7 Reasons The AE86 and The Miata Are Overrated
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.
Comments
I agree with everything the article says, but let’s bump it up to 2016. The FRS and BRZ and the MX5 are what we have today and what the article says applies to them. Small, sporty cars (I don’t think they are sports cars as such) that are lightweight and have small sackless engines. But they are fun to drive, look great, are moddable and go to an autocross and look at the top of the time chart. Autocross is where these cars excel, not a race track.
the 86 isn’t that overrated its an amazing car for time and original price
ill admit that nowadays for the money (around £9k in the UK) you could buy a considerably better car for the money but at the time it was cheap and super fun
I totally agree with number 6, but 7 really is what being a car guy is about. Remember. Built, not bought.
I was a huge Ae86 fan before i even knew initial d was a thing..
Technically all Japanese cars with factory performance mods are “souped up” economy cars
Thankfully, there’s no dislike button on CT. :D This is actually a great post and it’s something that was needed to by written…Many CTzens act like the only acceptable first car is Miata and the only acceptable dream car is some 20-40 yo JDM car. Why? Just because of the cartoon? There’s such a variety of interesting cars - no matter if EDM, USDM, JDM or Aussies, newer or older, and many of them are much more affordable as well.
Thank you! 😀
This is much better than your BMW post. While I don’t agree with everything (it depends on what characteristics you value more in a car), it makes more sense and all the points have more logic within them.
Just a nitpick about the AE86: most of us know it by initial D, it’s true, but it has some real motorsport pedigree. AE86’s were a popular choice during the mid 80’s, especially in rallying and touring (like BTCC), because of it was a cheap, light, reliable and RWD (when most small coupés had already become FWD)
Thank you. 😀
Its like the escort of the 80s before the escort went fwd.
1) If you drive a slow car stock, you’re a rtard. Get a low mileage engine and turbo it. The miata engine will easily go up to 200-250hp ok.
2) Not really, I have never even seen Initial D (I don’t even know what that is apart from drifting) and I recognize the pop-up headlights, light chassis and RWD.
3) Since when does anybody care for stereotypes? I have a BMW and Miata and have always got thumbs up, not negative.
4) The new Corolla isn’t RWD. The new Corolla isn’t as light. Do you even think before typing?
5) The Supra was heavy, lacked power (so miserable power-to-weight ratio), and had minimum steering angle. The Supra was a better handling car, but in terms of drifting, AE86 by a clear shot.
6) Go on orlando.craigslist.org (where I live). Find a rwd, manual car for less than $2000. There is no cheaper drift car then the Miata. S13’s (The cheapest S-Chassis) goes for around $3500-4000.
7) Why would you leave an entry level car from 20 years ago stock to compete? People today don’t even do that. I can’t communicate to someone with no car experience.
“If you drive a slow car stock, you’re a rtard” That’s messed up. Some people buy 318is, Clio II RS, Impreza GT Turbo, AE86 and MX5s because they have a great chassis and good handling dynamics (plus they are cheap). That way they can improve their capabilities behind the wheel of a little sport car, so then when they have a more potent machine they can do more than just accelerating in a straight.
Response on point. Well done on picking out the subtle mistakes.
I don’t care what you think about the AE86, but everything you said about the Miata is wrong.
-Maybe the stereotypes are something important in UK but in USA I had a Miata and I got compliments of everybody, the first time I realized that miata drivers are associated with hair dressers was when a came to the CT community.
MIATA IS ALWAYS THE ANSWER.
Thank you.
Your welcome