’86 Day 2013

Friends, it’s been too long since we’ve done an update to the blog. It turns out that winning events and prepping the Corollas for 3 events in 3 months is kind of time consuming. – Sorry, we’ll fix that this fall.

’86 Day, or August 6th is when Corolla people like to celebrate the Toyota with the heart of gold, the AE86 Corolla Sport! This year, we’ve decided to put together a gallery of shots from the past year’s rallies featuring the Panda-Crane Racing Corollas, #Patches, and the #PurplePanda. Highlights include WRC Mexico, Oregon Trail Rally, and Nameless Rally (the Idaho Rally was a low light, and won’t be mentioned). -Enjoy the pics and check out the quick essay about why we race these things below.

Why the Corolla? We get asked this all the time and below are a selection of bullet points and stock answers we give to people.

• Fun. The drifters know, stringing together turns is a blast.
• Reliable. This is known. It is a Toyota after all.
• Pedigree. The fact that there is a ‘Hot Version’, the GT-S with a Limited Slip Differential on the option sheet should be a clue.
• Easy to Drive. Ask me to blaze away in your Saab or Subaru? I will understeer it into a curb. The Corolla gives me the ‘touch’, narrow and balanced, with great feedback. Ask me why my stock mirrors are gone (I clipped them on chicanes or trees, the fenders were untouched).
• Enthusiast love. People complain about the ‘Drift Tax’, where prices on parts went way up when drifters started catching and crashing their AE86 Toyotas. We love it. The cars are rescued from junkyards, and any parts are always available.
• Maintenance. Tiny FWD engine bays, with weird mounts and axles going every which way are cramped and awful. Longitudinal is the way to roll.
• They look rad. Seriously, you’ve seen the pictures . . .
• Suspension. We’ve got it. FWD cars (Honda . . ) don’t.
• Balance. Throw a cage in a Corolla, 50/50 guaranteed.
• The 1.6l 4age engine. Wikipedia will tell you why.
• Economy. Everything is relative, but relative to some of the starter cars that show up, the Corolla is faster, fun-er, and cheaper.
• SpeedHunters.com. Go check their coverage of ’86 day.

So, That’s all we’ve got. Come to MegaBurger in SODO Seattle on Tuesday August 6th around 7pm. We’ll be there showing off some well run Corolla Rally Cars. The hot tip is that we’re also building better, faster Corollas (#Hatches) as we speak.

August 2, 2013 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: ae86, corolla, dirt, drift, GT-S, Levin, Mexico, Nameless, rally, Sport, Sprinter, toyota, Truneo, WRC | Leave a comment