Not sure if any one is into Initial D but i stubbled upon this and thought it was kind of neat....YouTube - Initial D Dogfight

 

oh i saw that video a while back. I thought Initial D was pretty cool back in the days when i loved anything anime. Its funny to see a miata on there though ... i guess the perception of a miata is very different in japan.

 

Seen that before (downloaded the whole series). Pretty neat show, and pretty accurate about car stuff in general. Why can't our saturday morning cartoons feature street racing? I'd bet in real life a Corolla GT-S is faster than a miata, stock for stock, too...at least in a straight line.

 

Well, the corolla can be a good bit lighter. I saw the initial D episode. The Roadster had IRTB's, so you KNOW it was fast.

 

irtbs ftw!

 

Very much so. They have a magazine devoted to the Miata (Roadster) over there. It has been around since the early NA's.

Road&Ster

 

The AE86 coupe (the hatch is another 100lbs over that) is about 100 lbs heavier than a Miata and makes about as much power as a 1.6L Miata. The 4AG does have a lot more support than the Miata's in terms of NA power.

I miss my old AE86 sometimes. It was a blast to drive, but it was a totally different way of driving. In the Miata it is all about mechanic grip, but with the AE86 you do a lot of trailbraking and sliding the rear to apex and then hammer down and hope it comes out straight.

 

If you don't mind me asking, what made you sell it? I'm looking to get into the AE86 world this summer if I have the spare cash. I didn't realize they were that heavy, either. Wikipedia lied to me.

 

don't waste your money on a Corolla.. I had 2 of them... I didn't mod them or anything because they sucked so bad in stock form. One of them was a GT-S coupe hard top w/lsd. I felt like a broke highschool student driving it around compared the NA I had at the time. As far as power goes, it's like trying to build a n/a Miata 1.6....they might sound cool, but still suck on real power.

Either put "spare cash" into a) your Miata or b) a good reliable DD..and a 25yr old Corolla is NOT a reliable DD.

Just my $0.02

 

The reason I sold my AE86 is because I found a really good deal on a clean MR2 Turbo (a car I dreamed about since I was 16) and the AE86 was just sitting for the most part (in 2 years I'd spent more time maintaining then I did driving it in the 4 events I made). It was stripped out so it wasn't comfortable to just drive around. It was a friggin blast at track days/auto-x/drift events though. Nothing like the sliding the car into a 4 wheel drift (not opposite lock, "show drift") and coming out screaming at the end. I agree that a Miata is a more reliable daily driver. Most AE86's were not maintained in their early life and now suffer from it. I had one for a DD for 4 years and it was always needing some sort of attention. Though I still have first rights to buy back either of my AE86's if they are going up for sale (and if I have the cash, I'll buy them back in a heart beat).

 

Haha, there seems to be a mix of opinions in here about the AE86s. I think I'll still keep my eyes open...though it's hard to find one in decent shape here in WI. Ideally I'd like to get a hatch, gut it and make it into a good autox car (plus I'd finally have a vehicle I could fit stuff in). Then maybe someday far in the future look into a 20v swap.

 

Miata's the better choice for auto-x IMHO. Much more flexiable and competative in just about any trim.