Total MX-5 – July 2019

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74 | TOTAL MX-5 |^ Spring 2019

IT’S BEEN A QUIET few months
for my mega-mile (fast closing
in on 150,000 miles) mk3, with
nothing of any great note to
report, save for the very
annoying creak from the
urethane anti-roll bar bushes. I’ll
be going back to rubber, next
time the car is on the ramps.
So, while I don’t have a great
deal to say on the nuts and
bolts of MX-5 ownership in this
issue, Editor Fraser has asked
that I step outside of the MX-5
bubble to compare and contrast
my experiences of MX-5
ownership v Porsche ownership.
Regular readers will know
that I also wear the Teutonic tin
hat of the Porsche driver. It
goes with the territory of the
day job, that of being Editor of
Total MX-5’s sister mag, 911 &
Porsche World. I don’t get a free

Porsche, or anything like that.

But I have owned Porsches for

many years and long before the

Porsche job came along. And all

the time that there’s been an

MX-5 in the right-hand garage,

there’s always been a Porsche in

the left-hand garage.

My current Porsche is a 996

model 911, which I’ve had for

pretty much exactly four years.

Previous Porsches have included

loads of 944s and six-years with

a proper air-cooled 911, which I

wish I still had.

If you know even the slightest

thing about modern Porsches,

you’ll know that the 996 is the

rather unloved one, which is

fine because that makes them

cheap. That’s cheap to buy, but

not cheap to run. Oh, no! I

bought cheap and have

subsequently spent deep, on

what is a quite complicated car

compared with the joyous

simplicity of an MX-5. For any

sort of spare part, triple or

quadruple the cost for a

Porsche equivalent.

I will often say that the MX-5

is 95% as much fun as my 911,

but 100% of the time. I’m not

quite sure it makes sense, but

with the MX-5, its sheer usable

ability trumps the 911. It’s always

ready to go and is the perfect

machine for my rural location.

Typically, a journey in the 911

takes more planning. It’s not a

car for trundling down to the

shops in. Why would you?

When push comes to shove,

though, that last 5% is wrapped

up in the 911’s dynamics and

rather more exotic engineering.

Notably the flat-six engine and

its location, hanging out of the

rear. There really is nothing

quite like it in sound and feel.

Oh, and 300bhp is always a

good thing to have on your side,

too. When the driving stars

align, the 911 thrills in a way that

most cars don’t, not even the

wonderful MX-5.

But here’s the thing. While I

enjoy my 911 and respect its 50+

year heritage and all the 911s

that have gone before it, I don’t

love it in the same way I do my

MX-5. You can’t be unhappy in

an MX-5. It’s a genuine mood

enhancer. Smiles per miles. Fling

the hood back, jump in, go.

There’s none of the high-brow,

reverential nonsense that’s

wrapped up with the 911.

Scratch the surface and it’s not

very deep, but then neither is a

dog and, like a dog, or any pet

for that matter, an MX-5 will

become part of the family.

MK3 2.0

Run by: Steve Bennett

Owned since: December 2017

Total mileage: 147,850

Latest costs: £0

Mazda MX-5 v Porsche 911. You can respect the 911, reckons Bennett, but you

can’t love it quite the same way as you can an MX-5