Forza Horizon 4: The return of AE86

Following the return of the JZA80 Toyota Supra, another Toyota made a comeback in the world of Forza and this time, it's the rear-wheel drive legend forever remembered for taking on all comers on the mountain roads. I'm talking about the legendary AE86 Sprinter Trueno GT APEX, the one that I won on the recent Horizon Spring Playlist.



Every speedo boy in the world are already familiarized about the iconic three-door AE86 and how a famous manga franchise skyrocketed it into an all-time street racing hero known the world over but for those who are living under a rock, the AE86 Sprinter Trueno is based from the E80-spec Corolla/Sprinter range but when the E80 Corolla/Sprinter range became front-wheel drive, the sporty variants remained rear-wheel drive. It is powered by a 1.6L DOHC inline-four engine with EFI-D and T-VIS, allowing it to produce 128hp of power and 109.9ft-lb of torque.



Speedo boys can drift cars like this any day and because this is the car that forever immortalized by the folks that brought us Initial D, everyone can drive like Takumi Fujiwara on this one. Speaking of Takumi Fujiwara...



In honor of the AE86's return to the world of Forza, I've called the shots to recreate a Shuichi Shigeno version of the Trueno and because it's commissioned for the man behind Initial D, there's going to be some Eurobeat pumping on my brain now when I let its tail-happy JDM hero out for a drive on the mountain road. The Needle from Fortune Island's the great place to start.



With the AE86 prepped up against some noteworthy Japanese cars, it's time to let the Eurobeat loose while letting the AE86 do the talking. Roll the tape.

The AE86 Sprinter Trueno is one of the main reasons why speedo boys love Toyota thanks to its appearance in the Initial D franchise and with it back in the world of Forza, there's so much to catch up with the original drift king. Enjoy your new ride!



Oh yeah, if you're being challenged by someone in a two-door Impreza STi from the 90's, well, good luck with that.

GT SPORT: From Takumi to Kanata

Here's a question; what do Initial D's Takumi Fujiwara and MF GHOST's Kanata Livington had in common? They both drive rear-wheel drive Toyotas. The former drives an AE86 Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX while the latter drives its modern-day successor, the Toyota 86. Here in GT SPORT, it's time to pay tribute to Toyota's rear-wheel drive heroes featured in both of these mangas.



Before getting the taste of the rear-wheel drive racing manga heroes, let's get to know these two iconic Toyota sports cars first, starting with the legendary AE86.  Launched in 1983, the AE86 Trueno, including its Levin twin, has roots from the E80-spec Corolla/Sprinter range but when the E80 Corolla/Sprinter range became front-wheel drive, the sporty variants remained rear-wheel drive. Offered as a three-door hatchback and a two-door coupe, the AE86 is powered by a 1.6L DOHC inline-four engine with EFI-D and T-VIS, allowing it to produce 128hp of power and 109.9ft-lb of torque.

The Toyota 86, unveiled at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show and went on sale in the Spring of 2012, is the spiritual successor of the legendary AE86. It was jointly developed by Subaru and it's powered by a FA20 2.0L boxer-four engine producing 197hp of power while mated to either a 6-speed manual or automatic. Thanks to its ideal weight distribution and low center of gravity, the 86 is one of the best-handling sportscars in ages and a hit among car enthusiasts in the beginning.



Comparing between the legendary AE86 Sprinter Trueno and the Toyota 86 is like seeing how much we, speedo boys, evolved from Takumi to Kanata. Takumi's AE86 has been known to challenge even the most intimidating street racers on mountain roads while Kanata's 86 has been known to take on all comers in a sanctioned street racing sport called MF GHOST. Although they're different, they sure know how to drive their Toyotas to the upmost limit and that gives me an idea to conduct an experiment to see how much the 86 progressed from the legend itself so I went to Fuji Speedway and find out.



The Fuji Speedway has been the favorite proving ground for every Toyota cars made and this is the ideal ground to conduct my hypothesis regarding these two Toyota sports cars. These two are taking on time attacks to see which one is the quickest and without further ado, let's roll the tape.

After a quick lap round the short version of Fuji Speedway, here are the results; the AE86 did it in 2:16.620 while the Toyota 86 did it in 2:08.972 so by comparison, it took almost 8 seconds to evolve ourselves from Initial D's Takumi Fujiwara to MF GHOST's Kanata Livington. Surprising.



Like the two racing manga heroes speedo boys idolize, the AE86 Sprinter Trueno and the Toyota 86 are the lightweight rear-wheel drive sportscars that gained a cult following in the beginning and despite the ever-changing automotive landscape, rest assured that these two legends will forever be stuck in our minds like every Eurobeat music to our ears. Drive them with some Eurobeat music playing on the stereo and you'll know that you're just like our favorite racing manga heroes we know and admire.

Initial D-Rifter

Hachi-Roku Drift

This is what I'm on about. This is the AE86 Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX, the tail-happy, tire burning, star of Initial D. This is what we think of the AE86! The base car, pumped up! You ever wonder why did Takumi Fujiwara never spoke during a race in that anime? It's because...we wouldn't have our own words!

This is just like Mt. Akina!

Now, the thing about this car though, it's called the S. SHIGENO Version, and this owner though that is Shuichi Shigeno, the author of Initial D, he had its engine improved so it's producing about 207HP of power. It even comes with familiar looks that are familiar to Initial D fans many but however, there's no Fujiwara Tofu insignia at the right side. That doesn't matter though because this pumped up AE86 has the qualities of the car Takumi Fujiwara drove so it's all about being bonkers on the corners. As I said bonkers, I do mean it because it takes a Takumi to master the skill of the AE86 because this car's a bit twitchy and a bit difficult because the power steering's a bit vague. Also, this car's a bit too slow on the straight lines. You can drive though the corners and you can drift through the corners and that's it. Don't get me wrong though, this car is fantastic. It's brilliant when it comes to its noise.

Probably, we're sad that we don't have Toyotas like these anymore....