Reviewer Consensus · Head to Head
Comparisons
Every matchup is built from real reviewers driving both cars — their head-to-head verdicts, aggregated.
comparison videos analyzed · hours watched
matchups written up so far
compare › MX-5 Miata ND vs S2000 AP1–AP2
Mazda MX-5 Miata ND vs Honda S2000 AP1–AP2
18 reviewers · 44 videos · updated Jubbal & Cars · 12·Zygrene · 9·TheTopher · 6·Tedward · 2
// the short answer
We watched 44 videos from 18 reviewers. The S2000 is the one that gives you goosebumps: rawer, more alive, and almost nobody disagrees. The Miata is the one you'll drive more, with more low-down torque, far better mileage and a modern cabin. Be honest about which of those you are.
More reviewers sharpened the trade: the Miata has the more talkative steering, but the S2000's chassis feels more tied down, and nobody actually says the Miata grips harder.
// who each one is for
// category by category
№ 01
Performance
S2000 wins13–5leans
S2000 is more raw and visceral than the Miata.
№ 02
Handling
A tie9–9tie
Where reviewers split. Handling is where the reviewers genuinely divide. Jubbal & Cars and Zygrene, the two channels with the most Miata seat time, hand the ND the steering outright — "better steering in essentially every way," a rack that "easily out does" the Honda's — plus earlier warning at the limit. But more channels side with the S2000's chassis: Tedward calls it "such a rigid real expensive kind of chassis," M.G. Reviews finds it "much more flat," Sunday Morning Drives says it's "less prone to under steer," and Gaijin Touge says it "easily has the best steering of the three." Steering feel leans Miata; body control and rigidity lean S2000.
“The steering is by far the most natural has the best feedback the best waiting it doesn't have that artificial fast ratio of the BRZ either.”
№ 03
Fun to drive
S2000 wins16–1clear
S2000 wins on high-revving, peaky character.
№ 04
Daily drivability
Miata wins10–4leans
Miata is quieter inside with the top up.
№ 05
Value
No direct calls; the Miata rates higher on its own
№ 06// the footage
Hear it in the reviewer’s words
TheTopher
Posted Oct 14, 2025Open on YouTube
Moments worth your time
Jubbal & Cars
Posted May 18, 2024Open on YouTube
Moments worth your time
Zygrene
Posted Jan 18, 2018Open on YouTube
Moments worth your time
// the long version
“A roadster you build the day around versus one that just slips into it.
The S2000 lives at the top of the tach — the F20C/F22C climb to a screaming payoff and a shifter the rest of the class is still measured against — and it rewards commitment because it demands it.
The ND Miata wants nothing from you: the same lightweight, open-top idea made effortless, with usable low-down torque, better economy, and a cabin you'd happily commute in — joy at seven-tenths, every day.
The S2000 is the occasion; the Miata is the habit.