The Return of The Hachiroku (86)

I last posted about Toyota and Subaru teaming up to co-develop an affordable sports-coupe.

Now, the official photos of the car (codemamed FT-86) is out. The FT-86 will make its world debut at the Tokyo Motor Show later this month. The production version of this 2+2 seater sports coupe, whose conceptual name harks back to the popular RWD Corolla AE86 or better known as Hachiroku, is due to go on sale towards the end of 2011.

“The FT-86 Concept is neither an electric vehicle nor a hybrid vehicle, but is a sports model with a gasoline engine developed to convey the essential appeal of automobiles in a new era. It is a must-see concept car that expresses TMC’s desire to once again create a Toyota sports car,” the Japanese automaker said in a release published on its official site.

The FT-86 is powered by a front-mounted, 2-liter four-cylinder boxer engine sourced from Subaru that drives the rear wheels. Official details are still scarce but our source says that Toyota opted to equip the concept model with a naturally-aspirated version of Subaru’s 2-liter flat four that produces 150hp in the Impreza. But it is very likely that Toyota has tweaked the engine to crank out a few more horses to boost output closer to the 200 mark.

It’s worth noting that in Japan, Subaru also offers a 2.0-liter turbocharged boxer with 250HP that powers the Impreza S-GT that we all know as the WRX in most markets.

Considering details are scarce, we can only guess at which powertrains will be available on the production version of the FT-86. Two logical choices will be either Subaru’s 2-liter and 2.5-liter four-cylinder boxer engines (depending on the market) in both naturally aspirated and turbocharged forms.

As for the looks of the car, our source suggests that the design of the car won’t change much when it reaches production in 2011. But the same can’t be said of the interior though as it still is too conceptual for production.

As mentioned before, the FT-86 will also spawn a Subaru version that will share the same underpinnings and mechanical hardware but according to the two Japanese automakers, the duo will feautre its own distinct styling.

(Almost) A Scene From Initial D

A Trueno (with the requisite tofu shop decals) belonging to one of the moderators from Singapore's very own Drift Garage , side by side with his friend's Levin.

Toyoru or Subarta ???

Toyota is getting back into the affordable sports-coupe game with an all new model by partnering with Subaru. Powering this future coupe will be Subaru’s 2.0-liter flat-4 equipped with a new direct-injection system, tuned to produce an impressive 200 bhp and 145 lb.-ft. of torque. The car will weigh about 1200kg., so expect fairly quick acceleration times, probably around 6.0 seconds to 100kmh. The suspension will consist of MacPherson struts up front and a multilink setup at the rear, with the chassis based on that of the Subaru Impreza and Legacy.

Toyota will mainly be in charge of the car’s styling. Although both Toyota and Subaru versions will be offered, the two models won’t look much different, apart from badging.

This front-engine/rear-wheel-drive coupe will reincarnate the spirit of the 1983-1987 Corolla Levin/Trueno (AE86), a car that is still popular today, especially among drift enthusiasts. According to our sources, Toyota’s code name for this future sports car is 086A. That it’s so similar to AE86 is no coincidence.

The car is scheduled to appear sometime in 2011 or 2012.



Source: Road and Track Magazine

Luck of the Irish

Introducing another blogger who visits Japan regularly, Chris Gray from Ireland.

Driving an AE86, which is a sure sign of die-hard dedication to the tuning cause, he described himself as "I guess I now live the tuning life even though I actually tried to 'avoid' it. I'm a Tuner, driver, JDM importer, photographer, writer, Tour guide haha, the list is endless!"

While the rest of us read about shops such as J's Racing and Sunline Racing, he gets to visit them and see all the cool demo cars in the flesh...

The J's Racing Tokyo AutoSalon demo S2000. Field report here.

Sunline Racing's demo R35. Field report here.

I guess the Irish really have better luck than us!

Almost Extinct Panda Spotted!

It sucks to be living in Singapore sometimes when you are a motoring enthusiast, you can't import cars older than 3 years old so classic cars from the eighties, nineties and early noughties slowly dwindle in numbers through the years.

And when you see a fellow enthusiast keeping the faith and maintaining a 20 year car on the road, RESPECT! When its a Panda spec AE86 with classic Watanabe rims, DOUBLE RESPECT! Keep in mind that the average Singapore owns a new car for only about 3-5 years at the most...

Driving a Silvia with no traction control is one thing, driving a AE86 with no power steering, no ABS, no power windows, no power nothing, that's a totally different level of dedication to the motoring cause.