The MR2's Competition

Porsche Boxster

The brilliant Porsche Boxster may nearly twice as much as a Toyota MR2, but high resale values mean that it isn't out of reach as an alternative to the MR2.  Porsches always attract praise for handling, quality of finish and pure driving thrills.  The new Boxster doesn't disappoint in any of these areas.   

Porsche Boxster

A huge list of costly options do put some prospective owners off - air conditioning, leather seats and other options taken for granted by MR2 owners will cost you an arm and a leg on you Boxster.  Our local Porsche dealer tells us that typically owners spend about £4,000 on options; spend less and you'll find that your prized possession is under specified for the used market, or spend more and you'll find that you don't recover the extra cost you spent on your purchase.  This makes the true price of the typical Boxster more like £36,000 which is twice the price of the typical MR2.  

Porsche Boxster S

As a driver's car, the Boxster S has few rivals, but with prices starting from £38,000 you need a good wad to afford one; expect to pay fairly high prices for servicing too.

The extra £6,000 premium over the standard Boxster buys you a considerable hike in performance plus the inclusion of standard air conditioning, partial leather seats, and Boxster 17" alloy wheels.  You also get uprated, drilled front brakes that aren't otherwise available as an option.  Visual differences are the red paint used on the brake calipers, a central air intake on the front spoiler and a twin round exhaust pipe in place of the Boxster's sinngle oval pipe.

As with the Boxster, owners are expected to spend a few thousand pounds on extras, and most will increase the price to slightly over £40,000, making it a pretty expensive (but brilliant) alternative to the MR2.  We're prepared to concede that the Boxster is indeed a more pure performance motor car, but at these prices, can't accept that it's better value for money than the MR2.