Post your favorite ae86 pics here for inspiration

[banpei]

It just baffles me how ubiquitous and dominant the AE86 used to be in the 1984 Japanese rally sport:

Also interesting to see most of the cars in this video are the two-door Levin GT.
But that does make sense as the two door GT was about 25 kilos lighter than the GT Apex and between 5 to 10 kilos lighter than the Trueno.

[r.ave]

Thank you Banpei for sharing yet another Gem! Saved it in my 86 playlist!

Wasn't it also because the body of the 2-door is more rigid/stronger compared to the 3-door? And therefor better suited for bumps, jumps and rally abuse?
I wouldn't be surprised they would use the 3 door on track becasue of better aerodynamics compared to the 2-door

[banpei]

Yes, it was exactly like that. In an interview the production manager said he was given three goals for the AE86: Tsukuba's fastest lap (under 2 litres), a maximum speed of 200km/h and domestic rally victory. The designers made the body of the 3-door more slippery to achieve the 200km/h speed (and then made sure the AE86 just couldn't reach that due to political reasons) and the fastest lap on Tsukuba. They also made sure the 2-door was better suited for rally driving with extra rigidity and by adding drum brakes to the GT trim level.

[r.ave]

what's that political stuf you talk about?

[banpei]

(02-07-2025 10:03 AM)r.ave Wrote:  what's that political stuf you talk about?

Early 1980s, the maximum speed on the speedometer in Japan was set 180km/h to prevent a race between manufacturers about their top speed. So boasting about a compact car being able to pass 200km/h was not "decent".
Another reason was that the engineers thought speeds exceeding 200km/h would make the rear axle unsafe.
During the testing of the prototypes, the engineers proved they could reach that speed, and then changed the final drive. This means a stock AE86 can't drive faster than 190km/h to 195km/h.

[r.ave]

ok, i was aware of the 180 speed limit (as well as max power of 276), but didn't know the development was changed for the ae86 to be under 200

[decryphe]

(02-07-2025 11:43 AM)banpei Wrote:  This means a stock AE86 can't drive faster than 190km/h to 195km/h.

Damn, should have checked with GPS what my actual speed was on German Autobahn when I drove mine home from the harbor. The needle passed 180 quite easily.

Also, just a reminder to myself to finally install that longer 5th gear. I have this lying around at home, waiting for better times: https://shop.battlegarage-rs.com/product...nsmissions

[decryphe]

Just stumbled across this guy's youtube channel, makes for very calm and nice videos: