way to build a Corolla. While it has some decent parts here and there (we especially dig the Fujitsubo catback and ARC intake), its not overdone with unnecessary mods. This should be an example to everyone who wants to mod their 86s!

Just like in Derryl’s case we asked Dave and Kev to tell us a bit more about their Corollas. Here are Dave’s answers.

Why did you pick the 86?
Its a small, lightweight, rear wheel drive car with almost videogame inspired 80’s boxy looks, and lots of tuning parts available. Also I saw how much fun two of my good friends were having with them while I was struggling with an overweight and underpowered rwd euro project.

Why this model and not a Levin or a 3 door?
I just loved the shape of the two door Trueno, the sloping angulare lines and pop up lights are awesome, plus its the rarest body type in Ireland and I wanted something a little different to what most 86ers had here.

What do you like about your 86?
The handling, the character of the 4AGE, the pure fun of driving it everywhere, endless modifications and improvements.

What do you hate about your 86?
Noisy drivetrain, gear ratios are a bit impractical sometimes, and the endless modifications and improvements…

How many times did it piss you off so much that you wanted to sell it?
Never! Although sometimes I think about having a second, more practical companion car, but the 86 will never go. I can always take the motorbike if I need a break from 4 wheels.

How many times did you crash your 86?
Crash is a strong word, splitter eating roundabout in the rain, and quarter panel hitting a fence in the snow are about the worst of it ;)

Got a blog or a website where we can follow you?
yep, www.garagehachi.com
cheers!

Next up is Kev’s tough looking Levin!

This privateer Levin was build to lap Tsukuba in 57 second range and as said before its owner put more then you would pay for a new GT-R into achieving this laptime. We dont know if he succeeded but apparently he got bored with it after driving it two or three times. Or at least thats what the ad says…

…. Thats right, this 86 is for sale. And the price tag is pretty tempting too, this machine is yours for only 2,2 milion yen. Even though this car sat for a while and will need some brushing up, it will still cost you only one fifth of its original price!

Lets get on with the specs. The 16v 4AGE runs 304° TRD cams with 12mm lift on both sides, 1mm oversized valves, Toda Racing inner shim kit, JUN conrods, TRD pistons with 11,5:1 comp ration and a fully balanced TRD Gr.A crankshaft. All coupled together with Motec M4 standalone ECU and individual throttle bodies.

This setup is good for 250hp. Theres no info about this engines rev limit though but were pretty sure it wont be under 8500. Other stuff under the hood includes a dry sump, Earls oil cooler and a V-mounted water cooler.

The interior setup looks pretty much like what you would expect. The whole chassis is thoroughly reinforced with a 26 point rollcage and spot welding and the suspension was modified with equal link arms at back and custom Bestex coilovers.

The spec sheet is a lot bigger, check out AS Garages website to see the whole thing. There are also many more detailed photos. So is this a bargain of the year or what?