7 Reasons The AE86 and The Miata Are Overrated

27 Jan 2016

The Miata and the AE86 are great cars and it’s hard to deny that. However, it seems as if their imagined performance doesn’t live up to their actual performance. Both of these cars are very similar, so I thought I would save some time and do one article including both. My article about overrated BMW’s was probably one of the worst articles ever written, so this time, I’ll try my darndest to get this article right; here we go.

ONE Both the AE86 and the Miata aren’t that fast.
It seems as if many JDM cars suffer from exceedingly high expectations and hype. The Mark 4 Supra and Skyline GTR are both cars that are associated with big speed and big power. However, in stock form, they aren’t as fast as they’re hyped up to be. Same thing goes with the AE86 and the Miata. In Initial D, Takumi is beating drivers on the touge in cars that are much faster than his car in a Toyota Corolla. However, fanboy’s dreams of the capabilities of the AE86 never live up to the reality of what the AE86 really is. It’s 0-60 MPH time is about 8.5 seconds. To put things into perspective, a 1997 Toyota Camry could the same sprint 1 second faster. The Miata is also plagued by slow acceleration. The 0-60 sprint for a 1996 Mazda Miata takes 8.6 seconds, also slower than the 97 Camry. The Miata and AE86 are the opposites of sleepers, they are expected to be fast, but aren’t.

TWO If it weren’t for Initial D, the AE86 wouldn’t be very popular.
A stock Delorean was a terrible car, but ever since it starred in the Back To The Future movies, it’s become a car people drool over; the same thing has happened to the AE86. Because Takumi delivered tofu and raced in an AE86, people are willing to buy them for big amounts of money. AE86’s in good condition cost about $14,000, a bit much considering it’s a 40 year old car with 128 horsepower. If Initial D never aired, I’m sure AE86’s would be selling for half the price, and half of us car guys would never know about the Takumi mobile.

THREE The Miata has unshakable stereotypes.
Car stereotypes include truck drivers are compensating for things, BMW drivers never use their blinkers, Audi drivers tailgate people, and the Miata is a hair dresser/chick car. You’ll get jokes from car guys and non cars guys alike saying “Have you told your parents your gay yet?” and “Where in the car do you keep your hair dryer?” Because of this, people feel like they need to be more manly to compensate for this (Alex Kersten maybe?), so people become persons that they are not; just be yourself.

FOUR The AE86 is basically a souped up economy car.
The Toyota AE86 Sprinter Trueno is a Corolla. When most people think of a Corolla, they think of a small sedan that they can use to commute to work, not to the racetrack. The Corolla AE86 is worshiped by car guys while a brand new Corolla S is ignored by the same people. It seems like a little bit of a double standard, don’t you think?

FIVE The 80’s Supra is arguably a better sports car than the AE86.
The 80’s Supra can make up for what the Sprinter Trueno lacks, power. You can get a Mark 2 or a Mark 3 supra with a variety of larger turbocharged engines. This makes it faster and easier to make faster. Car and Driver named the Toyota Supra as one of the coolest cars from the 80’s, while the Sprinter Trueno was nowhere to be found on that list.

SIX The Miata blinds people to other alternatives.
It seems as if Miata owners talk about Miatas 24/7, even though there are other cars they could blabber about. MR2, Nissan S Chassis, Mg roadsters, there are a million light front engined RWD cars out there that are fun to drive. The pedestal we put the miata on blinds us from an assortment of choices, better, faster and cheaper ones. Remember, there are plenty of fish in the sea.

SEVEN You have to modify both cars in order to be competitive with other sports cars
A stock Miata can be a great learning tool for the track, but at some point you’re going to need more power, better brakes and better suspension. These cars fail to teach you how to control real power. Driving a Mustang GT or a Camaro SS will teach you to control power, not a Miata. Because the miata is overhyped, it drives up the prices of used ones. This means the Miata fails to serve its purpose within the car community, being an affordable blank canvas to hone your driving skill in or being a good project car. The Miata is just a start, it leaves the factory as a blank slate, waiting for you to make it into what you want, and what you need to drive. If the Miata left the factory with a turbocharger, that should fix things pretty good.

To all the haters out there

Comments

Most people who overhype the AE86 because of Initial D forgets one factor. Bunta. He perfected and fine tuned his AE86 ever since he got the car. That’s why in the anime it was able to outcorner nearly every opponent it faces. Combined with Takumi’s skills that has been honed since he was 13, it’s undefeated. Even if you slap on a Tofu Shop sticker or stuff in an 11k RPM 4-Pot under the hood, you will never have Bunta’s AE86

but..u ruined my dreams ;-;

I’ll prefer Keiichi AE :D

I agree completely, but the one car to out perform that 86, was Bunta’s STI. If Takumi drove that instead. The final race would have been no contest

Its not about buying a fast car.
Its about buying the car you love and BUILD it the way you love

Thank you hahaha

But but but….. Miata is always the answer!

Not this time.

I didn’t know we were going drag racing…

You are one ballsy man

Miata is more of a practical kind of Crusier most Miatas in my city are just crusiers no sleepers or JDM stanced Miatas just stock form.AE86 Corrola is pretty much the Delorean of the Initial D world as stated,it looks good but its more of a collectors car,and new Corrolas are actually awesome I just dont have money for them right now since Im a college kid all I can get right now is beater cars to start projects on

While I do agree that the AE86 is getting too expensive, also know that it is more than the sum of its parts. It may be a sport corolla but hey, it feels like a sports car. Also the AE86 is underpowered, but back in the 80s it was a little rocket. Remember that it has a solid rear and is stupid light, 200 hp is enough to get it up to modern hot hatch speed. You can argue that the supra was a better buy but it is also heavy, the AE86 is obviously the better responding, one blip of the throttle and the engine is up 500rpm. No other car responds that way, even a miata, Yamaha motors are bike inspired after all. Also the AE86 handles in a very unique way. It doesn’t just stick and go like a miata, that’s no fun XD, you gotta keep that solid rear in check and use your head to modulate the throttle; but unlike heavier solid rear cars, the AE86 can turn quite well, you just need to remember to keep it under control or you’re toast. All in all it’s a unique experience and plus, it’s a Toyota, it runs forever :D

200hp? That would be awesome in a hachi roku.
But sorry its only 120.
but still enough to have fun.

When you can buy a mark ii supra (not a bad car at all) for half what a similar ae86 costs in california, he’s got a valid point

Slightly abused ae86 money will get you a 1st or second owner markII with money to spare for springs/struts, exhaust, and probably a wider set of wheels and tires to boot

I’d say its a better buy and doesn’t weigh a lot more than the 86, looks a lot cooler, while fitting right between momentum car and GT. It’ll get out of its own way but still weighs around 3000lbs

The point about the 86 is that it was fast for its time. It had even more hp than the comparable also legendary golf 1 gti.
But thats not the point.
This car might not be fast, but it drives incedibly well. Same thing with the miata.
But however a real car guy doesnt care about stereotypes.
To sum this up i want to say that a good car doesnt need to be fast.
Its about the feeling the car gives to you while driving.
And thats why the miata and the hachi roku are some really good cars.

It’s good, but Miata is always the answer

how does one tag alex in the comments

LOOK AT ALL THE FANS DEFENDING THESE CARS. I love to see them do this simply because it’s amusing.

Cause not everybody thinks the same, or some facts are a bit misleading, the ae86 was not popular because of the initial d anime and manga series, it was a cheap base car that you can mod and tune easily but also took guts to drive it to the max, so it was a starter car for drifters, as now is the miata and the gt86, not including the european rwd cars since they are more expensive than the miata and gt86, which kinda defeats the purpose of a cheap and fun car

KEIICHI TSUCHIYA anyone? I love the car from watching Best Motoring International, and watching the man himself tossing cars around the touge. We know it’s a slow car, but a well-balanced momentum car is the best way to learn. Even though we know this post is a giant troll anyway…