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Toyota AE86
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Toyota AE86
The AE86 series of the Toyota Corolla Levin/Sprinter Trueno are small, front-engine/rear-wheel-drive compact cars within the mostly front-engine/front-wheel-drive fifth generation Corolla (E80) range—marketed and manufactured by Toyota from 1983 to 1987 in coupé and liftback configurations. It was the last production Corolla to feature rear-wheel drive.
The cars were light, affordable, easily modifiable, and had a five-speed manual transmission, a limited-slip differential (optional), MacPherson strut front suspension, near 50/50 front/rear weight balance, and a front-engine/rear-drive layout—at a time when this configuration was waning industry-wide. In certain areas of the world (and optional in others) it was powered by a high revving (7800 rpm) twin-cam engine.
Widely popular for Showroom Stock, Group A, and Group N, Rally and Club racing, the cars' inherent qualities also earned the AE86 an early and enduring international prominence in the motorsport discipline of drifting. The AE86 was featured centrally in the popular, long-running Japanese manga and anime series titled Initial D (1995–2013) as the main character's drift and tofu delivery car. In 2015, Road & Track called the AE86 "a cult icon, inextricably interwoven with the earliest days of drifting."
The AE86 would go on to inspire the Toyota 86 (2012–present), a 2+2 sports car jointly developed by Toyota and Subaru, manufactured by Subaru—and marketed also as the Toyota GT86, Toyota GR86, Toyota FT86, Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ.
In November 2021, Toyota temporarily restarted the production of a limited number of parts for the AE86, with dealers beginning to take orders for new steering knuckle arms and rear brake calipers. Rear axle half shafts have also been scheduled for new production. Toyota has also announced that this reboot is temporary, and parts will only be available as long as stocks last.
The nameplate Trueno derives from the Spanish word for thunder, and Levin derives from the Middle English for lightning. In Japan, the car is known colloquially as “Hachi-Roku” (ハチロク), meaning “Eight-Six” in Japanese, which is also used by AE86 enthusiasts outside Japan.
The chassis code "AE86" is used to describe the 1.6 L RWD model of the E80 Corolla. The "A" represents the engine series that powered the car (Toyota A engine - 1.6 L 4A engines), "E8" represents the generation (E80 series Corolla) and "6" represents the variation within this generation (depending on the engine, drive layout or suspension choice, AE85 is also RWD model but powered by the smaller 1.5 L 3A-U engine, while AE82 is FWD model powered by the same 1.6 L 4A engines).
Bracketing a minor external facelift, models marketed between 1983 and 1985 are called "zenki" (前期, lit. 'early period'), and those marketed from 1986 to 1987 are called "kouki" (後期, lit. 'latter period').
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Toyota AE86
The AE86 series of the Toyota Corolla Levin/Sprinter Trueno are small, front-engine/rear-wheel-drive compact cars within the mostly front-engine/front-wheel-drive fifth generation Corolla (E80) range—marketed and manufactured by Toyota from 1983 to 1987 in coupé and liftback configurations. It was the last production Corolla to feature rear-wheel drive.
The cars were light, affordable, easily modifiable, and had a five-speed manual transmission, a limited-slip differential (optional), MacPherson strut front suspension, near 50/50 front/rear weight balance, and a front-engine/rear-drive layout—at a time when this configuration was waning industry-wide. In certain areas of the world (and optional in others) it was powered by a high revving (7800 rpm) twin-cam engine.
Widely popular for Showroom Stock, Group A, and Group N, Rally and Club racing, the cars' inherent qualities also earned the AE86 an early and enduring international prominence in the motorsport discipline of drifting. The AE86 was featured centrally in the popular, long-running Japanese manga and anime series titled Initial D (1995–2013) as the main character's drift and tofu delivery car. In 2015, Road & Track called the AE86 "a cult icon, inextricably interwoven with the earliest days of drifting."
The AE86 would go on to inspire the Toyota 86 (2012–present), a 2+2 sports car jointly developed by Toyota and Subaru, manufactured by Subaru—and marketed also as the Toyota GT86, Toyota GR86, Toyota FT86, Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ.
In November 2021, Toyota temporarily restarted the production of a limited number of parts for the AE86, with dealers beginning to take orders for new steering knuckle arms and rear brake calipers. Rear axle half shafts have also been scheduled for new production. Toyota has also announced that this reboot is temporary, and parts will only be available as long as stocks last.
The nameplate Trueno derives from the Spanish word for thunder, and Levin derives from the Middle English for lightning. In Japan, the car is known colloquially as “Hachi-Roku” (ハチロク), meaning “Eight-Six” in Japanese, which is also used by AE86 enthusiasts outside Japan.
The chassis code "AE86" is used to describe the 1.6 L RWD model of the E80 Corolla. The "A" represents the engine series that powered the car (Toyota A engine - 1.6 L 4A engines), "E8" represents the generation (E80 series Corolla) and "6" represents the variation within this generation (depending on the engine, drive layout or suspension choice, AE85 is also RWD model but powered by the smaller 1.5 L 3A-U engine, while AE82 is FWD model powered by the same 1.6 L 4A engines).
Bracketing a minor external facelift, models marketed between 1983 and 1985 are called "zenki" (前期, lit. 'early period'), and those marketed from 1986 to 1987 are called "kouki" (後期, lit. 'latter period').
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