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Dennis Wilson

Anyone worried it will turn into the new Mazda RX8

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If it was an RX8, I would already be thinking about a rebuild, an engine mount would be sagging, there would be bubbling sills, the coolant sensor warning would be permanently on, I'd be changing plugs and coils for the second time and I would be spending 50% more on fuel. It's a much better mannered car so far and the Toyota spares are a bit cheaper.

I don't believe it's that unusual for car club enthusiasts to see a few engine failures, as they ask the most from their cars and make "improvements". My cause for concern is that there are fewer '86s on the roads than there were RX8s. That might play positively or negatively in future.

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Not me. Mine has been my daily driver (60 miles per day) for 15 months without any issues, despite being modified by TD. Nothing has broken, so I would say late cars are pretty reliable.

Sent from my LG-Q6 using Tapatalk

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If one does proper maintenance imho FA20 can run long enough, certainly way more then 150K of  rotaries. Imho it's reliability is there on same level as most other modern engines. What "big" issues you refer of? Valve spring recall? Toyobaru handles it free of charge for owner, i don't see it as issue. Battery an issue? I haven't yet had any issues after free change to 65Ah one. Small issues like rattlish interior i don't count as issues either, it's simply because this is cheap car, and that actually is one of it selling features.

I got what i wanted, cheap car to buy, cheap car to maintain, cheap car to track, and even with all the cheapness bits still providing unexpectedly good handling and driving fun, it also provides minimum level of practicality for me for only car. I'm still happy with owning it 4 years and intend to keep driving it for long. See no reasons to worry. And if i'd compare this to other cars, twins in my mind are aking more modern 180sx/200sx/320 beamer coupe, then mazda rotaries.

(BTW, i love RX8 .. but engine is killing desirability. RX8 with 1.8 or 2 turbo inline four as stock option would make me wish it much more)

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I don't think it either. It's down to poor service or treatment.. don't rev the nuts off it when it's cold and such things.. I'm the 5th owner of mine, picked it up with 40k miles, now its on 76k hard driven (by me at least) miles and not a single engine fault. Nothing done to the engine though. I think they are very reliable and I can't help myself but blame the owners for most faults. I see it all the time, people start their car and drive off immediately. Let it warm up first, change the oil often and the car will serve you right for years to come.

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1 hour ago, Dennis Wilson said:

...will go the way of the RX8 with no one wanting to touch second hand older versions?

What as in create an over saturated market because they sold well, with an engine notorious for fuel and oil consumption, the necessity to be rebuilt frequently and costing the earth to tax and fuel.

Yeap. Can't totally see the similarities there.

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Another Ex RX8 owner here.

Cracking car; loved mine to bits and from my experience once you put better coils, starter and battery on them they can be just as reliable as any other car (as long as you know the difference in how to treat a rotary engine vs a piston engine).

But the 86 is just hands down a better car than the RX8 in every single way, except when it comes to rear passenger space.

The RX8 has a bad reputation which is partly the blame of Mazda cheaping out on certain components and partly the owners thinking that you can run/maintain a rotary engine exactly the same way as a piston engine - which you just cant.

86 hasn't got anywhere near the kind of issues that the RX8 is known for, so I’d expect the 86 to depreciate more like the Honda S2000 rather than the RX8.

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Great replies. Somebody actually said to me when I mentioned buying a 86 "aren't they going the way of the RX8, you know with the engine and things"... 

Couldn't resist posting on here and see what your responses are haha! I didn't expect any agreements. 

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