86 or MX-5

pcmx5 · Postby **pcmx5** » Sat Jul 28, 2018 8:02 pm

Boyracer wrote:86 is a really good car with a crap engine.

Spot on!Nice handling and package but the MX(any MX) feels so much more responsive!!
Peter.

Red_Bullet · Postby **Red_Bullet** » Sat Jul 28, 2018 8:10 pm

Very nice JBT. But I'm scared of direct injection engines. Intake valve issues. I did look into the 135i once, I got scared of something else too, was it fuel pump issues? You were the reason I started looking into them, stop giving me ideas! :lol:

I think that the gutless 86 has a combination approach of both port injection to clean the valves and direct injection for performance and efficiency. Not that the one I drove had any performance at all.

Red_Bullet · Postby **Red_Bullet** » Sat Jul 28, 2018 9:33 pm

Info just to hand from an 86 owner.

If it's not running 98 fuel then stock tune will aggressively pull timing out once knock is detected, leaving the car flat and unresponsive. Maybe this was the cause of my poor first impression. He reckons the flat area from 3500 to 4500 is real but it should be responsive everywhere else in the rev range.

Bring on the next test drive!

RBH58 · Postby **RBH58** » Sun Jul 29, 2018 12:17 am

Boyracer wrote:86 is a really good car with a crap engine.

This really sums it up.

Postby **Boyracer** » Sun Jul 29, 2018 9:58 am

Don’t knock the NC, go drive a NC2, they are a really good car, everyone thinks they are really heavy but after sticking a few on my scales they are actually lighter than NB.

rascal · Postby **rascal** » Sun Jul 29, 2018 10:41 am

Boyracer wrote:86 is a really good car with a crap engine.

and is 200kg too heavy

yertimer · Postby **yertimer** » Sun Jul 29, 2018 11:05 am

I'm considering the same thing. I haven't dríven an 86 yet, so it's still very early days for me - I am still in thinking mode. I don't need or particularly want a convertible, but I do love my Clubman. But, the clubman is 24 years old, and showing some real signs of age - do I fix it up properly, or just swap it for something newer (like a used 86 /BRZ)? The total ownership cost is probably similar. Is it worth spending money on the Clubman or is it time to make a change? My Clubman is a pretty standard and almost exclusively a track car/ fun car now. But I do like the idea of throwing wheels and tyres in the back (of an 86) and going to the track - especially as Wakefield is more than 2 hours away. The 86 gets good reviews and seems ready made as a user friendly track toy, and it also doesn't seem like the transition from the Clubman would be too onerous. Without having dríven the 86 yet (which may make the decision easy one way or the other) logically and financially it is probably a no brainer. Emotionally it's not so straight forward. I will watch your decision with interest.

93_Clubman · Postby **93_Clubman** » Sun Jul 29, 2018 12:00 pm

Boyracer wrote:go drive a NC2

^x2 if you're over NAs & want something much newer.

Red_Bullet · Postby **Red_Bullet** » Sun Jul 29, 2018 12:27 pm

One concern with the 86/BRZ.

It has 7 airbags, great for passenger protection.

Not so good if you give it a tap at the track and is written off because a bag went off. Are they automatically un-registerable if a bag has gone off?

If that is the case you are likely back to having to trailer it the track anyway. :frown:

bruce · Postby **bruce** » Sun Jul 29, 2018 3:01 pm

Airbags are replaced all the time after an accident. Doesn't make a car unregistratable.

Red_Bullet · Postby **Red_Bullet** » Sun Jul 29, 2018 6:39 pm

Thanks Bruce, good to know.

Red_Bullet · Postby **Red_Bullet** » Mon Jul 30, 2018 11:30 pm

I went for a drive this afternoon after work in a very tidy 86GTS. I got he opportunity to rev it in 2nd toward redline and stuck it into 3rd then had to slow it all down to get back down to legal speed.

Ok, what happened, comparatively, well it was slow but keen to rev, it would have eventually been going quite rapid if I had the time and distance to get it into 4th. There was no power available if you stuck your foot into into it. Dead in 2nd gear.

However the car felt firm and very capable, not as responsive to steering inputs as an Mx-5. Was it good? Yes! Was it fast enough? Well not really . Grip levels were confidence inspiring.

Was it potentially enjoyable? I guess so, with patience. I'm sure on the track it certainly would have inspired a lot of confidence. with sticky rubber I suspect it would have been potentially boring.

To quote Lou, great car , crap engine. Engine is fine for those with a reasonable degree of patience.

Do i want one? Maybe, overall the car was a sweet package although under powered for the capability of the chassis.

Luke · Postby **Luke** » Tue Jul 31, 2018 7:43 am

Red_Bullet wrote:One concern with the 86/BRZ.

It has 7 airbags, great for passenger protection.

Not so good if you give it a tap at the track and is written off because a bag went off. Are they automatically un-registerable if a bag has gone off?

If that is the case you are likely back to having to trailer it the track anyway.

The only way a car gets written off is is if it goes through insurance and is deemed by the assessor as either a Repairable or Non-repairable write off.
Incidents at the track don't go through insurance, or at least shouldn't.
You bend it, you pay for it, no questions asked.

As above, airbags can be replaced.
Generally most cars are written off when an Airbag deploys due to the total repair cost of the car, not because the airbag deployed.

Red_Bullet wrote:Ok, what happened, comparatively, well it was slow but keen to rev, it would have eventually been going quite rapid if I had the time and distance to get it into 4th. There was no power available if you stuck your foot into into it. Dead in 2nd gear.

I don't think the engine is the only contributor to why they feel slow. More so the Diff ratio making the gearing long. They have fixed this in the updated model. Supposedly they filled in the 2 flat spots in the power curve as well. But yeah, pricey still as they have not been out that long.