Ever since I laid eyes on Toyota's AE101 sedan way back in 1992, I have been wanting to have one for myself. I was 24 that year, and had just started working, having complete
d my marketing studies. I still remember the time when a friend of mine actually bought one, a 1.6 SEG manual for RM68k. That was a lot of money in those days. The unit he had was a greenish grey sort of colour, with silver wheel caps over steel rims that looked almost like th
ey were aluminium rims.We were in church one night, and after service, a number of us crowded around the car and peered inside the windscreen trying to get a good look at the dashboard. Being the nice guy that he was (and still is), SC (the owner) decided to let a few of us have a go at driving it. Then it came to my turn...wow, I remember the excitement I felt, sitting in it for the first time, and admiring the curvature of the centre console, how it angled towards the driver. Firing it up for the first time, I noticed how silent the car was, and almost devoid of any vibration. So, this is how liquid filled engine mounts perform, I thought. Impressive. I slotted in into first gear, and off I went, gingerly out of the church compound, aware that it was a brand new car, costing 5 times my annual pay at that time!
As I entered the road outside, I accelerated away slowly until I was out of sight of the owner...then I depressed the fun pedal more aggressively...well, the acceleration certainly wasn't as rapid as I'd hope for it to be, but nevertheless, it was much better than the 120Y that I was using (my mom's car). "Let's see, where shall I take her next?", I thought to myself as I hustled along a fairly quiet stretch. I decided to drive from Kampar Road, up to the intersection with Gopeng road, and then head back to church along Gopeng road.
My, my, what a quiet and serene ride the car had, soaking up road blisters and undulation with disdain. Boy, how am I ever going to get one, I wondered as I neared the last turn that would take me back to church.
Fast forward 13 years later, I finally got my hands on one. This time, it wasn't a stock unit, but one loaded with petrolhead goodies. It sported a 6-speed manual gearbox with viscous LSD, a 4-throttle, twin-cam, 20valve 4AGE "blacktop" fully balanced engine with race bearings, TRD metal gasket, shaved head, adjustable cam pulleys, lightened TRD flywheel and clutch, HKS open pod air intake, Apexi N1 straight-flow exhaust, adjustable fuel pressure regulator, brake cylinder brace, twinpot front calipers with steel-braided brake hoses, custom-made coilovers and genuine Work rims. It also has a full AE101 JDM Wagon interior and a genuine Nardi 3-spoke steering wheel.
Today, after 3 years of ownership, the car is now fitted with the following parts to complete the package: 3-point TRD strut brace, 2-point Tom's lower arm brace, front and rear TRD sway bars, Tien Superstreet coilovers (EDFC capable), VVT exhaust pulley and Arospeed adjustable exhaust pulley, and race foam (side sills). A 4-2-1 HKS header also replaced the stock unit but I decided to sacrifice some power to gain back some peace and quiet by swapping the Apexi N1 exhaust with the stock Levin Blacktop's. I have also fitted Pirelli P6 195/55/15 tires which have an excellent balance between comfort, noise and grip. For better stopping power, all-round Green Stuff brake pads were fitted. Apart from performance mods, I have also applied vibration dampeners (shaped like a three-prong tuning fork) to all side panels, plus another layer of Sikadamp to the front doors.
The car feels extremely taut, responds almost instantaneously to steering input, and exhibits very little roll when pushed hard into corners. Throttle response is also excellent, and the engine revs freely to 8,000 rpm! There is a distinct surge of torque from 3-4000 rpm and the engine note hardens from 5-6000 rpm (where peak torque occurs at 5500 rpm) before rushing to 8000 in an intoxicating 4-throttle shriek of adrenalin!
There was this one time I was passed by a 350Z on the NKVE while cruising at 110km/h...and I decided to give chase. I downshifted from 6th to 5th and got up to 140kmh, right behind his tail. With his superior torque and power, he dropped a gear (my guess) and accelerated away....however, he only got to about 5 car lengths before I caught up with him at 160kmh on 4th doing 6000rpm or thereabouts. He mashed his throttle again and started pulling away, and I went up to 180kmh on 5th, trailing him with a distance of about 5 car lengths. It was that way for about 5km until he decided to slow down and let me pass...:-)
One bothersome niggle is a notchiness when shifting up or down to 3rd early morning, but dissapears after about 10 mins of driving. My mechanic (the ever reliable and clever Ah Nga of Kajang) says the synchromesh is likely at fault and can be replaced. And it also appears that my piston rings are worn out, after seeing the exhaust spew white smoke during a recent dyno. Despite that, it still managed a respectable 131bhp at 7500rpm and 145NM at 5500rpm. Mind you, these are on-wheel figures, so on engine (assuming a 15% loss factor) the engine is still cranking 154bhp and 170NM!! And this is with our fuel, which is about 94 octane (not RON). In Japan, where they use 100 octane, the published figures are 165bhp and 160NM.
The other amazing thing about this car is the economy. Even with really aggressive driving on a weekly basis, it still returns an amazing 11km/lit! With a saner right foot, you can easily get 13km/lit on a highway cruise between 120km/h - 130km/h.
So, in a nutshell, my rolla has given me lots of adrenalin highs and i'd be hard pressed to find the same excitement with any other new car of the same class. Of course, one could always plonk in a 7AGE for better torque and run closer to that 350Z the next time it comes around...:-)
