Yahoo Autos Toyota AE86 goes ZEV for the Tokyo Auto Salon
The Toyota exhibits at this weekend's 2023 Tokyo Auto Salon and Tokyo Outdoor Show are broken into three categories: "Making ever-better motorsports-bred cars," "Carbon neutrality for protecting beloved cars," and "Diverse lifestyles to enjoy with beloved cars," plus a bonus sub-theme of "Toyota: Leaving no car lovers behind." We'll look at the last three here in the forms of the AE86 given two alternative powertrain transplants and the announcement of vintage Land Cruiser parts. The AE86 — a car that's been out of production since 1987 — seems more popular now than it was in 2015 when Road & Track labeled it "a cult icon, inextricably interwoven with the earliest days of drifting." To help the aging coupe yaw its way into a carbon neutral future, Toyota engineers built one version of the AE86 hatchback with a hydrogen combustion engine and another with a battery electric powertrain.
The automaker's been toying with hydrogen combustion engines for a while as a way to give enthusiasts the visceral sensations of driving ICE vehicles while also eliminating emissions. In the hydrogen take, two high-pressure H2 storage tanks borrowed from the Mirai sit in the trunk. They feed a tweaked version of the AE86's standard 1.6-liter twin-cam four-cylinder. Toyota said in effort to retain the character of the original, "other modifications, including fuel injectors, fuel pipes, and spark plugs, have been kept to the minimum."
The BEV goes all-in on the zero-emissions mandate with a Prius battery in the trunk, an electric motor from the Tundra hybrid, and a manual transmission likely similar to what Toyota's developing for Lexus' electric supercar. We're told the package creates "a vehicle that offers even greater driving pleasure than the original," but we can't imagine Initial D's Takumi Fujiwara would approve.
