You know times are changing when one of the most exciting vehicular prospects of 2012 is a Toyota. To be fair, this is not just any Toyota, no. It is in fact the spiritual successor to the Hachi Roku, the AE86 hatch-cum-coupe of the 1980s. That is the same rear-driven Corolla derivative in which the sport of drifting was cultivated, nurtured and developed by the likes of Keiichi Tsuchiya, Super GT racing driver. The premise remains the same, it’s a relatively cheap and lightweight coupe with pure handling dynamics and a revvy engine only this time it is a Subaru boxer instead of an inline four like the 4AGE of the original car. Now, the old pot had a massive following thanks to its high revving nature and those brilliant Yamaha-tuned cylinder heads, but a flat four makes sense today thanks to its low centre of gravity and I’m even a fan of that rumbling soundtrack. So all things considered, things are looking up.

86 CULTURE
The original car was available in Trueno (pop up lights) or Levin (think Toyota Avante’s fixed lamps) guises with hatchback and coupe bodyshells. That’s four versions, and each received a mid-life face lift – that’s zenki (old) and kouki (new) upgrades. Despite its high regard, it never made it into that silly Tokyo Drift save for a dialogue reference to one of the protagonist’s  prized possessions. No matter, that movie was crap and the car’s credentials quite frankly is resounding in the media taking the starring role in Initial D, an animated Japanese anime absolutely brimming with technical knowledge. You’ll also find it in almost any serious racing game including the big titles like Gran Turismo and Forza, plus the obligatory Initial D video games.

Drifting in many ways however has been a by-product of ‘Touge ‘, which is the name given to Japan’s illegal mountain pass racing culture. It’s here that many international racers developed the skills they’d later require on the racing circuits. Invariably, it was done in an 86. Sideways. Similarly, the new car has been marketed to the same wild-eyed racers and drifters alongside the new generation of likewise motivated pundits. Initial response looks promising, but I’m going to want first-hand experience, won’t I?