Texas AE86 Matsuri – One of my favorite events I really try my best to attend to every year… because its a huge gathering of AE86 Corolla nerds like myself, other classic Toyota cars, and other enthusiasts! This year though, was a bit different… and I kinda like/prefer it…. Instead of celebrating in August, the organizers decided to make it in December and at the Houston Police Academy training grounds…
You had the option of drifting or grip driving on the Houston Police Training Course. It consists of a long 3rd gear entry into a long sweeper and then 2nd gear corners after that. I opted out of driving the track and just practiced some car control on the skidpad. Lame, I know, but will be ready by next year!
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Another difference this year was that a lot of other cars were allowed to drive on track with the Corollas. It was mainly due to the fact that there wasn’t enough vehicles to cover the cost of the track rental…. but this was only allowed because everyone signs up at the last minute smh lol. In total there was about 25 or so Corollas and maybe 10-15 other cars. I really did enjoy the mix of cars in attendance. It was the perfect size event with a few spectators as well. Thanks to Thaison and John for organizing this one!
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I didn’t get photos of all the Corollas that day so I’m sorry if I didn’t get a chance to catch up with you! Also, missed the Corolla drift trains on the track T_T.
A good representation of the event… maybe the future of Texas AE86 Matsuri?
Lucky fatpat came by to hang out a bit in his Chevy Impala…
“This is THE ‘Ultimate 4ac'”… Jacob talks about his 4AC Corolla build from 2012… most of the parts seemed like it was custom made or one offs for racing… stuff you would see at SVRA races….
Niko’s Maxspec UZ swapped 240sx was among the ‘other’ cars that attended…
Just a couple of Corolla drifter nerds 😀
John Yim has his immaculate Corolla GTS hatch and SR powered Corolla coupe at Thanh’s Detailing booth…
Love the Corolla guys…
One of my favorite AE86 Corolla events so far…
Arath had so much fun the diff went out on him near the end of the day 😀
The MR2 was sending it on the course with stock suspension and body rolls all over… super impressive…
Then there was Brandon…. lol.
I walked towards the end of this Fastback Celica and was not prepared…
It belongs to Phil Pimental, a OG Filipino Toyota enthusiast….
It had one of the cleanest stock ECU beams swap with custom high rise headers I’ve seen….
Check out that custom dash made for the RA Celica!
Phil talking about his swap with Lorenzo, owner of another beams AE86 swap in progress…
The Police Academy is super close to the airport so you would see airplanes around pretty often…
Another legendary OG Dr Occa aka Jonas talking with other enthusiasts…
One of Jonas many AE86 Toyota Corollas… this one is rotary swapped I believe…
Check out the bare interior…
Randy’s 4AG Turbo motor build was another Toyota AE86 in town that has been down for awhile finally made its debut at the Texas AE86 Matsuri… super happy for him its done….
Check out the manifold plenum…
Definitely not a lot of space on LHD Toyota Corolla applications for the turbo and its manifold since the steering shaft is usually in the way…
I haven’t seen many JSP 4age intake plenums… looks awesome…
Milton’s Vermont Toyota Corolla GTS Coupe lol….
Always a fan of the simple Kouki front and lip combo lowered on wats…
Super clean SW20…
The godfather of Texas Drift Corollas… Mr. Robert Turnbow Toyota Corolla GTS hatchback…
He says its a simple 4ag build but definitely not simple lol…
The godfather himself…
Robert has the respect of the Texas AE86 community and I’m sure everyone looks up to him because he’s such a good guy…
The Brock clan…
Another debut build was Hunter Dollery’s 4age powered TE Corolla (previously Thaison’s old shell)…
Carb ITB 4ag set up with help by Robert Turnbow…
The boys…
Sammy’s 1JZ Cressida bay…
Another buddy who was out there was Ryan and his new 370 drift build…
He couldn’t fix the clutch problem on his 370z so had to sit out most of the day, but he did give me some pointers on the skidpad… thanks man!
His family brought out the pup…
A simple Toyota Corolla GTS Coupe with a Goodline front (like mine)…
Team Yangfang’s Corolla Coupe sitting low…
Ash’ Toyota GTS Coupe rolling thru the pits….
I wanna say this area is for Corolla guys with trailers…
Sadly didn’t get to see this ProAm Corolla on track before the engine lost power…
The best Honda swapped Corolla duo…
Christian O’Neill’s UZ swapped AE86 traveled from Arlington again to hang out with the Corolla nerds…
I think Dennis Wheeler traveled the furthest from Oklahoma to attend this year’s Texas AE86 Matsuri…
Per Thaison, he has car tuned perfectly engine and suspension wise… I want to say even the look is tuned perfectly…
Racecar indeed…
Interior is functional and perfection *chefs kiss*
Favorite drift photo buddy, Chris Hunt, that is at almost all of the Knuckle Up events… so much props…
Other photogs were out there too!
I think Harris had enough exercise driving the Corolla on track that day…
So he took a quick nap…
Toyota Corolla and Shitbox Support Group…
Now onto the Police academy training course…
Randy testing the new 4ag turbo build on track….
Pretty sure he’s having fun =D
The body roll on this MR2 was impressive…
Hunter also testing out the new build on track….
Robert was just out there shredding tires and giving ride alongs all day… Thanks for the last ride of the day Rob!
Milton in his GTS coupe and open face helmet…
David Moon was also giving ride alongs all day… both drift and grip…
Sammy’s wild Cressida driven by Ash… spun out right after this photo lol…
That’s a lot of angle there Ronald….
Harris trying to get away from Thaison’s quick F20c swapped Toyota Corolla hatch…
He won’t be able to get away but looks good anyways lol…
Thaison’s hatch with CBY flares and big wheels look so aggressively good….
Yep, UHHH SON!
Either Ronald or Brent practicing on David Moons 350z …
Jacob having some fun with the Ultimate 4ac powered hatch….
Texas AE86 Matsuri 2022 at the Houston Police Academy this year was one for the books. Each year gets better and better and I think next year will be twice as big, I hope lol. The weather wasn’t hot like in August and it wasn’t freezing cold, so I’m hoping for another late Texas AE86 Matsuri day.
Thanks as always if you actually read this stuff.
Link to gallery of photos: https://www.danhphan.com/Events/2022-Texas-86-Matsuri-at-Houston-Police-Academy/
Danh Phan (@beams_sr5)
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