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2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata battles Toyota GT86 on track

It's got two doors and a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine up front, driving the rear wheels. It's made in Japan, and as far as bang-for-your-buck goes, it's a downright bargain. So which are we talking about, the Mazda MX-5 Miata, or the Toyobaru coupe known alternately as the Subaru BRZ, Scion FR-S, or Toyota GT-86? The answer is "yes," and it just goes to show, roofs notwithstanding, how close these two vehicles really are to one another. Which one is your favorite may come down to a matter of personal taste, but for its latest video, Auto Express set out to find out which laps faster around the track. On paper at least, the Toyota's 200 horsepower will trump the Mazda's 155 any day of the week, and twice on Sunday. Then again, the Miata does weigh a good 400 pounds less, even with the 2.0-liter engine and despite its convertible bodystyle – but is that enough to make up the difference? You're going to have to just watch the video for yourself to find out. All we'll tell you is that the match is pretty darn close – what you might call a photo finish, if they were actually racing each other at the same time as opposed to each racing the clock separately. So watch the video above and voice your support for your favorite little Japanese sports car in the Comments section. Related Video:

Junkyard Gem: 1982 Mazda RX-7 GSL

The early Mazda RX-7 was one of the few bright spots for sports-car shoppers during the Malaise Era, a lightweight and simple rear-wheel-drive machine with a screaming Wankel engine under the hood. Even though it was designed mostly as a means of getting Japanese car buyers a loophole to keep their engine-displacement-based road taxes low, the early RX-7 sold well in North America. I still find these cars during my junkyard travels, but the 1981-1983 FB-series RX-7s have been getting scarce in recent years. Here's a very solid '82 that showed up in Denver during the winter. Japanese cars of this era tended to rust early and often, but this one appears to be absolutely corrosion-free. The odometer shows just a hair over 100,000 miles, so I'm guessing this car spent decades in covered storage. The seat leather shows a few rips, but the interior looks pretty good overall. The body has some dents and dings, nothing serious. It wouldn't have taken much to get this car back on the road and looking good. The GSL package got you four-wheel disc brakes, a limited-slip differential, and these cool-looking pillar badges.  The list price on a new 1982 Mazda RX-7 GSL came to $11,895, or about $32,350 in 2020 bucks. A new Datsun 280ZX coupe went for $14,499 that year, but was a much more powerful and prestigious car; the less opulent 200SX was just $7,739. If you wanted a new Celica Supra, the price tag was $14,598. The final year for the Fiat-badged 124 Spider (they were sold with Pininfarina badging for a few additional years) was 1982, and that car cost $12,290. Meanwhile, your Chevrolet dealer had new Z28 Camaros starting at $9,700 that year; the RX-7 would eat up the Camaro on a tight road course but would be blown away on the straights. The 12A rotary engine in this car made 100 horsepower from just 1.1 liters of displacement, putting smiles on the faces of those Japanese road-tax payers. Unfortunately, fuel consumption was scary, particularly in the immediate aftermath of the 1979 Oil Crisis. Why did this car end up in a place like this? It was found in an office parking lot with a flat tire and expired registration tags and towed away. Then it failed to attract any bidder interest at the subsequent auction and U-Pull-&-Pay picked it up for next to nothing. So, if you ever wanted an early RX-7, buy the next cheap one you find before it meets a fate similar to that of today's Junkyard Gem. This content is hosted by a third party.

MotorWeek checks out two sides of the '90s Japanese car scene

MotorWeek's Retro Reviews let you feel nostalgic about a huge range of classic cars, and the latest two releases offer a look at two very different sides of the Japanese car market in the 1990s. The video above shows off tuned examples of the Mazda RX-7 and Nissan 300ZX. Check out the clip below to remember the 1997 Honda CR-V, if you want to reminisce about something a little more utilitarian. The RX-7 and 300ZX were among the era's best Japanese sports cars, and these examples' suspension and engine overhauls gave them an extra boost. Peter Farrel Supercars tunes the Mazda, and the vibrant yellow paint and body kit make it look ready for an episode of Initial D. The updated powertrain stands up to the mean styling and gets the RX-7 to 60 miles per hour in 4.5 seconds. The Stillen 300ZX GTZ sports a giant wing, and new turbos take the output to 465 hp. It sprints to 60 in 4.9 seconds. The CR-V sits on the opposite end of the automotive spectrum as the tuned RX-7 and 300ZX, but it's even more important in a historical sense. The Honda (along with the Toyota RAV4 and others) was among the progenitors of today's mega-popular compact crossovers. These early examples set the foundation for offering buyers a utilitarian vehicle in a comfortable package with good fuel economy at an affordable price. The CR-V had some quirky charm, too, like the removable picnic table hidden in the cargo floor. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.