Mazda MX-5 Beats Fiat 124 Spider in Track Battle With More Fun, Faster Lap

The last time Fiat made a fun-to-drive RWD roadster, my grandparents didn't need arthritis medicine. The Japanese started making British roadsters over 20 years ago and never stopped. So perhaps this tech borrowing should be seen as normal.

There's something bugging you, something you can't quite put your finger on, right? We've been getting since the Fiat 124 Spider came out, and we finally figured out what it is. Being seen in one of these isn't cool, not as it was in the early 2000s.

Nowadays, people have Instagram pictures to live up to, phones with better resolutions than their TVs and... women that care only about their career and never settle down. The ND Miata is definitely still cool, but it's the sort of cool you want to keep to yourself.

But the Fiat 124 Spider is like a cover song, a good one. The artist, in this case an underappreciated Italian, has a unique skill set that sets him apart from his Japanese counterpart that inspired him. However, he did a cover of a 1990s single instead of Taylor Swift.

That's the kind of tone every journalist hears in the back of his head while reviewing the 124 Spider. It's a great car with an excellent set of turbocharged skills. But driving one is like being caught listening to the Backstreet Boys.

We wrote all that as a preview for this video because it's a pretty easy thing to understand. PistonHeads liked the Miata more because it's got a limited slip differential and is lighter. Both things contribute significantly to it being 2.5 seconds around the track. The problem with this conclusion is that not every Miata has a LSD and not every Fiat 124 Spider has less power. On top of that, the MX-5 has cult following.