What Do U Love Most About 86?

[H7ERO]

just trying to see why we love this machine so much (especially when much more exotic cars can be bought at the price!) and why do peops buy them again and again?

for me its second gear powering out of corners . . . . . b4 youve even entered them!!

its all about the drive!

what rocks your boat?

[irish_twincam86]

the noise of the 4branch janspeed raspin away........and the looks....and the seats......EVERYTHING!

[guglielmo]

For me, it's all about the feel the car gives you. It's almost the same with the TE71 since the floor pan/suspension is almost identical. This leads to consistency in handling and thus promotes learning.

Next has to be the fact that I can get 40mpg when taking it easy and 30mpg when, er, not. Very cheap to run and very easy to maintain and fix. When I first got one (8 years ago) they were cheap to buy as well. Free/cheap 185/60 14's is an added bonus. Mandatory rust isn't.

You can indeed get more exotic cars for the money, but they won't drive like an 86. I love 'em to bits and I don't think anything could replace it.

I just don't know how they got so popular...the Irish boys have been on to them for ages so fairplay to yous, but I wish they were still incognito like back in the day, when people in !Removed! FWD Fords used to take the ***** out of mine!!

[H7ERO]

true words! there are not many cars you can push as hard non stop with such little going wrong plus cheap consumables such as tyres!

dont even get me started on the sounds!! the 4age at 7500 had me addicted since i first heard it since then had ae92gti, mk1 mr2 and now gt coupe!

at first i thought wtf what was all the hype about but once i had serviced it all and learnt to push it hard im addicted, it taught me how to drive properly!!!

shame they so popular i think its cause they keep getting trashed in ireland and here anyone who knows the jap scene knows their cult status in japan also a jap manga cartoon called initial d (which is actually pretty good) stars the car!

oh well! i jus wanna know where all the irish boys finnd them in england to take over????

[hachi-roku]

My Dad's mate got one a looooong time ago, my Dad had a manta GTE, always remember him going on about these things.

I started to get into drifting through my mates, and happened to stumble accross the 86 again, I now own one of my own and love it because it lets me really feel whats going on. Responds to every movement, no hesitation, it taught me how to drive, properly.

Still can't forget my dad's mate having a brand new one, what a feeling that was :)

[lsd addicted]

They are a driver car in my opinion.

I know they are dear 2 buy,but just think in 86 they came with disc brakes all round eletric sunroof and an LSD to help u with the power B)

to get that nowadays u would have 2 buy someting like a bmw which is no way as reliable,plus if anythin go's wrong with them the money just starts 2disapear from the wallet,and there dear 2 run.

They dont make cars like they used to

[guglielmo]

Not sure why you'd mention the electric sunroof... all that does is add weight in the worst possible place. Oh, and rust of course - to the sunroof panel itself, inside the roof panel and pillars as well!

Toyota's weak point is (was?) their sunroofs and bad drainage. Such a shame that almost every UK facelift AE86 has one. I only know of 1 that didn't, but some turnip cut a hole in the roof and put an aftermarket gupta glass one in!! :ffs:

[hachi-roku]

Lol, my task sometime this year is to take the sunroof out and weld it up... though I don't know if the body will like that or not. Fed up with it raining on me when I corner :D

Did find a neat trick though, if you have a leaky sunroof, clean it out thouroughly and spray WD40 on the rubber strip, and it makes it all supple and water resistant again, worked for me.

[guglielmo]

Yeah, I saw pics of yours...it's a shame someone put that roof in, it really lets the car down. That is what's so great about the early cars (ie no OE sunroof).

Welding over the sunroofs is nearly as bad as cutting the roof to put one in. The filler applied to smooth over the panel will crack in time needing constant attention and repainting. The guys with later 86's lock 'em shut and remove all the mechanicals and electrics to save a bit of weight. It's the gupta glass one's that are the worst though. Why oh why do people do it?

WD40 shouldn't really be used on rubber. Try a silicone based spray lubricant, it's more rubber friendly and will yield the same results.