The 2023 Toyota GR Supra.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
My wife and I are looking for a third car to be used for road trips. We want a true GT — a two-door coupe with six or more cylinders that is fully optioned to help us reach the end of long drives refreshed. While highway comfort is paramount, it should also comfortably handle mountain roads. Our target is a new car around $70,000. Less would be better but more is acceptable.
I drive a 2021 Mazda MX-5 GT automatic and use the paddle shifters a lot. I love driving it on every road other than a highway and for less than two hours. My wife feels much the same and would like a car that’s easier to get into and out of. We both would like more luggage capacity – what Miata driver doesn’t? She drives a 2020 Mazda CX-5 and loves it. I need something lower, more connected and engaging. Bluntly, we have the CX-5 because it’s the best-handling crossover on the market but it’s still a crossover.
Our third car does not need to accommodate more than two people – we have the CX-5 for that. It doesn’t need to be great handling – Miata is always the answer. It needs to get the two of us three-plus hours away in comfort and style with a reasonable amount of luggage. – Aaron
Petrina Gentile: I love it! Aaron is looking for a third car and wants a true GT for road trips. We don’t get many questions for a coupe these days.
Mark Richardson: There’s a handful of readers who will want to announce in the comments that we made this letter up, because we love questions like this from people who like to actually drive. We did not. We never do – we get enough questions already from people who are often bewildered from all the marketing.
Gentile: Let’s get back to the question. I’d like to start with Toyota. It might not be the first company that comes to mind when you think of a fun-to-drive coupe, but Toyota’s GR, or Gazoo Racing, division builds some cool, high-performance road cars that are a blast to drive.
Richardson: You’re thinking of the Supra? It starts at $72,000.
Gentile: Yes, the Supra is my preference, but it will come in closer to $80,000 by the time you add the freight, pre-delivery inspection and taxes. But there’s also the lower-end Toyota GR86 coupe, which sells for between $35,000-to-$40,000, depending on the trim, and manual or automatic transmission selection.
Richardson: Aaron says it’s “acceptable” to go over $70,000, and the GR86′s main appeal is its nimble handling. But Aaron already has one great-handling, low-powered, rear-wheel-drive sports car in his garage with the MX-5. I think he’ll be happier with the more powerful Supra.
Gentile: I love the Supra’s ride and handling; it’s nimble, quick and the manual transmission has nice, short throws. But on the downside – it doesn’t have a lot of cabin or cargo space. That’s the case with many sporty coupes.
Richardson: If Aaron has an automatic transmission in his MX-5, I don’t think he’s looking for a stick shift in his coupe. His loss.
Gentile: I agree. There’s nothing better than a manual transmission in a light-weight sporty car.
Richardson: I think he’d also love a Genesis G70. It’s a fabulous car. The trunk space isn’t much bigger than the Supra, though.
Gentile: That’s a fun car to drive and it’s the right price, starting around $54,500, but it’s a sedan. He wants a two-door coupe. I’m thinking of a Nissan Z. It’s an icon with a twin-turbo V6. And it’s fairly affordable for what you get: it starts around $54,000.
The 2023 Nissan Z.Jeremy Sinek/The Globe and Mail
Richardson: Don’t let that extra pair of doors fool you. I felt like I was in a more practical coupe when I last drove the G70. I’m ambivalent about the Z though. Maybe it’s just me, but I was expecting more from a car with such history. It drives nicely enough, but doesn’t seem to do anything better than its competition.
Gentile: I disagree. I think it’s a nice package – beautiful styling with a smooth, fun-to-drive turbocharged V6 and a good price. The look is a nice combination of retro and modern design cues, too. It’s very eye-catching on the road.
Richardson: It looks nice, I’ll give you that. But let’s go a different direction to tick off Aaron’s boxes. He wants a coupe and he wants luggage space, and $70,000 would be nice. There are plenty of Ford Mustangs, and still some Chevrolet Camaros and Dodge Challengers, that fit that bill.
Gentile: That’s true. They all have rear seats, but most are useless for adults. I know they’re iconic cars, but personally I find them too big and bulky to drive, compared to a Nissan Z, for example.
Richardson: But that size makes them terrific for drives of three hours and more, with plenty of space in the trunk and back seat. I drove a Chevy Camaro V6 across Canada in 2012 and was never uncomfortable. I’d choose a Camaro again while I can still find one on a dealer’s lot.
2024 Chevrolet Camaro SS Collector’s Edition in Panther Black Metallic Tintcoat.Courtesy of manufacturer
Gentile: 2012? That was more than a decade ago.
Richardson: Yup. I’m not saying I’d buy a 12-year-old car – though I would. I’m saying that nostalgia counts for a lot with a nameplate, and I’d consider a Camaro before a Mustang or Challenger because of it. Nostalgia will help the Nissan Z sell plenty of cars.
Gentile: I’d take the Nissan Z over any of the muscle cars – it’s so sleek, comfortable and agile in its handling. I can’t say the same for the muscle cars.
Richardson: I think you either love the idea of a Detroit muscle car, or you hate it. That’s why I don’t automatically think of them as coupes, because they’re in a niche of their own. But if Aaron already has good handling with his MX-5, and cargo space with his wife’s CX-5, maybe he wants long-legged power in his third car – and that’s Detroit’s specialty.
The Ford Mustang GT.Kunal D'souza/The Globe and Mail
Gentile: That is. But I’m on the hate-it side. I think Aaron is better off with a Toyota Supra, if it fits his budget or a Nissan Z, if it doesn’t.
Richardson: We answered the question long ago of which of the Detroit muscle cars we prefer – I like Camaros, you like Mustangs. I have a good friend who loves his Challenger. The Mustang is still sold as the gas-powered car we all remember. Camaro stopped production last December for the end of the 2024 model year but there are still some cars for sale on dealer lots – they’re a niche product. Same for the Challenger, which ended production in 2023. And of course, there’ll be a broad choice of used cars – both lightly driven and horribly abused – for years to come.
The 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Black Ghost.Courtesy of manufacturer
Gentile: If Aaron is interested, he should visit those dealerships and see if any of those cars appeal to him. I’m betting they don’t, since he didn’t mention them in his question.
Richardson: Aaron, I’d recommend the Supra. But if you like some muscle, you should be thinking about one of those Detroit cars while they’re still around.
What car should you buy? Write to Mark and Petrina at globedrive@globeandmail.com and use ‘What car’ as as part of your subject line. Emails with different subject lines may not be answered.
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