late 80's early 90's sports car preference?

Hello! I have been debating to get a late 80's early 90's budget sports car that i could compete in auto-x with. i barely see any AW11's in any category, i would think they would be going up against miatas and crx's and winning, but is the miata and crx just that much better of an engineered car? with the miata's double a-arm and mass support in Auto-x, why can't the AW11 compete with it? mid-engine in an AW11, i have read toyota engineers who have prepped them for N2 racing that they drive like F3 cars (F1 basically) perhaps auto-x is too constricting, not to bash on a miata, but given more tuning freedom the potential of the aw11 could surpass the miata and crx?

I had, repeat HAD a 97 Miata which was the BEST ever sports car I ever had. I know the post said late 80's, early 90's, but the 97's were the same as the 89 Miatas except for OBD2, an extra airbag and slightly more horsepower and a slightly larger engine. I had it for 3years, and 7 months, it got totalled on 11/11/06.