Mazda MX-5 vs Toyota GT86 - Pistonheads.com
Think back to all the things we, in our more Luddite moments, have moaned about in modern performance cars. The inert steering, pointlessly complex driver modes, gimmicky multi-mode dampers, over-long gearing, low-rev turbo torque replacing normally aspirated horsepower, the dominance of automated gearboxes in supposedly purist 'driver's cars', the... And the big European players seem only too happy to drive it, layering on ever less relevant quantities of power, expense, technology and complexity over what should really be a pretty simple pleasure. Weird then that the nation that best 'gets' what we seemingly should actually want out of our performance cars is the one on the other side of the world. If you're one of those people a comparison between a bare-bones Toyota GT86 and a Mazda MX-5 is probably going to make you quite cross. But if you're broad-minded enough to consider a maximum of 200hp, a normally aspirated engine, manual gearbox, rear-wheel drive and a focus on nailing the basics then read on as we attempt to discover which of these two cars does the 'relevant... Most shocking about the Mazda in a modern context is its lack of size. It really is dinky and makes this 2. 0's 'big' wheel option of 205/45 tyres on 17s look as much as you'd ever need. Source: www.pistonheads.com
