I drove a mates 86 a little while ago, and it really is surprising how slow the car feels, My Accord CU2 feels faster than it, and was also quite shocked at how low quality the interior plastics looked and felt, was quite disappointing to see in such a modern car, though would probably prefer that to my rattlely interior in the Z4
Same with me, the 86 was up against an ND Mx5 and fiesta st when i bought 2 years ago.
I was quite put off the rather poor interior of the 86, felt naff. The Sts wasnt brilliant either but i almost accepted that as it was a fiesta at heart. The 5 was better inside by miles.
Of course an interior is secondary to the driving on cars like this, but when the 3 are so close little things like duff plastics can swing it.
I didnt think the 86 was particularly quick either, its slower than the ND and fiesta although all are close it comes last.
I still like the 86 but it seems to be a 100kilos over weight and missing a bit of umph in the lower part of its rev range. The St was as usual great but i would rather not drive a FWD car and the dealer i went to said they knew nowt about the mountune kit which immediately put me off as it just showed a lack of product knowledge.
So i got the ND, it was the prettiest by far, the best interior and handled very well as you would expect a 5 should.
Ok its not as practical and only has two seats but i aint a flipping taxi and have no need for the space., and you cant remove the lid of a fiesta or 86 in the summer which makes the biggest difference.
Some chap on a push bike was asking me questions about the car while driving home earlier alongside me... good job we were only doing 15mph
