Like many I was a tad bit skeptical when Ford decided to use the ecoboost engine in the Ford F150.  Not that the engine isn’t capable because it clearly is, but mainly because it was a $900 premium over the standard 5.0 V8.  I guess my own narrow minded V8 fanboyness didn’t allow me to see that some people would prefer the ecoboost.  Apparently 100,000 people so far have preferred it and I can see why.  The ecoboost provides instant torque which actually makes it feel a bit more powerful then the V8.  I still question the ecoboosts ability as a work truck, but since most trucks sold today are nothing more then suburban dwelling yuppy haulers the ecoboost should be fine for the job.

Now I wonder how long it will take GM and Dodge to follow suit and get a V6 back out on the market?

Hachi Roku. These two little words, Japanese for eight-six, invoke immediate images of sliding around mountain corners touge style and going similarly sideways at track drift events.

It also brings to mind an affordable, simple, yet practical rear wheel drive hatch and coupe. For reasons of packaging, space and production costs, the Japanese car industry was going front wheel drive with their smaller cars in the early 1980s. Indeed, Toyota themselves had done so with the E80 and E82 series Corollas. But rather than leave RWD Corollas behind altogether, Toyota continued to produce the AE85 and AE86 RWD Coupes and Hatches alongside the new FWD models.

Given that they were roughly the same price as the bum-dragging opposition and were able to be flung sideways with such aplomb, these rear-driven Corollas became extremely popular. It didn’t hurt that the platform was such a brilliant example of a rear wheel drive chassis either. Light, agile, precise and above all else, fun. When Toyota mated this platform with the powerful and advanced(for the time) 4AGE DOHC 1.6L engine, it created something destined to become a legend.

Now, partnered with Subaru, Toyota are aiming to strike gold a second time with the rebirth of this car.

We were invited along to a preview test of this forthcoming car. We took our notepad and timing equipment along with us. We give you now a mix of information and drive impressions. Not quite a review, but almost.

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