2026 Best Mainstream Performance Car: Mazda MX-5

Miata is always the answer. It’s now an internet-famous phrase, and one that AutoTrader’s collective of more than 20 experts returns to every few years when voting for the Best Mainstream Performance Car. This year, for the third time in the past five years, our experts have voted Mazda’s venerable roadster as the mainstream sports car above all else.

The most remarkable part of the MX-5’s win is that this fourth-generation car looks essentially the same as it did when it was first unveiled more than a decade ago. It is a triumph of excellent design when a car that can stir the souls of enthusiasts still looks sharp a decade on.

The MX-5’s clean, simple, and timeless appearance is only a small part of why the little Mazda endears itself to so many drivers. It’s also about masterfully executing a mission to deliver the purest, most authentic driving experience possible in today’s high-tech, safety-first automotive world. It means that time behind the wheel takes a driver back in time to a simpler era when sports cars were diminutive, lightweight, and most of all, communicative. The MX-5’s steering fizzes with life, sharing the details of what’s happening where the rubber meets the road and having the car respond almost telepathically.

There’s a surprising amount of body roll from the MX-5 when it’s pushed hard into the corners, which harkens sports cars from the good old days before they were stiffened to impractically painful levels. Mazda’s roadster never argues with its driver; never fights back with scary oversteer, or belligerent understeer, it just responds obediently, making it playful and endlessly fun.

Part of the ease of driving an MX-5 is what makes many folks look down their noses, believing it’s hopelessly underpowered. And while the 2.0L four-cylinder’s 181 hp is meagre even by subcompact crossover standards these days, the MX-5 never feels slow. On the contrary, with the windows and top open, seated so low to the ground, and feeling the world whiz by, you realize it’s a decently quick little car owing to its feathery 1,090 kg weight.

Plus, having any more power would deprive the driver of rowing the gears as often as possible. The MX-5 is fitted with one of the finest six-speed manual transmissions ever, and shifting up and down while the happy little engine sings is about as close to automotive nirvana as one can get.

Sure, the MX-5 is a compromised car. While many of the well over 1 million buyers (including yours truly) have used their Miata as a year-round, daily driver, it typically serves duty as a second or third car, and one reserved for fair-weather fun or track days. Its trunk is larger than expected for such a tiny car, but still barely large enough to contain a couple of carry-on suitcases. Interior storage is virtually non-existent, and if you’ve got more than two people in your family, you’re leaving all but one behind. With a starting price of more than $35,000 in its most basic form, it can be a lot to ask for an occasional-use toy. And for 2026, there are no notable changes to this decade-old car.

Still, for those fortunate enough to have an MX-5, they’ll enjoy endless miles of smiles, plus the excellent build quality, reliability, and simplicity that has made the little Mazda the answer for so many drivers. There are two types of driving enthusiasts: those who love the MX-5 Miata and those who’ve never driven one yet. Since we have driven it as often as we can, we know it’s worth our votes as this year’s Best Mainstream Performance Car.