FT-86 "Best in the world" for drifting!

[MR2fan]

Originally Posted by scape

this really should be in the naming thread by now but... I believe LF-A was the pre-production concept car name, which now I believe has officially made it as a vehicle with this name;
guess that bodes well for FT-86

Woo good point!! Hopefully the buzz around the FT-86 keeps up as much as during the LF-A's development and they just decide to stick with it.

[White Comet]

Originally Posted by zigzagz94

When the car goes to production I think it will either be named a celica or something completely new because realistically how many, as you say, "regular people" know what an AE86 is? Only enthusiast know about the AE86 and we make up a very small percentage of customers. Everyone knows what a celica is and can tell you it's made by toyota. It's just easier, and from a marketing stand point more cost effective, for Toyota to use a household name and call it a celica.

This is a great point you make, and why I agree that the car will not likely get a production name related to the 86 moniker. However, I also think the name Celica will not be used, because to the car buying audience at large to which you are referring (i.e. not the enthusiasts), the Celica name doesn't generate an excitement. Furthermore, the car sold poorly in its last few iterations, and was axed without much fanfare.

I want them to use something that ties it to the hatchiroku somehow, but realistically I expect them to try something new.

[zigzagz94]

Originally Posted by ichitaka05

Hm... Maybe he was talkin' bout GT-R, Fairlady, Evo, Supra, Silvia, STI and all those High Powa~ cars. lol

Or you can go back and re-read my posts and see that I was comparing the car to the celica and celica-supras of the same era. Which as cyde01 said were toyotas sportscar and levin/trueno were just sporty carollas. And I did say that I liked the AE86 for what it was. I never mentioned EVO, Silvia, GT-R, Fairlady or any high powa mad JDM tight yo cars.

It's cool i understand that you AE86 guys are super defensive when it comes to your baby and don't like it when people say anything other than it's the greatest "sportscar" of all time.

[OldSkoolToys]

Originally Posted by zigzagz94

It's cool i understand that you AE86 guys are super defensive when it comes to your baby and don't like it when people say anything other than it's the greatest "sportscar" of all time.

Haha, maybe someone else should go re-read. Never stated that in the first place.

All I did was point out that you said it wasn't -DESIGNED- to be a sportscar.

And all I did was pretty much just prove you wrong.

[ichitaka05]

Originally Posted by zigzagz94

Or you can go back and re-read my posts and see that I was comparing the car to the celica and celica-supras of the same era. Which as cyde01 said were toyotas sportscar and levin/trueno were just sporty carollas. And I did say that I liked the AE86 for what it was. I never mentioned EVO, Silvia, GT-R, Fairlady or any high powa mad JDM tight yo cars.

It's cool i understand that you AE86 guys are super defensive when it comes to your baby and don't like it when people say anything other than it's the greatest "sportscar" of all time.

Either way, my bad. I was just joking around. If I offend ya, my bad.

[zigzagz94]

Originally Posted by ichitaka05

Either way, my bad. I was just joking around. If I offend ya, my bad.

Truce

Let's get back to talking about the upcoming FT-86 instead of the cars in the past.

[DanZilla]

Never been into drifting. Always considered it a show sport.

[cyde01]

Originally Posted by OldSkoolToys

Wow, someone needs to relearn their definition of 'sports-car'.

AE86 had:
One of the FIRST DOHC, Fuel injected head on an mass-produced I4. This right here just negates what you said completely.
4 wheel disc brakes, factory
LSD optional
light weight
RWD (in a time when toyota was converting the mass of its cars to FWD)

Was it THE sports car to have? Of course not. But you put the stats down on paper and my AE86 is more of a sports car than my brothers base-model 1985 RX-7 sitting in the garage.

hey i'm a huge fan of the ae86 and i own one myself, but i'll be honest with you man, even other club4ag members have agreed that the levin/trueno was really the sporty grade of the corolla/sprinter more than anything else. the ae86 engineering wise does have the ingredients to be a sports car, but if you look at later models (ae92, ae101, ae111) and compare them to the celica xx or even the FF celicas that had the GT-Four, it's easy to see that the levin/trueno name occupied more of a sporty niche than full blown sports like the gt-four or supra. the only reason why the ae86 was RWD was because the toyota engineers decided to have one last harrah with the older RWD corolla architecture rather than updating to the newer FF architecture like the rest of the corolla lineup. that said, it was one great last harrah. perhaps saying it isn't a sports car is a little extreme, but compared to the ft-86 which has nothing in common with the current corolla, i think the ae86 is more entry level.

[Jordo!]

"Celica" is a totally appropriate nameplate for this car for all the reasons noted by zigzag, and will automatically gain more interest from consumers than it would lose.

Calling it "Corolla" would have the opposite effect, and any other more esoteric or new nameplate would be an unknown to most consumers.

Toyota is trying to develop a car that will be loved by car geeks but also be of interest to Joe Q public.

I'd say 60% chance of "Celica", 30% of something totally new, and 10% chance of something esoteric (e.g., "Levin").

[OldSkoolToys]

Originally Posted by cyde01

hey i'm a huge fan of the ae86 and i own one myself, but i'll be honest with you man, even other club4ag members have agreed that the levin/trueno was really the sporty grade of the corolla/sprinter more than anything else. the ae86 engineering wise does have the ingredients to be a sports car, but if you look at later models (ae92, ae101, ae111) and compare them to the celica xx or even the FF celicas that had the GT-Four, it's easy to see that the levin/trueno name occupied more of a sporty niche than full blown sports like the gt-four or supra. the only reason why the ae86 was RWD was because the toyota engineers decided to have one last harrah with the older RWD corolla architecture rather than updating to the newer FF architecture like the rest of the corolla lineup. that said, it was one great last harrah. perhaps saying it isn't a sports car is a little extreme, but compared to the ft-86 which has nothing in common with the current corolla, i think the ae86 is more entry level.

It was more of a shot-down at the word 'designed'. If Toyota didn't want the AE86 to be a sportscar, they wouldn't have designed half the crap on it to be the way it is. Like I said, my AE86 is more of a sports car, stat wise, than my bro's SA, which I think we can all agree, is in the traditional sense, a 'sportscar'.

Toyota even raced the ae86 chassis in the 1600cc class back in the 80's.

And if I'm not mistaken, Toyota didn't convert the sprinter lineup to FF becase they wanted to save on factory conversion costs. They were already converting most of their lineup at the time, so it makes sense in that case. Don't really think it was a hurrah, it was just a way to keep costs down. Remember, the AE86 does use a lot of older technology from the previous generation corollas.

[White Comet]

Originally Posted by Jordo!

"Celica" is a totally appropriate nameplate for this car for all the reasons noted by zigzag, and will automatically gain more interest from consumers than it would lose.

Calling it "Corolla" would have the opposite effect, and any other more esoteric or new nameplate would be an unknown to most consumers.

Toyota is trying to develop a car that will be loved by car geeks but also be of interest to Joe Q public.

See my last post on page 2 for why I think you are incorrect about the Celica nameplate. Only the celica enthusiasts themselves would want it, and there are so few of you. The general public could care less about that name, since the car really doesn't generate much of an emotional response. Toyota is trying to change their image. That means breaking from the unsuccessful image of the recent past, and that includes the celica.

[DanZilla]

how high does a AE86 rev up to?

[OldSkoolToys]

Originally Posted by Jordo!

"Celica" is a totally appropriate nameplate for this car for all the reasons noted by zigzag, and will automatically gain more interest from consumers than it would lose.

Calling it "Corolla" would have the opposite effect, and any other more esoteric or new nameplate would be an unknown to most consumers.

Toyota is trying to develop a car that will be loved by car geeks but also be of interest to Joe Q public.

Again, I say it was a mistake to market the AE86 in the U.S. as a corolla. It probably would've done much better with its own unique name. Toyota will most definitely not be badging this as a corolla, that is for certain.

Celica makes sense in a lot of terms. Zigzag pointed out that it makes sense because of the first generation Celica's being RWD (they were, and they rocked, and are awesome cars). That only us enthusiasts get the whole "86" bit. This also works the other way around. Joe Q public, to me, makes out the Celica to be more of a secretary fun car because of the past 2 models. They were stylish, yes, but pretty meh on the fun factor, and are more often seen being driven by Susy Blondey Hair than a car enthusiast. Only us car enthusiasts know about the Celicas true history, and how awesome it used to be.

I've driven a few of the newer ones and can honestly say there wasn't much fun to be had in those cars, but I'm also a RWD freak, so basically any FWD is just going to be bland and boring to me.

I say it won't be badged as a Celica because this is a car that's supposed to completely re-invent Toyota's image. And using the old image (via naming) of the Celica won't help in this regard. It has an awesome history, and also, a pretty bland current perspective.

It'll be a new name to usher in a new age of Toyota's.

[OldSkoolToys]

Originally Posted by DanZilla

how high does a AE86 rev up to?

Pegs at 7600