The 86 – My Review

[Thavash]

Having had my car for a month now ( and just passing the 1000km mark ) , I thought I'd share my initial impressions of the hachiroku with everyone.

I took delivery of my Red Standard 86 the second week of December. Yup , should have waited until Jan , but apparently if you want that late registration now , you have to leave it at the dealer until 1 Jan and I couldn’t wait. I'm been driving BMWs for a while , so I'm familiar with Rwd and from the 2 test drives that I did , the feel of the 86 was just perfect.


After waiting for a couple of months , I was told that there was no telling when a red High Spec would be available and that I should probably take the red standard that just became available. Once again I decided to just go with that and get a car rather than wait. I really wanted the High spec ( it was only 30k more ). But now I'm actually happy with the standard spec – the only thing that I wish it had was the digital speedometer.

Getting into the car , on the nervous drive home, there were some things that reminded me a bit of a Porsche. The view out the front , the speakers on top of the dashboard , frameless doors and the boxer engine. Once I got to my driveway at home you wouldn't believe what my average fuel consumption was ( see the pic below) - this whole theme was getting ridiculous !!


https://skydrive.live.com/embed?cid=CF6232111374DFD2&resid=CF6232111374DFD2% 211122&authkey=AC2Sf8IfTBODBT8

The driving position is good and it didn't take long to get used to the controls. You wouldn't say that the steering is electric , as the weight is good , and the gearbox feels crisp and strong. Some have called it notchy but overall its one of the best that I've used. The ride is fine , especially with the 16 inch wheels, and the only time I've felt some discomfort is when the rear end goes over a harsh speed bump.

Being new, I'm keeping it under 4k revs for the first 1500 kms, so I can't comment too much on the performance. You do need to rev it to get going , but I remember on the test drives that taking it to red line was satisfying. I like the sound of the boxer, and don't mind the sound pipe for now.

Of course in the near future I'll probably be tempted by after market exhausts and maybe a supercharger, but for now the experience is very satisfying and I just can't wait to take it to the red-line.

I'm still getting used to the handling but even with the 4k limit , I've had some tail happy moments. It loves going sideways but doesn't seem to bite you. If you want to learn RDW this is the perfect car.

I've also found that in daily use there is more than enough space for me. The boot is ok and you can put plenty behind the front seats. Unless you regularly transport 4 adults or a lot of luggage, the utility is fine.

So, to summarize :

The Good
1)The Boxer Engine – nice sound and decent power , for now !
2)That gearbox – When warm, I think only the S2000 I've sampled was better
3)The looks ( especially in red for me )
4)The handling – easy to learn , switch off everything for some real excitement
5)The HVAC – small thing , you turn the temp knob to red and you get instant heat. Typical Toyota , actually prefer this to those fiddly climate control systems in some cars.
6)Build quality seems good. Haven't had any of those issues yet so far like tail light condensation.
7)The interior – didn't like it in pictures but its actually decent in real life. Did anyone notice that the dial needles light up even when the lights are not switched on ?
8)Those seats – haven't experienced better yet
9)The fuel economy – not bad at all for a new engine. If I cruise to work at 100-120 I can get around 7 – 7.5 l/100 km. We'll see how that changes once I start hammering it.

The Bad
1)That radio – surely you could have done better Mr Van Zyl ?( They spec them better overseas ) The only good thing that I can say about it is that the button quality is decent ( some aftermarket units have cheap buttons ) , but otherwise …. it doens't even have RDS.
2)The pedal spacing – I find that the accelerator and brake pedal are too far apart. I used to really like the BMW pedals where I could do a heel-and-toe downshift, as they were close together. I haven't seen anyone complain about this before , so perhaps its just about learning a new technique.

The Ugly
1)The dials light up in red, the radio is green and the HVAC lights up in orange

Would love to hear from others on whether you agree / disagree with anything. Now to pass 1600 kms.

[Vic_RSA]

I think you summed it up pretty well there. My avg. consumption for the past 3 tanks without a reset is hovering around 8.3 - 8.4l/100km. I'm sitting on around 6600km. If driven like an angel or Ms. Daisy I think you will see 7.3l/100km briefly.

[KapteinBos]

got mine 27 december and on 1400 km with effort. have taken her over 4000 on a couple of occasions but generally taking it easy. maybe my imagination but she is getting looser between 3 and 4000... must say i take her to 4000 in every gear... :-) (except maybe 1st) so that leaves me at 150 on the highway on a regular base... ;-)... i love the ride and also cant wait for the magic 1600... sometimes wonder if were punishing ourselved unnecesarily... ive changed the radio R5k with bluetooth and doing all the speakers on Wednesday - another R3.5k but hey I like music... :-) doubt ill spend money on something like supercharger or turbo... can go to durban a few times for that kind of cash...

[sav]

Nice review. I agree 100% on the radio but don't feel to bad, the Japanese got the same POS radio. My 86 should be getting it's 3rd radio soon.

As for the climate control - I'm glad they've kept it simple. 3 Rotary knobs - left temp, right temp and fan speed. Push 1 for auto, push another for demister and push the other for airflow direction. Simple and no need to overcomplicate things.

[Razzle]

I agree with you there Thavash, except I can only say 1 thing.
I'm glad I waited for the high spec.
Even if just for the digital speedo, HID lights, keyless with push start and Leather/Alcantara seats.

I only have 600km on the clock and I struggling to get lower than 11.4km on a tank. Then again, I don't to long distances. everything is within 10km

Oh, and howcome you keeping it under 4k rpm?
All new cars these days have their engines driven in already at the manufacturers. No need for running in.

[KapteinBos]

Originally Posted by Razzle

I agree with you there Thavash, except I can only say 1 thing.
I'm glad I waited for the high spec.
Even if just for the digital speedo, HID lights, keyless with push start and Leather/Alcantara seats.

I only have 600km on the clock and I struggling to get lower than 11.4km on a tank. Then again, I don't to long distances. everything is within 10km

Oh, and howcome you keeping it under 4k rpm?
All new cars these days have their engines driven in already at the manufacturers. No need for running in.

thats what the sales person told me then i discovered this forum and the manual...

[sav]

True story. Imagine what it would cost to bed thousands of engines in at the factory every month. Not practical or economical at all.

Some sales people should be shot, repeatedly. With peashooters...in the face.

[Razzle]

Each motor is tested before it is fitted. This is when they run them in.
They will never just assemble an engine and put it in a vehicle.

Imagine what it would cost them when a customer gets in, turns the key and bang. motor blows because someone forgot to tighten something or other. And the press hears of it.

We don't even run in our race motors. We run them in on the dyno and on the 1st race day Running in is for old technology engines.

[sav]

Originally Posted by Razzle

Each motor is tested before it is fitted. This is when they run them in.
They will never just assemble an engine and put it in a vehicle.

Imagine what it would cost them when a customer gets in, turns the key and bang. motor blows because someone forgot to tighten something or other. And the press hears of it.

We don't even run in our race motors. We run them in on the dyno and on the 1st race day Running in is for old technology engines.

There is a video floating around on this forum showing how these cars are manufactured. They spend a couple of moments on the dyno to check that it's working, that is all and it's hardly running the engine in.

[sav]

Here we go:

[KapteinBos]

this debate could become 20 pages... fact is i didnt know and neither did the sales person who did 20km in my car to put in 10 litres of petrol...

[sav]

Haha yeah, it's one of those topics.

[KapteinBos]

sav i think that is the wrong clip... its the fish and why u should have a spoiler and scales one...

[Razzle]

He, He. That's true Kaptein
The new engines don't take days and hundreds of km's to run in. They take merely a few km's for the rings to seat in.

But you should do what u feel most comfortable with. It's your car and you're paying for it.