Affordable Sports Car Comparison: 2024 Shootout

Affordable, engaging cars are a rarity these days, but these four all provide plenty of smiles per hour for less than the average new car transaction price.

Don't get it twisted: the Mazda MX-5 Miata Club (GS-P in Canada), Mini Cooper S, Subaru BRZ tS, and Toyota GR86 Trueno Edition don't represent the entire spread of affordable sports cars. There are other options around the $40,000 range, a few of which are American. For this comparison however, we're focusing on small footprints, and big fun. And we mean fun in different ways, too: the new-for-2025 Mini is the front-drive interloper here, yet offers a very particular sort of fun compared to the pared-back Mazda.

With contributing writers Jeff Wilson and Jerry Vo along for the ride, we spent days driving these cars in all sorts of situations before scoring them. Rain and shine, highway slogs, and glorious backroads, these bundles of fun did it all.

Read on for the affordable sports car comparison, brought to you by WeatherTech.

Some say “Miata is always the answer.” As someone who, years ago, willfully chose to daily-drive an MX-5, all year, in all types of weather, I once subscribed to that belief too. I was much younger then.

So, while Kyle will wax on poetically about the idyllic situation of an evening lake-side drive en route to get pizza, as the resident curmudgeon, I’m here with a dose of reality.

Maybe where you live, the conditions for going topless are always ideal, but here in Southern Ontario, we get approximately 15 minutes a year when it’s not too hot, too cold, too wet, or someone in the car has spent too much time or money on their hair. I’ve tried to take advantage of the bit of sunshine we had this test week, and now my forehead is the same crimson shade as a baboon’s butt.

Fortunately, the MX-5’s ability to drive around al fresco is only a small part of its considerable charm. The steering, for instance, is razor-sharp, and while it’s still not the same as an olden-days sports car with unassisted or hydraulic steering in terms of road feel, as far as electrically-boosted steering goes, this is about as good as it gets. This has been an MX-5 hallmark for decades, and yet still Mazda sought to improve it this year by making incremental changes to the steering column and tuning.

The MX-5 dives and rolls more on its softer suspension than the Subaru-Toyota twins, and with skinnier tires, it doesn’t have quite the grip of those two either. Of course, the Miata has never been about setting blistering lap times out of the box anyway, and this one’s no exception. But on the smooth, winding roads of our test loop, we were never wishing for more than the MX-5 gives. It playfully, joyfully arcs from one corner to the next with only subtle inputs from the driver needed, as if the car is responding telepathically.

The MX-5’s engine might be the weakest one in this test, but—and I know it sounds like a cliché—it’s all that’s needed and fits perfectly with the balanced character of this car. It revs so freely and there’s no rev-hang between shifts the way the Toyobaru Twins are afflicted. Spin the engine up, clutch in, and the stubby shifter goes snick-snick from gate to gate with buttery smoothness. There aren’t many cars left with a manual transmission these days, and far fewer still that are worth enjoying, but like the MX-5’s steering, its transmission is tough to fault.

That purity and simplicity is applied to the cockpit too, almost to a fault. The HVAC system is operated by a trio of manual controls, just like it used to be decades ago. Sure, it’s simple and it works, but I don’t think the convenience of an automatic climate control system would ruin this car.

The infotainment system has been updated this year, too, and it now incorporates Mazda’s wider-screen format. There’s still no wireless CarPlay and Android Auto, but—praise be—at least there’s touchscreen functionality, bringing us one step closer to making that tedious rotary controller redundant.

Notwithstanding the magnificent Recaro seats, the rest of the interior’s finishes are pretty plain, and sometimes downright cheap-looking, belying the Mazda’s ambitious pricing that makes it the costliest car in this test, at least Stateside.

The MX-5 might be the purest driving experience one can get in a new car, but it forces an owner to compromise a lot with its precious little cabin space for the odds and ends many of us travel with. If you’re a fan of the Big Gulp cup, the MX-5 might not work for you. For that matter, it probably won’t work for anyone who isn’t fairly svelte and limber, since getting in and out can be a bit tricky. The MX-5 is loud with wind noise (but also fun mechanical noises), its ride isn’t great, and the trunk won’t hold much more than a shoebox or two.

As the least-practical, and least-lavish car in the test, it makes our tester’s highest as-tested cost of $38,920 a bit tough to swallow—even more so in Canada where it tops $44,500. Still, buyers of new MX-5s see this as a value-leading occasional car that costs far less than Boxster or Z4 they might otherwise be considering, not as a daily-driver.

Since its inception in the late 80s, the MX-5’s sole purpose has been motoring fun. The purity and engagement this car offers today makes it darn-near a one-of-a-kind in the auto industry. When asked what car we wanted to take home for the sunny weekend, our group unanimously chose the Mazda. If that isn’t proof that it’s the most-fun car here, I don’t know what is.

Look, I'm as shocked as you. We all subscribe to the MX-5's newsletter, but when the numbers were tallied, it had the exact same final score as the Mini.

How did this happen? Consider the Mini the yin to the Mazda's yang: an accessible front-drive hatchback, featuring a cabin that allows two people to actually bring things or—gasp—other folks with them. For 2025, Mini has redone the classic two-door (sorry, three-door for those in Canada and the rest of the—correct—world), introducing one of the best interiors you can find under $50,000. Sure, it's the only car here to skip a manual transmission, but a) we always knew that was going to happen, and b) there’s more to fun than a row-your-own setup, right?

Something we heard from multiple people during our week with the Sea Foam Green Mini: it looks like an EV.

In a strange way, it does sort of drive like one. The Cooper S retains the much-loved B48 2.0-liter turbo-four. Power and torque are both up, now at 201 hp and 228 lb-ft. A seven-speed dual-clutch is once again the dancing partner here. It’s very quick with the shifts, and fairly well-mannered when tootling around town. Even though it’s the heaviest car here, the Cooper S is quick: not, as I suspected before we drove them all, any quicker than the others, but it’ll keep pace with the Toyobarus in a sprint. It even sounds pretty good, too.

No, the problem is that the Mini’s driving experience is one-dimensional. Sure, there’s that eager-puppy turn-in, the over-thick wheel not exactly brimming with feedback but very accurate. The all-season Pirellis give up early, so the Mini driver has to back off right as the other cars are finding their groove. Even working within those constraints, the Mini eggs its driver on to get more involved … only they can’t. A DCT is one thing, but ditching the paddle shifters? In an S?! Your only choice is to flick the world’s tiniest shifter down again for L, which just tells the DCT to hold each of its seven gears for longer.

That the Mini isn’t the sharpest tool here isn’t a surprise. But like we keep hammering, fun can take many forms, and the Cooper’s cabin is where it really shines. There’s a satisfying knit texture all over the place, and the vegan leather seats can fool anybody. There are still fun little toggles down low, and at night there’s cool ambient lighting beamed onto the dash from behind the central touchscreen.

Oh yes, that touch screen. While all the Japanese models have infotainment setups best described as “archaic,” the Mini goes ultra-modern here. It’s all a little overwhelming at first, with a user interface that’s a bit of a jumble. Spend a bit of time with the screen and there’s a lot of muscle behind the scenes.

Only Mini could pull off the Experiences setup, with each tailoring the drive mode and menu styles, complete with a little noise on activation. Do I switch to Go Kart mode just for the wahoo? Of course. Sure, CarPlay shows up as a square window in a round screen, but overall, the Mini’s infotainment offers a level of personalization the others can’t hope to match. That’s fun.

And who remembers the last time a Mini hatch had the most spacious back-seat in a comparison? I don’t need a shrink ray to fit back here, and this might be the only car on the market with a separate bit of glass in the rear yet no back doors.

The Mini is very nearly the most expensive tester here in American terms, and far and away the priciest in Canada. The closest equivalent US build would make it $38,295, a couple hundred below the Mazda and about $2,500 richer than the most affordable model (the Toyota). Yet in Canada it’s $4,500 clear of the next-priciest car, and a whopping $11,000 more than the wicked-good-deal Subaru.

That’s a tough pill to swallow. Even though the Mini lags behind the others for driving enjoyment, its joyous cabin and sense of quality make it the sort of fun that doesn’t require a winding road.

With the MINI and Mazda tied for the bottom two spots in this comparo, only the Toyota and Subaru twins are at the top. While they are mostly identical twins, they do slightly differ in their calibration, finishing touches, and price. All things considered, the 2024 Toyota GR86 Trueno Edition settles for second place—but not by much at all.

There are very subtle differences between the two, mostly in suspension calibration. For the TRUENO, Toyota has elected to stay with Sachs as a damper supplier, which matches the previous generation of Toyobaru twins. The rear sway bar is mounted to the rear subframe on the GR86 versus directly to the unibody on the BRZ. The BRZ utilizes an aluminum front knuckle on base model cars, reducing unsprung weight. In contrast, the GR86 uses a sturdier steel unit. For this comparison, however, that's all moot, as the tS and TRUENO's Brembo brakes mean that both cars use the steel knuckle.

On the inside, there are only subtle color differences, but the Trueno gets a nicer shift knob. On the outside, the Trueno gets a decal package that evokes the tofu-delivering AE86 Toyota Corolla seen in the legendary Initial D Japanese manga series. It might look a little boy-racer to many, but if you know, you know.

Of our dynamic foursome, the GR86 Trueno Edition is the sharpest driving one of the bunch when it comes to hustling through twisty backroads. The Sachs dampers are a little less compliant, resulting in a firmer ride, but the end result is superior body control and more composure when tackling bumpy corners. Based on our three testers’ scores, it’s clear that some preferred the firmer ride with extra control, while others would have given some of that up for a bit more comfort.

The 86’s (and BRZ’s) steering is firmer and offers more confidence over the Mazda MX-5, even if it isn’t necessarily more precise. If you want to take any single one of these four out on a track or autocross day, the Toyota is the one you want, but not by much compared to the Subaru.

With a tad more give in its suspension and being a smoking deal in Canada, the 2024 Subaru BRZ tS takes the cake in this comparison test. It won over our three testers with the best performance, comfort, and value balance and squeaked past the GR86 by only half a point. It scored high marks for its powertrain and handling but gave up a little bit for its cramped rear seat, basic interior, and less emotional appeal versus the Mazda and Toyota.

This is not to say that the Mini and Mazda MX-5 are inferior in any particular way. All three of us testers agreed that the open-roof Mazda might be what we'd buy with our own money, and the Mini is still an enjoyable car to thread the needle with in tight urban settings.

In Japan’s Super GT racing series, “Proud of BOXER” adorns the Subaru BRZ GT300’s livery, and after driving the BRZ tS (and its GR86 twin), it’s easy to see why. The Toyobarus’ boxer four-cylinder engine revs freely to 7,500 RPM and makes 228 hp at 7,000 rpm to go along with 184 lb-ft of torque at 3,700 rpm. Combined with short gearing and 2.4 liters of displacement (versus 2.0 before 2022), the BRZ/GR86 has a surprising amount of grunt at lower revs.

In spirited driving, it’s not always necessary to downshift, and running the engine at around 3,000 to 4,000 rpm is awfully satisfying. The numbers don’t lie, either; the high horsepower and low torque peaks mean that this engine makes power everywhere. Compared to the rest of the pack, the Mazda is a little nicer to drive just off idle and also features a 7,500 rpm redline, and the MINI’s turbocharged engine has much more low-end torque but runs out of breath as revs increase.

While the Mini features the best rear seat and offers hatchback cargo carrying capacity, the BRZ and GR86 are still surprisingly good cars to live with daily. With the rear seats folded down, the Toyobaru twins can carry a set of their own wheels and tires—which is crucial for folks who may have an extra set for motorsports use (or for northern climate people doing seasonal winter tire swaps). The rear seats aren’t really that usable, but smaller-proportioned people can fit in a pinch for shorter trips.

The Subaru and Toyota also feature just enough tech to help with daily driving, with middle-of-the-pack infotainment that's all function above any sort of form. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are included, but are not wireless. For 2024, manual transmission cars gain advanced driver assist systems (ADAS) with Subaru's Eyesight system, which means forward collision warning with automatic braking, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, and rear cross-traffic alert systems.

Overall, the Subaru and Toyota offer an outstanding balance of daily living and high performance. It won't be long before they won't build them like this anymore.

We need to stress something here: our scoring process was just one way to do this. Fun, as it turns out, comes in many shapes and sizes, and our particular set of parameters might not align with yours. And that's okay!

While the Subaru won this time, not since last year's hot hatch comparison has there been such a great example of "everyone's a winner." Each of us understood and appreciated all four cars' strengths, and regardless of which is right for you, they are affordable ways to put smiles on faces.

The bottom line, as Jerry put it best: "If you buy any of these four, we salute you as someone who has chosen to buy an enthusiast's car."

Become an AutoGuide insider. Get the latest from the automotive world first by subscribing to our newsletter here.