In early 1984, two of the leading UK car magazines tested the final generation of hot RWD Toyota Corolla coupes, the legendary twin-cam AE86 (sold in the States as the 1985–1987 Toyota Corolla GT-S). Here’s what Motor and Autocar had to say about the Euro-spec AE86 Corolla GT coupe.
An AE86 Primer
If you’re accustomed to thinking of the Toyota Corolla as the quintessential boring four-wheeled appliance, it may surprise you to learn that for about 20 years, Toyota offered a whole succession of sporty Corolla coupes with hot DOHC engines. At the beginning and towards the end, these were limited to the Japanese domestic market (JDM), where they were known as Corolla Levin (and Sprinter Trueno, a mechanically identical “twin” sold through a different JDM sales channel). Certain versions were eventually exported, becoming popular with tuners and race builders on four continents.
1983 Toyota Corolla Levin GT APEX / Toyota Museum
Some younger readers might also be unaware that prior to the early ’80s, all Corollas were RWD. The Corolla line began its transition to FWD with the E80 line, introduced in spring 1983, but to help spread out the enormous retooling expense, Toyota decided to leave the coupes and wagons on an updated version of the existing RWD platform until 1987. The RWD E80 coupes did however adopt Toyota’s new “A-system” four-cylinder engine, including its high-performance fuel-injected, DOHC 16-valve 4A-GE variant.
Toyota’s now-legendary 1,587 cc 4A-GE engine in original JDM catalyzed form / Collecting Cars
Not all E80 Corolla Levin and Sprinter Trueno coupes had the twin-cam 4A-GE engine, but the ones that did gave performance-minded buyers a chance to order one of Toyota’s most sophisticated modern engines in a proven, lightweight solid-axle RWD platform. This made the final RWD Corolla and Sprinter highly suited to “drifting” and to touge racing — mountain pass racing, dangerous and usually quite illegal — which eventually made the twin-cam AE86 legendary. The AE86 coupes were not exported in vast numbers, but the DOHC versions did finally make it to the U.S. (as the Corolla Sport GT-S) and to the UK and some European markets, beginning in the 1984 calendar year.
1983 Toyota Corolla Levin GT APEX two-door / Toyota Museum
If you recall the U.S.-market Corolla Sport of this time, the composite headlights of the coupes pictured in this article might not look familiar, as the U.S. models had pop-up headlights. When the E80 Corolla debuted in North America, archaic U.S. lighting laws still required sealed beam headlights, so Toyota gave the Corolla Sport the front clip of the JDM Sprinter Trueno, whose retractable headlights were easier to adapt for sealed beams. Also, while the AE86 was available in both two-door and three-door (Liftback) form in Japan and the U.S., most European markets tended to get one or the other rather than both at once.
1983 Toyota Sprinter Trueno Liftback
One point that has confused many people over the years is the matter of power output. In Japan, the 4A-GEU and 4A-GELU (the version for transverse installation) were originally rated at 130 PS DIN and 15.2 kg-m (110 lb-ft) of torque, but these were JIS gross ratings. U.S. cars were rated at 112 net horsepower and 97 lb-ft of torque, and the net output of the JDM engines (which, like U.S. ones, had catalytic converters) was very similar. In 1984, the UK and the European Commission were still clinging to leaded gasoline and hadn’t yet conceded that auto emissions controls were much more than a silly American eccentricity, so some markets got the AE86 coupe with higher compression and no catalytic converter, giving DIN net ratings of 124 PS (92 kW ISO, 122 hp) and 105 lb-ft of torque. In net output, then, the uncatalyzed 4A-GE tested in these British AE86 Corollas was about 10 percent more powerful than the catalyzed JDM or U.S. engines, something to remember when reading the performance data below.
On to the road tests!
Motor, 10 March 1984
The “potentially world-beating SV3 two-seater mid-engined prototype” to which the first column of the text refers would shortly become the mid-engined Toyota MR2, a delightful Japanese interpretation of the fun but flawed Fiat X1/9, also powered by the 4A-GE engine. The image-boosting value of “Mister Two” wasn’t quite as earth-shaking as Motor assumed it would be, but the first-generation cars were highly entertaining. (I also have the first Motor and Autocar tests of the Euro-spec MR2, which I might present separately if there’s interest.)
1985 Toyota MR2 / Bring a Trailer
Chassis for all AE86 Corolla Levin/Sprinter Trueno/Corolla Sport coupes of this generation was MacPherson struts up front and a five-link live axle (four trailing arms and a Panhard rod) on coil springs. Cars with the 4A-GE engine had anti-roll bars front and rear, and most had four-wheel discs, ventilated in front.
If you were reading this article in 1984, the casual reference toward the end of the column to the 4A-GE being a 7,700 rpm screamer was a stop-the-presses moment. Streetable passenger car engines of the early ’80s just didn’t do that, and hopped-up engines that could approach those figures sacrificed far more in low-speed tractability.
Cutaway of the JDM 4A-GEU from a 1983 Toyota publication called All About Toyota Twin-Cam
The 4A-GE engine didn’t have variable valve timing in this generation, but it did have T-VIS, the Toyota Variable Induction System, with vacuum-operated, computer-controlled butterfly valves in the intake runners that allowed the necessary airflow for high rpm while still promoting reasonable intake air velocities for acceptable torque at lower speeds. This was still a normally aspirated 1,587 cc engine, so it wasn’t going to put any Ford 5.0 tuners off their feed, but it was admirably flexible despite its appetite for revs.
The first column of the text on this page notes that Motor‘s observed top speed (116.6 mph) was limited by wind conditions, offering some excuse for the car’s failure to meet Toyota’s claimed 122 mph maximum and saying the performance “would tend to indicate a 120 mph capability under ideal conditions.” However, as we’ll see below, Autocar also had problems matching the factory claim.
One of the interesting aspects of these tests is seeing how the Corolla GT coupe matched up with likely rivals. Surprisingly, its most formidable competitor in the UK and Europe was really the Volkswagen Golf GTI. The Mk2 GTI at this point still had an 8-valve 1.8-liter engine, which wasn’t nearly as rev-happy as the Toyota 4A-GE and gave away 12 PS on the high end for more torque down low. However, as the spec tables later in the article reveal, the VW was also a significant 123 pounds lighter than the Corolla. (This was the late Mk1 Golf; the Mk2 Golf GTI didn’t arrive in the UK until some months later.)
1983 Volkswagen Golf GTI (Mk1) / Collecting Cars
Motor editors liked the Corolla’s strong brakes and excellent rear-drive handling balance, which let you induce some oversteer under power — the quality that so endeared the AE86 to the drift community — without any nasty habits. The editors thought the slightly busy low-speed ride was a reasonable price to pay for good body control, and found the stock suspension still offered an acceptable highway ride for a sporty coupe.
Unfortunately, like many later Japanese sporty cars with high-winding engines, the gearing of the hot AE86 coupes didn’t give you much peace in gentler driving: 3,600 rpm at 70 mph in fifth was a bit silly even for an engine capable of 7,700 rpm. This probably contributed to the test average of 27.6 miles to the Imperial gallon, which was 23 mpg U.S. — hardly disastrous in absolute terms, but not an economy car figure, and the Euro-spec 4A-GE engine required 98 RON petrol.
One of the qualities that helped to distinguish the better Japanese models of this time was generally sound and sensible ergonomics. Motor could find only a few minor niggles with Toyota’s control placement, and the Corolla GT instrument panel even included an oil pressure gauge. (In Japan, the top GT APEX versions of the Levin and Trueno had digital instruments, but export customers were spared these.)
Ex-JDM AE86 Corolla Levin GT APEX dash with digital instruments / Collecting Cars
When perusing Motor data panels, the unwary American reader is confronted with a rustic English measurement known as the hundredweight (abbreviated cwt), which is 112 lb. I assume that this quaint unit of measurement once served as a convenience for British merchants trading with metric adherents in the days before pocket calculators, since one cwt was equal to eight stone (for the British) or about 50 kg (for the civilized world). Autocar also clung to the hundredweight, but they at least had the good graces to also specify weights in pounds as well as kilograms.
For this time, the Euro-spec Corolla GT coupe’s acceleration times of 0 to 60 mph in 8.7 seconds and the standing quarter in 16.4 seconds at 84 mph were impressive for a 1.6-liter car, and make for an interesting comparison with the somewhat slower 1985 Road & Track test of the U.S. Corolla GT-S. (Car and Driver, if you’re curious, beat the the RT 0–60 mph time by over a second, but their Corolla GT-S coupe was still slower than the uncatalyzed European version.)
Valvegear of the 16-valve 4A-GE engine
Some points of technical interest in the specs: The 4A-GE engine had belt-driven overhead cams, but unlike Honda engines of this era, it was not an interference engine, so a broken belt was unlikely to eat valves, and valves were adjusted with shims rather than three-handed fiddling with the rocker adjustment screw. Also, while the spec panel just refers to the fuel system as “Toyota electronic fuel injection,” the 4A-GE engine originally used what Toyota called “EFI-D,” developed by Toyota and Nippon Denso and still notionally related to the old Bosch D-Jetronic system, with metering based on manifold pressure rather than mass airflow. Unlike the older analog D-Jetronic setup, EFI-D had modern digital electronics and a piezoelectric manifold absolute pressure (MAP) sensor, which didn’t restrict intake airflow like the flap-type mass airflow sensors on the newer Bosch L-Jetronic systems. (Toyota and Denso also licensed L-Jetronic, which Toyota used in other applications, including some versions of the 4A-GE engine, as “EFI-L.”)
Given the higher performance of the Euro-spec Corolla GT coupe, it’s curious that Toyota didn’t specify 14-inch wheels and tires rather than the 185/70HR13 tires. JDM Corolla Levin and Sprinter Trueno coupes already offered 14-inch alloys (which were standard on the Japanese GTV grade), as did the U.S. Corolla GT-S, so this would have been a very simple factory upgrade.
The Motor list of suggested rivals is somewhat peculiar. Comparing the Corolla coupe with the Opel Manta GT/E is reasonable, since both were traditional RWD coupes, but pitting the 1.6-liter, £6,995 Corolla against the aging and £2,000 pricier V-6 Capri or the eccentric 2-liter Alfetta makes no sense to me. Of course, the boxy VW Golf GTI might also have seemed an odd comparison, but it was a real threat, being similarly priced and offering highly competitive performance with greater practicality. “Hot hatches” like the Golf GTI ultimately devoured the inexpensive coupe market in Europe, and Toyota’s forays into that arena (beginning with the FWD Corolla hatchback known in the State as as FX16 GT-S) have been something of a mixed bag.
Still, Motor summed up the AE86 Corolla GT coupe as “a recipe for pure old-fashioned driving pleasure … for the money there are few cars which are more fun in standard guise.”
Autocar, 21 April 1984
A few weeks later, Autocar — arch-rival of Motor, although they were already owned by the same company and would merge within the decade — published its review of a different but identically equipped Corolla GT coupe. Here are their impressions.
The main text clarifies that the preceding Corolla coupe (the TE70 version) had not been officially imported to the UK (although I think some went to West Germany), and that the AE86 was “already winning the Group A 1600 class in the Open Rally Championship” at the time of writing. The AE86 is most known today for street racing, but it was also a strong class competitor in other forms of motorsport.
An embarrassing minor error appears in the second column: The twin-cam engine was the 4A-GE, not CE; the 4A-C was the carbureted 8-valve SOHC engine used in less sporting U.S. Corollas. I had thought this was a typo, but the editors repeat the same mistake in the “Technical Focus” sidebar on the following page, so someone got their wires crossed.
The sidebar at the right provides a better-illustrated explanation of the T-VIS dual-mode intake system, while the main text praises “the utterly quirkless low-speed driveability … with a wonderfully eager ability to rev at the top end,” qualities Autocar thought made the Toyota engine a close rival for 1.8- and 2-liter competitors.
Despite the generosity of the Motor editors on the matter of top speed, Autocar couldn’t match the factory’s 122 mph claim either, achieving a mean of 118 mph. They do suggest that the car would be “two to three mph” faster on a flat track rather than the Millbrook banked circuit.
The Autocar fuel consumption figures are close to Motor‘s, although the Autocar editors considered them only adequate and complained about the inadequate size of the fuel tank (with a capacity of 50 liters, 13.2 U.S. gallons) limiting the practical range.
Autocar was also notably less charitable than their Motor counterparts about both the refinement and the chassis behavior of the AE86 Corolla, complaining that the 4A-GE engine lacked the expected “sweet smoothness,” and that on slippery pavement, the rear end began to feel unsteady, with “rather untidy rear end breakaway as cornering speeds are increased.” This sounds like compliance steer from the rubber bushings of the rear trailing arms, but the Autocar editors also weren’t happy with the tires, and felt the rear axle wasn’t terribly well-controlled despite its assortment of locating links. The editors allowed that better behavior “could easily be wrought with detail changes in damping/compliance” and with more tire than the standard 13-inchers.
The upper left illustration under “Database” gives an illustrated guide to the control layout. As Motor had complained, the switch for the rear fog lamps is rather buried behind the left side of the steering wheel.
Unsurprisingly, the performance figures are very close to those recorded by Motor: 0 to 60 mph in 8.6 seconds, the standing quarter in 16.4 seconds at 83 mph, and a mean top speed (on a banked track) of 118 mph.
Note that the Corolla GT is listed as having a weight distribution of 52.6/47.4 with a half-tank of fuel (and probably a bit more even with the tank full, which added about 35 lb to the tail.) With RWD and the relatively light 4A-GE engine (which had a dry weight of 271 lb), the AE86 Corolla and Sprinter coupes were a lot less nose-heavy than FWD rivals, which was part of the appeal.
Unlike their counterparts at Motor, the Autocar editors couldn’t easily forgive the RWD Corolla’s “fidgety” rough-roads ride, grumbling that it was an unwelcome reminder “of the high unsprung weight values endemic with a live axle layout.”
They were more pleased with the ergonomics and seating position, although some of their testers complained of a lack of lumbar support. This has been a problem with every Japanese car I’ve ever driven, even my current car, which has an adjustable lumbar support device; I eventually resorted to an aftermarket lumbar cushion that straps around the seat back.
Seats of an ex-JDM 1984 Corolla Levin GT APEX / Collecting Cars
As with the Ford Capri, the AE86 Corolla GT offered face-level fresh air ventilation independent of the heater. Whether this was good or bad was a matter of perspective: British testers generally preferred this arrangement, especially for rainy, humid weather, but German reviewers didn’t like it because it tended to allow cold drafts while driving at Autobahn speeds with the heater on. (I haven’t looked up German road tests of the AE86 coupe, so I don’t know how they felt about the ventilation in this particular model.)
The Corolla GT was relatively well-equipped by European standards, although Euro-spec cars were apparently denied certain features offered in Japan or the U.S., like power steering and air conditioning. I don’t think the European AE86 was ever offered with automatic transmission either, although JDM cars eventually offered a four-speed automatic later in the run.
At the bottom of the page is the first half of a useful specifications table comparing the AE86 Corolla with a broad assortment of rivals, including some oddities like the MG Metro Turbo and Renault 5 Gordini Turbo, which are not cars I would normally think to compare to a coupe like this.
Finally, we have Autocar‘s elaboration on likely AE86 rivals, amongst which they include the Honda CRX and the Volkswagen Scirocco GTI rather than the Golf GTI. Autocar editors were most keen on the Opel Manta GT/E, which also had a live-axle RWD chassis. Motor had found its ride too hard and its engine uncouth, but Autocar felt the taller gearing mitigated the 2-liter engine’s lack of sweetness and contended that the Opel’s lower road noise and better wet-road handling gave it the edge over the quicker but squirrelier Corolla. The Manta was significantly heavier than the Corolla and had 10 percent less power despite its greater engine displacement, but it was German, which probably played no small part in Autocar‘s conclusion that it was “a more better-developed car for the money.”
1983 Opel Manta GT/E / Collecting Cars
Autocar saw the the AE86 Corolla GT as a marvelous modern engine married to “an old-fashioned car, in some pejorative senses.” That was true, but it was also central to the appeal of the AE86 cars. For touge, drifting, or rally work, a jiggly ride was not a priority, but the ability to bring the tail out under power definitely was, and axle control could easily be improved with firmer bushings and other minor suspension tweaks. Moreover, if you liked the engine and not the chassis, Toyota would shortly offer the 4A-GE in numerous other formats, including the then-forthcoming FWD Corolla FX16 hatch and of course Mister Two. You could have your choice: front-engine FWD, front-engine RWD, or mid-engine RWD, with two, three, four, or five doors.
1983 Toyota Corolla Levin GT APEX two-door / Toyota Museum
Ultimately, Toyota’s last RWD AE86 coupes were connoisseur’s pieces, appealing most strongly to people with strong opinions about rev potential, steering feel, and power-on oversteer — and, like many classics, they weren’t fully appreciated until long after they were gone.
Related Reading
Vintage R&T Review: 1985 Toyota Corolla (AE86) GT-S – The Exciting TwinCam 16 — An Honest High Performance Weapon
Curbside Classic: 1985 Toyota Corolla GT-S – The Legendary AE86 (by Paul N)
CC Analysis: An Objective View Of the Corolla AE86 (by Gerardo Solis)
My First Corolla AE86 – Obtaining My Dream Car – Part One (by Art)
Thunder and Lightning, Part 2: The AE86 Toyota Corolla Levin/Sprinter Trueno (at Ate Up With Motor)
One must remember that UK roads are notoriously crap.
Honda also offered a 16″ wheel upgrade to the DC2 Integra Type-R in Japan, but not here.
I don’t know if this was related to broken wheels (hello German “premium” cars!) but back in the mid-eighties, the Japanese were only just getting to grip (sic) with tyre compounds and spring/damper rates. The MR2 and FWD Celica were probably the first astounding Toyota cars in that respect. So it’s possible the upgrade might’ve made the car less driveable over here.
I’ve only driven the MR2 version and yes, that was an absolute jewel of an engine. The whole car actually…still preferred the X1/9 subjectively, but the Toyota was objectively from another planet.
I know that Toyota ended up hiring Lotus to retune the suspension of the A60 Supra for the UK market, although Lotus was frustrated with the results because Toyota ended up specifying a larger wheel/tire size than Lotus recommended, in the interests of image.
They let Chris Amon retune suspensions for the NZ assembly Coronas and Corollas, his name went on Coronas and a fwd car that can step the tail out on demand and controllably sure is fun to drive too fast for the conditions,
Early Corollas are virtually extinct now, the collectors have got any survivors and wont let go.
California’s back roads, aka “canyons” where these cars became popular are often rougher than many rural British roads I’ve experienced, even in the Peak District and Highlands. And many of our freeways are even worse.
As for the wheels, I confess I’m not seeing how 13-inch wheels would have been better suited to bad, wet roads than 14-inch wheels/tires of the same or slightly greater section width. If it were a question of 13-inch steelies versus 14-inch aluminum wheels of uncertain strength, then certainly, but that wasn’t the case.
I always thought there was a twenty-valve version of this engine, but I can’t find any mention online. The AE86 is still sought-after in Ireland, and I think examples are still arriving from Japan.
The 20v (20-valve) version came out in 1991.
Yes, there was a 20-valve 4A-GE, used in the AE101 and AE111 Corolla Levin and Sprinter Trueno, with 160 to 165 PS. Club 4AG has information about them; there are two versions, known as Silvertop and Blacktop, which each apparently have certain pros and cons. I don’t think Toyota officially exported the 20-valve engines, but they have a certain following outside Japan for people who are interested enough to navigate the hassles of JDM parts ordering.
Those 20V engines came here ex JDM as usual with zero parts back up getting parts from across the globe for any car is just a normal thing in NZ,
A mate broke a headlight on his Camry, there is nothing available for it, Australian model not Japanese and the lights are unique to that particular car, Aussie shut its car industry and parts industry with it, both my cars have limited parts supply, one because of age and the other well they only made a few exactly that way.
“cwt” is used here (in the US) in the paper/printing industry for paper pricing/purchasing and likely other commodities as well but here it refers to 100 pounds not 112.
I’m guessing the Capri and Alfetta were included in the comparison column as the Capri was a handy UK yardstick for most enthusiasts there and the Alfetta as well, since it was a slightly more offbeat version of the formula, just like the Japanese entry would have been at the time. Metro Turbo and R5, well, that’s getting a little more obscure although it’s nice to have a large slew of potential rivals all presented in one place from the same source using the (presumably) same testing parameters. Back on this side of the pond I’m sure some buyers were comparing figures to Mustangs and Camaros, also not something obviously cross-shopped but both were present in my own SoCal high school parking lot.
The wheel size thing is interesting too, and the pictured Mk1 GTI wears what I believe are 13″ers as well, whereas is too was only offered in 14″ size over here for both Mk1 and Mk2 generations.
I don’t know that I fully appreciated it at the time but 1985 was a banner year for the Toyota fan of sporty coupes in their showroom, while the pricing obviously was at various tiers, I certainly would have been (well, was, and still am) very interested in the Corolla GT-S, MR2, Celica GT-S, and Supra.
A good overview of some of the various UK tests at the time, thanks.
Very thorough and interesting to get the British perspective. These cars had some following when new, but in a lot of enthusiast circles were considered inferior to say a Golf GT or even Civic Si. But of course when they ended production, and drifting became a thing, the RWD Japanese cars gained a cult following.
The word “touge” was new to me and sent me down an internet rathole. We just called it going into the hills, which have been very close to my home for my entire life. Later the motorcycle magazines coined the alliterative term “canyon carving”. Whatever you call it, I spent a bit too much time, and tire rubber, doing that in my youth, on two wheels and four. Now I’m old and cautious and slow. And mostly drive vehicles that reflect that.
If drifting had become a thing more earlier, back when the Corolla GTS was made. It would have been much more popular.
I guess we could mention the anime Initial-D where the cars goes into drifting including a Corolla.
https://imcdb.org/movie_385426-Inisharu-D.html
The UK pricing is interesting when you compare what the cars cost in the US. The 16v GT-S wasn’t available here until 1985MY so here’s what the Michigan SoS price lists for that year say;
Toyota Corolla GT-S Liftback $9538 (a $1200 premium over the 8-valve SR5 model)
Alfa Romeo GTV $16500 (cut from $19k the year before!)
Honda CRX Si $7999
Renault Fuego (non-turbo?) $9295
VW GTI (mk2) $8990
VW Scirocco $9980
The Alfetta wasn’t sold in the US and the Manta and Euro Capri long gone but as eqivalents ;
Chevrolet Cavalier Type 10 hatchback coupe $6995 (no V6 RS until ’86)
Ford Mustang GT $9885
You’re right that that U.S. Fuego price is for the normally aspirated model. The Turbo was about $2,400 more, starting at over $11,000 in 1983.
Great article Aaron and it’s good to read the perspective from the UK point of view.
Contrary to what you assumed, the two-door Corolla was sold in various countries in Europe and even in some countries two-door and three-door AE86es were sold alongside. A simplified version would be that Toyota sold the three-door in the UK, France, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark and Greece, while Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and Finland all sold the two-door. Portugal had the two-door and three-door alongside each other, but the two-door was only sold for (rally) racing purposes.
About the cat/non-cat versions: in Europe, we had many different versions due to differences in legislation. In Switzerland, the same engine was sold as in the US with a cat featuring an airflow meter. In other countries, a mix of cat and non-cat engines was sold featuring the manifold absolute pressure sensor. The power for non-cat engines was indeed rated at 124PS and with cat and MAP 116PS. The latter is a huge difference from the Japanese 130 JIS PS, but those figures are assumed to be inflated due to Toyota’s horsepower wars with Nissan during the early 1980s.
Thanks for clarifying the model lineup issue, I’ve amended the text.
The Japanese rating is not inflated, it’s JIS gross, which was measured without accessories, and was about 15 percent greater than as-installed net output. When the AE86 debuted, all JDM cars were rated that way. Japan did not start switching to JIS net ratings until 1986–1987, and they did not switch in any kind of coherent fashion: There was a weird period where even in the same lineup, certain engines would have gross ratings and others net. In the AE86 Corolla line, Toyota advertised the gross ratings, but the 4A-GELU engine in the T160 Celica was rated at 111 PS net; I doubt the actually net output of the AE86 differed by more than about 1 PS from that, making it about the same as the U.S. engine, whose metric rating is equivalent to 113.5 PS.
Not all catalyzed engines necessarily had EFI-L; the JDM engines, which were catalyzed, had MAP metering. I have yet to find a really authoritative breakdown of which versions of the 4A-GE had EFI-D and which had EFI-L.
I’m about to try to sort out the early development of European emissions standards, which is very complicated — I appreciate the reminder not to just assume the British and Germans spoke for everyone!
Unexpected Aaron Severson writing? Christmas is early!