2015 Porsche Boxster Or 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata

Let’s say you want to purchase a new roadster and right now you have a could of good choices. However, in the more affordable category the Mazda MX-5 Miata stands pretty much alone. There just isn’t much out there that offers its balance and top down fun in its price range.

It is also economical to run offering 34 mpg highway. In fact the Mazda is so good that many will try to compare it to much more expensive cars, such as the Porsche Boxster.

The MX-5 and base Boxster (non-S model) have a lot in common. The two are nice driving roadsters that are perfect on a winding road. However, there are a few things that separate the the two and the folks at Mazda Parts USA have sent us the below Infographic comparing the two.

Now that looks like they are very comparable, but we do want to add a few things about the numbers. For one thing we aren’t sure if the quoted 0-60 mph times of either are truly correct. Porsche is known for being very conservative with their times, so a time of 5.4 seconds (5.2 seconds is the quoted time if the car is optioned with the PDK transmission and Sports Chrono package) is more likely for the manual 2.7-liter Boxster.

Likewise we question the 5.9 second time stated for the Mazda MX-5 Miata. We believe from our research that a time of 6.5 seconds is much more likely. It may have a weight advantage, but that isn’t enough to make up for over a 100 horsepower difference (although we are working on scheduling a review of the 2016 model soon, so once that happens we’ll let you know what it can do).

The German car, as you can see, costs almost twice as much. It is then no wonder that it has slightly better numbers in almost every category. For the extra money you also get a machine built with better quality materials. We aren’t saying the Miata is bad, but there will obviously be more cost cutting over the premium Porsche brand.

On paper these two are not that far off, yet they it is perhaps not fair to compare them. Sure they are both good roadsters, but they are targeting very different markets and on a track or road test the Boxster is going to win every test.