[GoingTooFast]

Subaru BRZ vs Nissan 370Z vs Mazda MX-5

Exercising the same commitment corner after corner, you discover all that fuss was 100 per cent deserved. A low centre of gravity means roll control is first rate. That enhances the sense of accuracy you get from the BRZ’s steering, and contributes to balance and agility of genuinely breathtaking order. Turn-in is instinctive. The BRZ takes no time to settle into a steady cornering state, even under high lateral loads. The engine’s linear power curve gets together with the torque-sensing limited-slip differential to allow you to play with the car’s cornering attitude in a spellbindingly delicate and precise fashion.

This is a sports car first and a fast car second – which is refreshing to report. While the BRZ’s limits are impressive, it’s more the breadth and habitability of the margins of its handling that end up holding your imagination hostage. You don’t need to goad it. Just drive it with the same smooth composure and exactness that characterises the car vividly. Once you’re on terms with it, it becomes playful, subtle and totally beguiling. You can’t help falling for it.

Neither the 370Z nor the MX-5 can thrill at that level. Compared to Subaru, they look like blunt, dull communicators here, outclassed by a new affordable driver’s car of amazing delicacy and extraordinary talent. One that could be the best sports car to come out of Japan since the Honda NSX, and that must be worth £25k from anyone who knows what sunny weekends and great roads were really made for.