Mazda MX-5 Miata vs Subaru BRZ

This year, the 2024 Mazda MX-5 Miata gets new steering, a reworked limited-slip rear differential, and a DSC-Track setting that relaxes the traction and stability control systems. In addition, the 2024 Miata gets the latest Mazda Connect infotainment system with an Alexa digital assistant and several interior refinements. The front and rear headlights are new, redesigned 17-inch wheels debut, and new exterior and interior colors are available. However, to achieve perfection, we’d like more choices in configurations.

Verdict: There isn’t a more elemental sports car than the 2024 Mazda MX-5 Miata. You can spend more money to get added power, performance, practicality, technology, luxury, cachet, and exclusivity, but if you’re looking for the equivalent of a street-legal go-kart, nothing on four wheels better defines a cheap thrill.

Subaru performance has traditionally boiled down to three letters: WRX. But for almost a decade, Subaru fans have gotten familiar with another three-letter code: BRZ.

The Subaru BRZ is unlike anything else in the automaker’s lineup. Subaru is known for building practical cars with all-wheel drive (AWD) and turbocharged engines, but the BRZ throws all of that away. It’s a willfully impractical two-door coupe with rear-wheel drive (RWD) and a naturally aspirated engine, aimed at providing the most satisfying driving experience.

The first-generation BRZ was introduced as a 2013 model, so the sports car was due for a redesign. The 2022 Subaru BRZ gets a restyled exterior and a more powerful engine, as well as more tech features than its predecessor. As before, the BRZ is twinned with a Toyota product. Its previous counterpart was the Scion FR-S; it's now the Toyota 86, which was renamed GR 86 as part of its redesign (and is covered in a separate review). Subaru is taking orders for the new BRZ now, but deliveries aren’t expected to begin until late October or early November.

Subaru keeps the 2022 BRZ lineup simple, with just Premium and Limited trim levels to choose from. We spent a day with the higher-tier BRZ Limited, driving it on winding Connecticut roads as well as the race circuit and autocross course at Lime Rock Park.