Toyota AE86

This is one post I had always wanted to do for a long time. My focus is on the JDM-spec model Toyota Corolla Levin/Sprinter Trueno AE86. The Corolla Levin/Sprinter Trueno, or better known as the AE86, is a highly-capable front engined/rear-wheel-drive (FR) sports coupe produced from 1983 to 1987. The AE86 came either in a 2-door coupe or 3-door liftback body style. Both Corolla Levin and Sprinter Trueno are generally easy to differentiate, with their fixed rectangular and pop-up headlight design respectively. Three different trim level were offered, namely the SR, GTV and GT-Apex variants. in 1986, minor facelift were done to the car, which resulted in different taillights design. It runs on the high-revving 1.6-litre 16V 4A-GE TVIS (short for 'Toyota Variable Intake System') engine, developed by Toyota with Yamaha which was also used in the first generation AW11 Toyota MR-2. Transmission was originally a 5-speed manual gearbox, but a 4-speed automatic gearbox was later offered. Limited slip differential (LSD) was an option, with exception to the GT-Apex model which came factory-fitted. In popular culture, the AE86 was featured in the "Initial D", a Japanese manga and anime about mountain pass drift racing. In this story the AE86 (a liftback 1983 Sprinter Trueno model) is portrayed as an extremely good car with a racing-spec 'Blacktop' 20V 4A-GE engine from a Toyota AE111 tuned for maximum mountain pass drift attack, racing and winning against more powerful cars in the form of the legendary Nissan Skyline GT-Rs and Mazda RX-7s. As in the world of motorsport, the Toyota AE86 has shown to the world that it is a force to be reckon with in drift racing, as proven by "Drift King" Keiichi Tsuchiya and Malaysia's very own Tengku Djan Ley. Its engine's lack of top speed is compensated with a free-revving nature and ultra nimble handling. My first proper encounter with the AE86 was after watching the 2004 live-action "Initial D" movie starring Jay Chou. It was an early morning schooling day on my awy to school when my transport went past one liftback Sprinter Trueno. Upon reaching school, I quickly went to my class, dump my bag at my seat and ran back out to where I spotted it for a better look. It had almost the same exterior looks as the "Initial D" version, save for the carbon fibre hood (it's vented instead of the OEM-style type) and the 'Fujiwara tofu shop' Japanese character sticker decal (replaced by huge "INITIAL D" logos on both doors). Today, the Toyota AE86 is a highly-sought after car eventhough it now ages well more than 20 years and seems to avoid the depreciation bug year after year.