Shinji Inui's Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX (AE86) is one of the last vehicles introduced in the Initial D series, being used in the final battle of the series. Whilst the car is owned by his mother, Shinji is incredibly skilled with the Eight-Six, having driven his mother through the Tsubaki Line for several years. The car may have been owned by Shinji's father, a rally driver who used a notchback Eight-Six.
Shinji's late father is said to have loved the car, however it is never stated as to whether this is the same car that he used during his rally career. Mrs. Inui uses this Eight-Six as a daily vehicle, using it to transport her and Shinji through Tsubaki Line (with Mrs. Inui's job being on the next mountain over and Shinji's school presumably being local). Shinji started to drive his mother home from work when he was in Fourth Grade (9-10 years old), this combined with his view of the road during the morning trips (when he would be sat in the passenger seat) gave him an expert knowledge of the Tsubaki Line (similar to Takumi Fujiwara's knowledge of Akina pass).
Sidewinder[]
Around a year after Shinji started driving for his mother, Go Hojo of Team Sidewinder recruited him to the team. Shinji's skills were good enough that none of the other members of Sidewinder were able to keep up with him. Several years later, during Project D's Kanagawa Campaign, Shinji was selected as the downhill representative for Team Sidewinder in their upcoming battle. The body of the Eight-Six was fixed up and painted prior to the battle, so that it wouldn't be obvious to Project D that Shinji is liable to play dirty, scraping up against his opponent's car.[1] Initially not wanting to race in his battle against Takumi Fujiwara, he later changed his mind after watching the battle between Keisuke Takahashi and Go Hojo with Mako Sato and Sayuki.
Vs Takumi Fujiwara[]
As the race begins, Shinji amazes Takumi with the sheer speed of his car. After maintaining the lead for a while, Shinji pulls over, allowing Takumi to overtake him. Takumi struggles to pull ahead of Shinji, shocked by his act. Shinji manages to overtake his opponent again whilst they are in an S-shaped corner by bumping up against Takumi's Eight-Six. Shinji was shocked by Takumi's ability to keep up with him in the corners, which threw off his concentration. During this lapse of focus, Takumi managed to perform a blind attack, overtaking a shocked Shinji. Shinji exploits the loss of grip in Takumi's tires, allowing him to overtake him in a turn. In a last ditch effort to overtake, Takumi performs a blind attack. Takumi turns his headlights on as he pulls ahead, however due to him revving his car at 12,000RPM, his engine explodes, sending the two cars into a spin. Whilst Takumi spins 180° and crosses the line in reverse, Shinji spins a full 360°, costing him a large amount of speed and losing him the race.
Specs[]
The car is a Kouki (a later, facelifted model) Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX 2door coupe, chassis code AE86. It is painted in High-Tech Two-Tone, a black and white "panda style" colour scheme.
Engine[]
The AE86 is fitted with a first generation 1.6 litre, 16 valve "Blue top" (1st Generation) 4A-GE, a naturally aspirated engine. The cars actual output is unknown, but a stock model could produce 130PS.
Shinji's Eight-Six is the only Kanagawa Alliance Downhill race car to not have a GT Wing.
Since the car is actually owned by Mrs. Inui, and occasionally driven by her son, its basically similar to Takumi's AE86 being formerly owned by Bunta before it is passed on to Takumi.
