The philosophies behind the Scion FR-S->ke3820/Toyota 86->ke4085 and the Mazda Miata/MX-5->ke1185 are clearly very different. But since the two cars are both Japanese, both some sort of sport model and have fairly similar price tags, there's a very good chance that if you're looking at buying one, you've probably at least considered the other. That's why Evo decided to do a comparison video->ke278 of the two. Filmed entirely on the track, the video has essentially nothing at all to say about the cars that isn't about how they drive, so if you want to know about interiors, cargo space or cup holders, you'll have to look elsewhere.

The track does make a lot of sense for these cars though. They're bought by people for whom tenths of a second are very important and who, if they're going to use it as a daily driver, have already accepted that there will be some serious limitations involved. The review won't really tell you which one would be better to buy, but with both of these being such good cars, it really shouldn't endeavor to tell you which one to buy. The reviewer has more fun in the Toyota->ke88, but that doesn't mean you will.

The reviewer starts off by showing us just how easy it is to hang the tail out on the 86, and indeed this is the focus of a fair sized chunk of the video, not that it's difficult to see why. The really important part of the review is when the lap times are recorded. This is so important not because there's a clear winner, but because the times are so close, within a tenth of a second of each other. This effectively shows that whichever one you buy is simply a matter of personal choice, since your skill as a driver will have a bigger impact on your lap times than the car will.

Mazda MX5

Read our full review here.

Toyota GT86

Read our full review here.