Is it worth it??? Please Read

[will_drift_4_food]

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"Yes" if you are a fan of the Hachi and can appreciate its handsome looks, "No" if you are a fan of the Initial D manga and wanna be like Takumi.

I know many people that have bought SR5 Corollas and then gotten rid of them once they saw how much needed to be done to make them drift. The motor is only half of it, as I have seen people turbocharge the stock SR5 4AC motor. A rear axle housing can be hard to find locally,expensive to ship, and it may not have LSD (as in my case). There are also two different axle spline patterns, and this is important when buying a LSD unit. I had the factory GT-S open diff welded, and it was a lot of fun for a year or so.

This is a hard call. You will spend money to turn your SR5 into a drift car, but your car will most likely outperform the stock GT-S when all is finished if you choose the right parts. Just know that when you get done, you will still have a Corolla that makes 125-150hp. (versus 210 for an S13 with the SR20 swap)

I have spent the last two years working on my Hachi. It used to be my Grandmother's car and then it sat for a few years until I got ready to work on it. The wiring is the hardest, because the harnesses are hard to come by in the US, and the ones that you find are 24+ years old. JDM harnesses are easier to find, But they are NOT plug and play, since most USDM cars use an AFM rather than the MAP sensor on JDM cars. I swapped the engine harness, the dash harness, and the headlight harness.

Here's what I did to make it more economical. Go ahead and buy your 4AG motor and tranny, and get some carbs and an intake for it. There's a guy on eBay who sells rebuilt Solex and Weber carbs for cheap. His email is [email protected]. Then, all you will need is an ignition box and coil and preferably an electric fan. You'll need to make some clutch lines or get them from an older model Corolla. Everything else should continue to work until you buy a GT-S or Celica rear end. Do the rear end next (welded diff is cheap and fun), and then move onto the suspension and bushings. Save the paint for last.

If you have a ton of money to drop, go ahead and do a 3SGTE or 2RZFE or 22RE or SR20 (or 7MGTE!!!) swap. The possibilities are endless, and that's one of the things that makes this car an awesome platform.

The car is light and has a cult following. If neither of these are a big deal to you, go find an S13 with no motor and put the SR20 in it. I think I will have close to 13K USD invested after paint, but I LOVE my car and wouldn't have it any other way. What you want to do will require a lot of time and effort, but you will learn a lot along the way and have a car that you can be proud of.

The car is not the easiest to drive, a lot of guys can't drift these cars because of the lower HP figures. With the right suspension, you will have a car that really puts you in the drivers seat and gives sheer driving pleasure.

Sorry this is so lengthy, but it's the honest truth.