AE86 Origins Pt.4 - Up To Speed

It's been a while, and a small wrap up of this particular series is long over due, so now that normality has resumed after end of semester exams, and Christmas and January are in the rear view mirror,  I've run out of excuses not to. We left off just before my first drift day in the recently reassembled corolla.

Being my first time on track I was pretty nervous, but I was happy that the weather was to stay dry  for the morning I spent the first couple of laps getting my bearings of the circuit, while still trying to keep a good pace to feel out the limits of the car.

As I started to lean on the car, I was totally blown away at how well it worked. Some old tyres on the rear made the balance of the car pretty oversteer biased, but it was progressive and the grip was  consistent. 

Nothing I did to the car was revolutionary, in fact all the modifications came from a well proven recipe for setting up an ae86 to both drift, and work well on track. In saying that to feel the difference that a few changes made, when compared to the car as it was before was totally incredible. The car was transformed, the added torque and acceleration from the 4.7 final drive, the ability to feel everything the two front tyres were doing through the wheel because of the manual rack, all the slack taken out of the suspension by installing the poly bushings, and the extended front track, and uprated rear ARB creating a tendency towards oversteer.

The first shakedown was a success. A week later 86fest rolled around, and the car looked a little more complete, thanks to a few aerosol cans of Toyota 040 white.

For a long time I would look at these gatherings of so many ae86 together for a track day as absolute magic, so it was a little surreal taking part. Weirder still seeing my car in pictures on websites I have been reading since forever.

In good company, despite being surrounded by sacrilegious engine swapped cars. *Cough* 4age only *cough*.

The day was not without misfortune though, I had a small coming together with a tyre wall, probably due to a combination of over confidence and inexperience. The damage was superficial though and it wasn't necessary to replace any parts.

While the rough and ready style with mismatched panels was kind of cool, it was never really part of the plan, more so it was an indication of a work in progress.

People often talk about corollas teaching you to be a better driver, and they absolutely do. You can't hide behind big power, big lock, and a hydraulic handbrake. learning to use speed, momentum, and weight shifting are essential tools to getting a low power car sideways, and so they teach you car control. Their simplicity is their magic, so they also teach you mechanical knowledge, and if you're a cheap skate like me they teach you to weld, fabricate, and eventually even paint (albeit quite poorly).

One colour again at last.  This look is more or less the image that I had in my head of what an ae86 should look like since long before I even bought this car.  And more or less this is how it'll stay for the the near future anyway, apart from some minor changes, and tidying up. I'm not totally invested in it staying this colour forever but for now, I'm happy.

Since putting it together in the summer of 2017 to now February 2019 at time of writing,  I've done 10 drift days in the car, driving to and from each event, with pretty much zero mechanical issues. Which completely blows my mind, what a testament to Toyota engineering that is. My ethos with this car was to keep it as simple as possible while working with/ improving on what the car came from the factory with. I think it's a trap people fall into when building cars that a load of parts get thrown into it without really understanding why.

The only real change I've made in the mean time was the addition of a cut knuckle from Paz and Ian at Retro Speed Shop, which totally changed the steering characteristics of the car for the better, the ability to chuck the car super aggressively with a flick of the wheel now is awesome. I would absolutely recommend anyone who drifts an ae86 to make the change.

While this car is more than capable on track in its current guise it also has its limitations. The full interior and glass make it a nice place to be, but heavy and sluggish in comparative terms. The big port 16v is perfectly at home in the engine bay, but if performance is the goal there are better options. When I bought this car the intention was to create something that was the perfect all rounder, a road car that was as fun to drive on the track as on a spin up to the mountains.

I think the car is now at a tipping point, where any attempted improvements to it's on track performance, would make it less enjoyable to drive on the road. I'm also always wary of crashing this car, it's such a nice clean, straight shell, that it would break my heart if I binned it, and having that in the back of your head really does not lend itself to fully committed driving on track.

The last thing I want is a car that I hate driving after 2 minutes on the road, so if anything the car might become slightly less track focused, and more road friendly in the future, so that I can take more pictures like the ones above. Retirement is probably the wrong word, but with the arrival of a new track project, this will get (slightly) less abuse, so that it can live on for another 35 odd years (hopefully). Thanks and stay tuned.

Thanks and Credit to: Conor at Zero, Neil at Juicebox, Paddy at Speedhunters, Tommy Lucas Photography, Chris Shaw, and Engineous, for the photos.