Mazda MX-5 vs Porsche 718

What's the difference?

It's not often a car is elevated to 'icon' status, cars like the VW Beetle, Porsche 911, Toyota LandCruiser or Ford Mustang - but the Mazda MX-5 has quietly been the best choice for keen drivers who don't want to break the bank with a big sticker price or costly maintenance.

The ND MX-5 has been around since 2015, and while it’s been praised as a return to the original, simple formula of the NA MX-5 from the late 80s and early 90s, it’s getting close to a decade old.

So, a little refresh with some new tech and a mechanical tweak is here to make the roadster feel like a playful pup once more.

And what better place to test that out than a combination of the winding roads of the Adelaide Hills wine region, paired nicely with a main course of track driving at The Bend Motorsport Park?

“If this is to be our end, then I would have them make such an end as to be worthy of remembrance.”

King Theoden may have been talking about the men and women of Rohan in The Lord of the Rings, but he could have just as easily been talking about the team behind the Porsche 718 Boxster.

It’s been nearly 30 years (yes, that long) since the Boxster joined the Porsche line-up as the more affordable sports car alternative to the 911, but now it’s facing a dramatic change that will make it a very different beast.

Porsche has committed to an electric future for the 718 but before it does so, there was one more petrol-powered version to create, this one, the 718 Spyder RS. It stands to be the final 718 to have an internal combustion engine, but could also be the best.

The 718 Spyder RS is the Boxster version of the previously released Cayman-based GT4 RS. So it takes every element of the sports car and turns it up to 11. This is faster, more powerful, lighter and more dynamic than the Boxster has ever been.