Well they hardly “drink oil” for starters, and the oil they do burn costs about £4 a litre. What’s the problem with that? You want figures? I’d say about 500mL/1000 miles. That’s a conservative guess with the mileage, too. I get about 3000 miles/L from mine.
Any engine spanked from cold will be suffering. That’s not a trait unique to rotary engines. And it’s disingenuous to put an arbitrary mileage on when an engine might lose compression. It always seems to be somewhere between 30-40,000 miles, eh? Want to hazard a guess at how long a 231bhp 1.3L piston engine would last?
No low grunt? You driven many? It’s as fast off the mark as any n/a car I’ve ever driven. And can you give me a real-world situation where this percieved “lack of grunt” presents a problem?
You mention “revving its tits off” like that’s a bad thing. It has a 9000 rpm red line and it’s a sports car. It’s meant to be fun. Fun doesn’t involve changing gear at 2,500 rpm, at least not in my book. Do you bemoan sportsbikes for having 14,000 RPM redlines?
Yes, there are compromises involved, not least the pretty dire fuel economy, but what gets my goat is the constant, inevitable nay-saying that puts potential owners off. They’re great cars that would suit a great many petrolheads. They just need a slightly more diligent approach to care and maintenance than your average diesel Golf, that’s all. The ones that are looked after last for a lot longer than the “pub limit” of 40k miles. But I suppose that doesn’t fit with the hivemind opinion, does it?
If you’re after my buying advice, apart from checking for the usual suspension knocks & rust as you would on any car, I’d spend £1k on an eBay non-runner. Trailer it to DM-Motorsport or the like and get a full rebuild and port – should cost somewhere between £2500 and £3000. You’ve now got a warrantied, brand new engine – with a lot more of the fabled “bottom end grunt” – and a brilliant chassis for £5k less than a bottom/middle-of-the-market 350Z. Then just keep on top of the oil and coolant levels, and make sure the ignition components are changed every 30,000 miles. It’s not hard, really, but so many ex-owners just treated them like common-or-garden shopping cars and that’s not how to do it. Hence the ridiculously low prices.