The first three generations of Celica were rwd, the fourth and fifth generation were ff with an awd/turbo variant available in all the world, and the sixth generation was ff with an awd/turbo variant available outside the USA.

I'd imagine that Toyota has a little more confidence in the driving abilities of people who would purchase an Elise and would give them the original 8100 RPM redline. At the very worst it'll be 7800 which is what the '03 GT-S has.