Emirates Drifting Team builds Toyota 86 with Supra engine

When the Toyota 86 was launch earlier this year, Al Futtaim Motors had also announced their sponsorship of the Emirates Drifting Team, a UAE-based outfit that takes part in regional drifting events. While their main driver, Ahmed Al Amri, was using a Toyota Soarer earlier, he is now switching to this Toyota 86 now, although there isn’t much left of the original car any more.

In fact, the only things remaining of the stock 86 are the body components, the chassis, the dashboard shell and, of all things, the power-window switches, as we saw today at the unveiling of the car as part of the new larger Toyota showroom opening on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai.

The first thing they ditched was the weezy stock engine, simply reverting back to the tried-and-tested “2JZ-GTE” 3.0-litre turbo engine from the ancient Toyota Supra, bored out to 3400 cc and pumped up to 600 hp. So you do need more power for a proper drift car.

The tacked-on body panels are apparently part of the “Rocket Bunny” body kit imported from Japan. Everything else has also been changed, including the exhaust, suspension and tyres. A custom radiator has been somehow fitted in the boot to make way for the big heavy engine up front as well as to attempt to maintain some semblance of the car’s original balance.

The entire car was apparently built in four months, and will soon appear in competitive drifting events regionally.