lets thing about this for a min instead of getting all emotional over JDM supremacy ;)… it makes no power, its a modern car so with all the safety BS the weight is only going to rise as it nears production (if it gets produced at all), it has current generation engine management which is a total bastard to get around including all the inspection hassles and with a driveline that expects 108hp and RWD so you actually have grip enough to break stuff, when you add the power so it actually performs like youll want to, youll be breaking stuff.
youd be better off with the original or with something like SoloIIscoob bought. thats all im saying.
itll be a great fun daily driver but for metro speed for 18k, its not worth it.
right, which has more power to begin with, less weight, scads of aftermarket parts available, non OBD-II (i assume yours is old enough), already has a turbo on it (yours), has a factory turbo version available and isnt saddled with heavy safety equipemnt all over it.
right, i drive old crap and i dont care about petty status wars. all i want is a car to perform to how I want it to perform and my car meets that goal. run 13’s? check. 13.2 all day long in 100deg heat. doesnt break down all time? check. only times it broke was a clutch 2 years ago (heavily abused stock piece when running low 13’s) and one operator error misshift (tossed a few rockers and had to replace a valve and a guide). plus, as it sits right now, though it may be FWD, would wipe the floor with that new AE86 for 1/6th of the cost.
the make of the car means nothing to me. the potential for reasonable priced performance means much more.
honestly, id rather have a Lada (the armpit of small RWD cars) over the new toyota. i could cut it all up and do motor swaps and not worry a bit about inspection, resale (what resale lol) and ruining the car.
now, it will be a nice, economical daily driver (the toyota) and will be fun in low traction conditions, but for a performance car similar to a modded original AE86, not a good choice. a civic Si (even like a 92) would trounce it on a road course.
Brian