I've had a Tower .46 since they first came out and haven't had any trouble. It's old and worn, but I have it on a seaplane because it's so reliable. I have it in a Fazer on floats and when I want to float fly, I grab it, pour in some fuel, flip the prop and I am 99% sure I'll get reliable operation from the Tower. A couple of other guys have them and they keep chugging on. Plenty of power, too. Plus, they come with a Tower muffler.

It's not sexy like a new OS and it's pretty cheap, but it has a rear needle that works, it starts easily by hand and doesn't quit out on the lake.

I don't know about your field, but there are some guys at my field that can't tune an engine to save their lives and are also vocal. I found one person who couldn't get a TT .46Pro to run right and ended up opening the main needle 3/4 of a turn! 3/4 of a turn. Dang was he lean. These guys who tweak every flight for the very last rpm are always complaining in my experience. I haven't touched the low end of my Tower .46 in maybe 5 years.

The Tower .46 would not have hung around this long with people buying them regularly if they weren't any good.