Anyone Driven an MX-5 and BRZ?

[GTM_Challenge]

Originally Posted by karma003

Very well said! I personally love my frs & miss my miata still dearly. Ill prob get another some day

I told myself I'd sell my red NA when I got the FR-S. That was 4 weeks ago and I still haven't been able to even list it for sale lol. Something about it.

[Meehow86]

Here's my Miata I traded in for my BRZ.

Stock suspension on it was pretty soft compared to the BRZ suspension but after switching it out with a stage 2 Flyin Miata suspension kit it took corners like a beast. It was extremely fun driving with the top down and I don't think the BRZ can quite match that excitement. On the other hand the BRZ is a lot more practical: it has more room for people and cargo, the interior looks a lot nicer, and it does have a bit more hp under the hood. And as big as the mod community is for the Miata I think the FR-S/BRZ community will end up being bigger. In the end I really can't say one is better then the other, it all depends on what you really want from a car.

[disgruntld]

Traded in my '94 with bolt-ons for my BRZ. Happy as a clam, but sometimes... sometimes I still miss that NA.

[Xero-Limit]

As similar as these two platforms may seem on paper, they are in entirely different leagues as to what they are aiming to do. I purchased the 06 MX-5 in -- 06. Only RWD lightweight 2 door back then. However, they are crippled from the factory with the suspension. The cadillac like ride quality is not compatible with spirited driving. Whether the FM, Ohlins, or other suspensipn; it is transformed into the NA type go-kart handling. With the power to boot. The FT86 chassis is totally different. Stiff dampners/springs from the factory, a bit more hp, the BRZ/FR-S/GT86 are what a modded MX-5 can do p/w weight wise, only the ft86 has back seats.

My MX-5 carries 350whp on the stock motor at 2500 lbs...the BRZ is 180whp and 2800 lbs. Both have plenty of potential, but each is in a different leagues. Only commonality is the RWD, the rest is entirely subjective. Either car can be made into a beast since both are lightweight and have potential for ridiculous power output. But for me, only the BRZ has the back seats for the little ones! I really can't say one is more fun than the other.

But back to practicality; the MX-5 does have kart like handling with a suspension. The BRZ/FR-S don't, but they are very predictable at the limit and make sliding effortless. One is a car, the other, well, a miata. Nothing wrong with either (and I thoroughly enjoy both!) but to compare the two is not exactly apples to apples.

[P@ul]

I just sold my NB Miata and got an FR-S a few days ago. The Miata is a lot more light hearted and playful, the FR-S feels a lot more serious.

But short answer, highway commuting was extremely painful in the Miata (13 years old, 100k miles). The noise and all the chassis shake was driving me nuts. Any crappy piece of road was sending up shake through the chassis. The low speed dampening was more comfortable on my Miata though, the optional bilsteins last forever on those things. The FR-S is a major improvement, no surprise there being a new car, but even that thing can be a bit noisy.

OP, Is this going to be a daily or a second car? The miata was formerly my second car, and was my daily for the last two and a half years. I loved it as a second car, but I don't have the space or time to have two cars again.

I'm with karma003; I will probably get one again in the future. Might buy my old one back, haha, if I have the garage space and time in the future.

[regal]

I think the Miata and the twins are very different cars.

Chassis, Chassis, Chassis. The twins chassis is the tightest firmest RWD chassis under 2800 lbs ever designed by a major automaker. Makes it a completely different car than the Miata. It has a chassis that is as stiff as a German Autoban cruiser but engineered so advanced as to weigh 1/2 ton less. It has a roof.

The Miata Chassis is 25 years old, before CAD and dynamic elemental analysis allowed engineers to design optimal strength in the right places without just adding heavy steel where it isn't needed (cough cough BMW.) Not only that they designed the low COG which allows amazing handling without a go-kart suspension.

The nice thing about the Miata is the huge support and tremendous engine known reliability . There is a highly supportive community, answers to known issues, cheap replacement parts.

I personally don't like convertibles so waited on the twins in leu of buying a Miata or S2k specifically for the toyobaru coupe chassis.

My only concern is what will break in 50k, 100k, 150k+ miles down the road? Teardown reports of the shortblock by engine builders boosting the FA20 to 400+ HP are very encouraging, this may easily be a trouble free quarter million mile engine. The timing/valvetrain may be a weakspot?

Another weakspot seam to be the rear axels.

Things like rattles from the flexible Miata unibody can be troubling after years of driving it.

The twins have a Chassis that was built for years of abuse, hopefully they are well phosphated and ecoated and won't rust.

Another thing is visibility, if you plan on driving with the top up or a hard top, it takes a lot of fu out of the Miata because the visibility is so poor.

I'm not too concerned about the Toyota direct injection, I think the port fuel injectors in front will prove to help engine life. But those inector pumps will probably be the most expensive item to replace when the warranty wears out, no one knows how long they will last, no concerns like this for the Miata.

With a Miata you just have to replace small inexpensive things for a guaranteed 25+ ears of ownership, that is something that is hard to compare to the Toyobura at this time.

[SliverBrz]

i test drove the new MX5 miata club and brz and frs back to back to back.

The frs and BRz feels like precision tools. They handle with accuracy and responsiveness.the frs and brz stays more planted through the corners and stay flat

the miata turns well but i felt was floaty.... not as precise. but felt fun. The materials in the miata felt crappier but i like the Hard top convertible.

I just can't pick it over the brz just by feel. Everything in the BRZ / FRS feels right. Seating position, amount of room, visibility out front and back, clutch, steering, shifting (Smooth), everything is just on point.

I had a 370z and that car felt heavy, clunky, dull, but was ridiculously fast and grippy. Cornering in that car does not inspire confidence at all. The Z is a great car though.

[chickdigger802]

Debating with getting a decent nc for ~15k or fr-s.

Such a hard choice. Not a fan of miata looks but love everything else about them, well besides trunk size

Hmmm,

[MmmHamSandwich]

Drove the other day with two recycling sized bins overflowing with stuff in the back seats and four five gallons buckets on their sides in the trunk. Didn't even have to scoot the seats up.

[regal]

Originally Posted by SliverBrz

i test drove the new MX5 miata club and brz and frs back to back to back.

The frs and BRz feels like precision tools. They handle with accuracy and responsiveness.the frs and brz stays more planted through the corners and stay flat

the miata turns well but i felt was floaty.... not as precise. but felt fun. The materials in the miata felt crappier but i like the Hard top convertible.

I just can't pick it over the brz just by feel. Everything in the BRZ / FRS feels right. Seating position, amount of room, visibility out front and back, clutch, steering, shifting (Smooth), everything is just on point.

I had a 370z and that car felt heavy, clunky, dull, but was ridiculously fast and grippy. Cornering in that car does not inspire confidence at all. The Z is a great car though.

Exactly my impression. The twins are absolutely not Miata coupes, they couldn't be more different, the chassis is set up much closer to a stiff M3 than a flexy Miata.

[fatoni]

Originally Posted by regal

I think the Miata and the twins are very different cars.

Chassis, Chassis, Chassis. The twins chassis is the tightest firmest RWD chassis under 2800 lbs ever designed by a major automaker. Makes it a completely different car than the Miata. It has a chassis that is as stiff as a German Autoban cruiser but engineered so advanced as to weigh 1/2 ton less. It has a roof.

The Miata Chassis is 25 years old, before CAD and dynamic elemental analysis allowed engineers to design optimal strength in the right places without just adding heavy steel where it isn't needed (cough cough BMW.) Not only that they designed the low COG which allows amazing handling without a go-kart suspension.

The nice thing about the Miata is the huge support and tremendous engine known reliability . There is a highly supportive community, answers to known issues, cheap replacement parts.

I personally don't like convertibles so waited on the twins in leu of buying a Miata or S2k specifically for the toyobaru coupe chassis.

My only concern is what will break in 50k, 100k, 150k+ miles down the road? Teardown reports of the shortblock by engine builders boosting the FA20 to 400+ HP are very encouraging, this may easily be a trouble free quarter million mile engine. The timing/valvetrain may be a weakspot?

Another weakspot seam to be the rear axels.

Things like rattles from the flexible Miata unibody can be troubling after years of driving it.

The twins have a Chassis that was built for years of abuse, hopefully they are well phosphated and ecoated and won't rust.

Another thing is visibility, if you plan on driving with the top up or a hard top, it takes a lot of fu out of the Miata because the visibility is so poor.

I'm not too concerned about the Toyota direct injection, I think the port fuel injectors in front will prove to help engine life. But those inector pumps will probably be the most expensive item to replace when the warranty wears out, no one knows how long they will last, no concerns like this for the Miata.

With a Miata you just have to replace small inexpensive things for a guaranteed 25+ ears of ownership, that is something that is hard to compare to the Toyobura at this time.

im not sure you know what you are talking about. i would like to see where you found the fact that the frs is the stiffest car under 2800lbs because i seriously doubt that. does anybody even know how stiff the chassis is? the miata chassis is about 8 years old. if you are talking about a 25 year old miata vs a new frs then i suggest you leave cog out of it since that of the frs is higher than the early miata. the miata with a hardtop also has better visibility than the frs.

im not saying your overall impressions are wrong, im just saying that the facts you use to support them are probably not accurate.

[Justin.b]

I have an NB miata, and I wouldn't like it if it were my daily driver. My car has has a few mods (ohlins coilovers, went from stock 16's down to 15's, direzza star spec tires, sway bars, jdm engine - blew the stock one... it was just cheaper than getting a rebuild to go jdm).

I hate driving the car with the top up. I'm on the wide side, and having the top up in that car is way too confining for me. It's also noisier with the top up (creaking / popping, at least - obviously outside noises are louder with the top down). I only drive it when I can keep the top down. It also revs too high on the highway. Mine revs more than normal because I swapped in a 6-speed but kept the 5-speed final drive.

I bought the Miata to replace my previous car - an SR20 swapped 240sx. The reason I made the switch is that the 240 didn't feel exciting until high speeds (it also had an unsprung 6-puck clutch that made it difficult to drive gracefully in traffic). The Miata feels exciting and fun at normal speeds.

I love the Miata. But there very few places where I think I could live with it as my daily/only.

Compared to the FR-S, I love the miata's engine WAY more than the FR-S's. Sure, there's more power in the FR-S, but the throttle response is just garbage compared to the Miata and then there's that stupid torque dip and the fact that it sounds like an old diesel at idle.

Interior goes to the FR-S. Seats are awesome. Controls are well-placed.

Overall performance... dunno. It's kind of unfair for me to compare the FR-S on prius summer tires to the Miata with modified suspension and sticky summers.

Handling - depends what you like. My Miata grips like a sonuvagun until it lets go with little warning. The short wheelbase makes this seem much scarier than it did in the 240. I can also hang the rear of the FR-S out forever with no worries that it's going to come around on me. I can bring it right back in line easily.

I guess my conclusion would be, if you're buying a daily driver, get the FR-S. If you're buying a weekend / sunny day fun car, get the Miata.

-Justin

[Xero-Limit]

Careful merging the NA/NB MX-5 chassis with the NC (06+). The NC is essentially an RX8 chassis, shortened, stiffened, and roof optional. The NC comes with a downright embarrassingly soft suspension off the lot, but with springs/shocks or coilovers it is transformed instantly. However, the BRZ/FR-S already comes with that suspension.

With that said, the MX-5 when set up correctly, will outdo the FT86 up until 120+ MPH under boost. The MX-5 gets awful light in the rear at those speeds with stock bodywork, whereas the FT has the chassis and aeros to keep things less dramatic up there. Having both and having driven them in all sorts of modification stages, I can say the MX-5 is simply a go-kart, whereas the FT is an awesome--car. Both have their merits, but apples to oranges here. Stability, looks, quiet, back seats--FT. Response, p/w ratio, cruising with the top down--MX-5. 350whp on stock motor with a turbo? Both; but the MX-5 still weighs 300 lbs less with a shorter wheel base. Pick your poison, but both will outdo most drivers' skills for ~5k in mods with the right tune.

I smile driving either one. You'd think the p/w ratio of the MX-5 would keep me out of the BRZ. Yet I find the FT so well balanced and practical (with E85 in particular) that is a tossup as to what I get into, and both are a hell of a lot more fun than just powersliding a v8. As a DD you can't go wrong with either, unless you need a back seat for the little ones that is!

[regal]

Originally Posted by moto-mike

With that said, the MX-5 when set up correctly, will outdo the FT86 up until 120+ MPH under boost. The MX-5 gets awful light in the rear at those speeds with stock bodywork, whereas the FT has the chassis and aeros to keep things less dramatic up there. I can say the MX-5 is simply a go-kart, whereas the FT is an awesome--car.

This is what surprised me the most about my FR-S, I fully expected a go-kart double wishbone type driving, at first a was a tad disappointed but then I realized just how remarkable the 86 chassis is.

Of all the cars I've driven the car reminds me much more of an E30 even E24 than a Miata. The car is somehow still fun at low speeds, but the Chassis is well over designed for the small power plant. Its very rare to have a car that doesn't carry the weight of a hog that can really handle an extra 50% in power with grace. That's what makes the 86 special and completely different than an MX-5 .

The two cars couldn't be more different imo.