Mazda MX-5 Miata ND vs Honda S2000 AP1–AP2
We watched 42 videos from 16 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.
Counts are head-to-head calls: each time a reviewer picked one car over the other. “On ratings” means nobody made that call directly; the car named rates higher in its own reviews.
Performance
S2000 is more raw and visceral than the Miata.
Handling
Miata has superior steering feedback and weighting.
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 S2000 as an example, two decades older than this car... it has significantly better chassis rigidity because they weren't optimizing for lightweight there.”
“it's not like a miata where it kind of feels a little flimsy like there's just this thing around you this feels like such a rigid real expensive kind of chassis”
Fun to drive
S2000 is more visceral and emotionally engaging.
Daily drivability
Miata is more refined and has fewer rattles.
Value
“in 2024 s2000s in decent condition command the same price as a certified pre-owned ND MX5”
Hear it in the reviewer’s words
“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.