Battle of Japanese Drift Beaters: AE-86 vs S13!

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

If you were going to buy a cheap, older Japanese 4 cylinder RWD car known for it's handling, which would it be? The 1983-87 Toyota Levin/Sprinter/Trueno/ Corolla AE-86, or the Nissan 240sx/180sx/Silvia/ (200sx in Australia) S13/S14? Both are legendary for their balance and cornering abilities, and both are cheap enough right now. The Toyota has the 4A-GE engine as it's top dog in the US, and the Nissan has the KA24DE "truck engine" as it's top engine in the US. The Toyota has 115hp and 2,000lbs of curb weight while the Nissan gets 155hp and weighs 2750lbs. Neither is fast in a straight line, but both are engaging to drive on a curving, twisty road. Oh, and the Toyota has a live axle rear suspension and the Nissan is 4 wheel independent. Why do I ask? Well, I was watching some drifting which made me think about it.

PS: This was from a time when Toyota actually made cars that were interesting and that you might actually WANT to drive, not just appliances like today.

 

[supreme_eighty5]

id have to go with the s13, mostly since my brother has a real clean RB swapped coupe that me and him built. its one sick car, and i dont even like imports 8) :lol:

 

[andrewmp6]

The s13 and s14 are easy and cheap to find.Most ae86 i see around here are 3 grand for a pile of rust.You forgot about a rx7 and a miata.The s13 and s14 both have huge after markets the floating rear setup sucks when you make a lot of power.

 

[jonnyslick]

Miatas are hard to learn on.
RX7's are great if you're ok with the rotary.
AE86's are underpowered, but great to learn on. Prices for them are still a bit too much IMO.
S13's and S14's are just about perfect. Cheap, easy to learn on, and lots of parts. S14's IMO are easier than the S13.
E30 BMW's are very nice also.

check out my other site at www.driftcentral.com

But the list is really endless. Mustangs, Camaros, SC300, Supra, basically any car that you can get RWD with a 5 speed and has decent front to back balance. Then put in a LSD and some stiffer suspension and you're ready to start learning.

 

[jonnyslick]

In case you're curious ...

I've had a Miata d-spec'd out for almost 2 years (sold now), a S13 coupe, another S13 coupe my business partner and I at the time did a RB swap on, a Mustang 5.0 coupe I drifted for just over a year, I've built a FC for my friend for his first drift car, and now I still have my first touge car (1974 BMW 2002) which is slowly getting reborn.

See why I want a 5 speed and good suspension on my Cutlass :wink:

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

I have the 5 speed (I have 4 T-5's sitting around!) going in my Cutlass as soon as I figure out the clutch linkage and can afford a flywheel and clutch. It too is a corner carver, and is not intended for pure drag strip performance. As for what I personally would look for, this would be a pizza delivery car so the reliability issues of the rotary scare me, the Miata can't carry enough cargo, and the other cars all have engines that would not meet my fuel efficiency needs. The Nissan is nice to me because I am quite familiar with the KA24DE engine and FS5W71-C transmission. I like the AE-86 because, well... it would be funny to build it as a clone of the one in Initial D and use it for the same basic purpose (food delivery)! As much as I love my truck, it's boring and I miss driving a small, lightweight car that can take corners well. The last one I had was a Sentra, which handled well, but I hated the FWD. It's a few months off, but after I sell of my AMC Spirit I want to try building something different that is fun, but still fits my practical needs. BTW, I regret not having purchased a AE-86 my next door neighbor was selling for $500 a few years ago.

 

[supreme_eighty5]

In case you're curious ...

I've had a Miata d-spec'd out for almost 2 years (sold now), a S13 coupe, another S13 coupe my business partner and I at the time did a RB swap on, a Mustang 5.0 coupe I drifted for just over a year, I've built a FC for my friend for his first drift car, and now I still have my first touge car (1974 BMW 2002) which is slowly getting reborn.

See why I want a 5 speed and good suspension on my Cutlass :wink:

pics of the rb swapped s13 plz, rb20 25 or 26dett?

 

[jonnyslick]

RB20 ... the RB25 is a joke IMO. And at the time the RB26 was a bit to much IMO. I honestly love the RB20.

Here's a few pics of the process (I'm the guy on the left in the last pic):

I'm trying to find another pic after it was more complete, but can seem to find any on this computer. Honestly after the swap was buttoned up, we put the hood and front bumper back on a sold it for a bit of profit and kept on moving. We were just doing it to make a few extra bucks on the side. At the time I had my WRX for a daily driver and was drifting my Miata, and my business partner in the pic there with me was drifting his 240sx hatchback (silkroad coils, 2 way, HKS exhaust, etc.).

The guy that bought it, put on a cheap set of coilovers and welded the diff (cheap 2 way haha), then a set of crappy ebay overfenders and some cheap sportmax wheels or something like them. the car was totally boro but drifted like a champ.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

A friend of mine has a 240 with a built KA24DE-t in it that he claims makes 320 WHP. IIRC, it has a T3/To4 hybrid turbo on it, Skyline seats, J30 diff, etc. I haven't seen it yet though as he moved to VA before he built it. That's kinda the reason I want a Hatchi Roku instead of an S-13. I don't like to have the same car as any of my friends do. It's one of my quirks.

Here's his KA:

 

[andrewmp6]

You got that backwards the rb20 has the worse flowing head out of the rb and the 2nd worse transmission also.I had a s13 with a rb25det stroked to a 2.8 tomei cams and pretty much everything they made for the rb25 with a t66 on it.Once i caught traction not much could keep up with me.But for all that money i spent a ls1 with bolt ons would have made the same power and cheaper.What about a datsun 510 or the nissan s12 the last rwd 200sx.