Why So Poplular?

Although the AE86 is now 18 years old it is experiencing a resurgence in popularity. There are three major factors contributing to this, firstly a Japanese cartoon called Initial D, secondly a form of Japanese motorsport known as drifting, and thirdly a lack of affordable, small rear wheel drive cars on the used car market. In Initial D a young Japanese man who drives an AE86 engages in street racing with many of the most respected cars in the world today such as the Nissan Skyline GTR and the Mazda RX7 . The series emphasizes the importance of driving ability and shows that expensive and powerful cars are useless without a skilled driver. Drifting is a popular Japanese motorsport that involves inducing over-steer, usually in a rear wheel driven vehicle. This results in loss of traction in the rear wheels and the idea is to maintain this throughout the corner. Competition in Japan are rated on things such as drift style and ensuring the vehicle is drifted where ever possible. Drifting can be a graceful sport when executed properly but very expensive when things go wrong… and they usually do.

The AE86 was one of the last, if not the last, cheap rear wheel drive light light sports cars. After production of the AE86 ceased in 1987 there was very little choice for anyone wanting a similar car, most manufacturers, including Toyota switched to a front wheel drive format. The advantage of front wheel drive is that they generally weigh less, have more cabin space due to having no transmission tunnel, and are often thought of as safer for the average driver to handle. As most performance car enthusiasts know, if you open the throttle to much in a powerful rear wheel drive on a corner the consequences are usually much worse than doing the same in a powerful front wheel driven vehicle.