Faults:
I had to rebuild my LSD differential at 180,000 miles.
My clutch needed replacement at 185,000 miles.
My struts needed replacement at 185,000 miles.
This car has a strong motor that just loves revs. Give it an oil change every 3,000 miles and change your fluids on a regular basis, and it won't give you any problems.
General Comments:
This car is just simply amazing. Forget traction control, forget ABS, forget stability control, with this car it's just you, the car, and the road, and that is what is most important. It allows you to be connected and one with the car and the road, and that just gives you the greatest driving experience in the universe.
At just 2,100 pounds this car can move. Sometimes you can have have too much power, and can cause you to actually be slower, of course depending on the type of road. A car with a lot of power would do well on an open straight road, but this little Corolla can outrun anything on tight winding roads, where there is little room to accelerate past 2nd or 3rd gear. It gives you chills when you drive through the corners in this car.
Throttle responce on this 4AGE DOHC 16v is just neck snapping. The instant response of a high revving N/A engine is intoxicating.
The handling of this car is incredible, partly due to its sheer weight and size, and partly due to its suspension and chassis, simple and capable. Most if not all cars will respond with understeer when pushed to the limit, this car responds with oversteer. Understeer is not really that controllable, where as oversteer is very controllable if you know how to control the car and counter-steer. This allows you to push the Eight-Six beyond the limit.
This car never ceases to amaze me, the more and more I drive it, the more and more I love it. As I find out new things, learn new techniques, and gain more experience, this car just guides me through everything, every experience I encounter.
I don't recommend this car to everyone, only to the person who can appreciate it for what it really is. It's not a super fast and powerful car, it's not a luxurious car by any means (no power windows, power door locks, power seats, etc) nor is it a particularly "nice" car, and when I mean "nice", I mean not everyone will like it, it's 25 years old, some people will trash on it, saying that it's a really old car. It's not the car for the type of person who likes to go really really fast, or show off in front of others. It's a "drivers car", the type of car that a true "driver" can appreciate, enjoy, learn, practice and gain experience in. "The Eight-Six trains the driver."