Toyota GR86 vs Porsche 718

What's the difference?

We are approaching a decade and a half since Toyota dipped into its vault and pulled out an iconic pair of digits, 86, and stuck ‘em on the back of a new car it co-developed with Subaru.

Named for, and loosely inspired by, the rear-drive AE86 Corolla of the mid-1980s which was cemented in the pop culture pantheon by the anime Initial D, the Toyota 86 is in its second generation and wears a ‘GR86’ badge to incorporate the name of Toyota’s sports car division. 

The 86 was, when launched, extremely affordable but has since become more expensive, and getting into a top-spec version of the GR86 is a task that’ll sap $20,000 more from your wallet than the original 86 base model.

To find out if it’s worthwhile, we’ve snagged a 2026 Toyota GR86 GTS with optional Dynamic Performance Pack (DPP) to see if Toyota’s accessible sports car still hits the same sweet spot between genuine performance and decent value.

“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.