2011 Porsche 911 Carrera S Convertible 2-door 3.8l With A Low 3700 Miles on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Modded budget Mazda Miata takes on new Porsche Boxster in more challenges

Earlier this month, our friends across the pond at Auto Express released the first in a two-video series that would see them try and build up a second-generation Mazda MX-5 Miata that could best a standard Porsche Boxster around the track. While that first video detailed the mods to the MX-5 - a supercharger, some suspension upgrades and a new set of super-sticky rubber being chief among them - and set baseline lap times for the stock car, today, we have the results of the 5,000-pound ($8,200) upgrade job.
Of course, we aren't going to spoil those for you. You'll need to watch the full video, which recaps the upgrades before digging into a comparison of both straight-line-speed differences between the 2.7-liter Porsche Boxster and blown Miata, as well as their behavior and lap times on the track.
Take a look and let us know what you think in Comments.

Magnus Walker crashes vintage Porsche with reporter inside

One of the minor storms on the Internet earlier this week concerned Porsche 911 collector and Outlaw tuner Magnus Walker getting in an accident in Minnesota. Walker had shipped his #277 1971 Porsche 911T to the twin city for the opening of a $10-million Porsche dealership there, and the day began with lots of Facebook and Instagram photos of the car posing all over the showroom grounds. This is the same car that we've seen in Jay Leno's Garage, in Midnight Rambler, and in a Need for Speed trailer. Then came a photo of the 911 next to a semi trailer with its driver's side crumpled in and punctured. No one was clear on how it happened, but it seemed to involve swerving out of the way of a Mercedes-Benz on a frontage road by the dealership. Thanks to video from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, now we know what happened. Newspaper reporter Vineeta Sawkar had been doing a story with Walker and wanted to get some video for the piece. During one pass down the frontage road Walker decided to go into a right-hander a little faster than prudent, the car understeered toward the center yellow, and then Walker did the most verboten thing one can do when cornering in a vintage 911: he lifted off the gas. Hello instant rear-engined oversteer. Cue the fishtailing, a millimeter-fine brush with a Pagoda SL, and a crunch into that truck trailer. Sawkar said she was a little battered and bruised but ok, as is Walker – who went on to test drive a GT3 RS later in the day. Head over to the Star Tribune to see the video.

Jaguar F-Type squares off against Porsche 911, Aston V8 Vantage with Chris Harris

Chris Harris is back on the job, taking on really really difficult car questions like: Which enormously sexy and good-to-drive, high-performance convertible is the top of the heap? As one of the hottest cars in the luxury space right now, the Jaguar F-Type S is, of course, in on the action. Competition comes in the form of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster and the Porsche 911 Carrera S Cabriolet. Sun-loving CEOs who despise test-driving need look no further.
Scroll on below for a fully featured (with a running time of more than 20 minutes) comparison video. Harris does his best to entertain - in a typically nitpicky and made-up-British-words fashion - and the moving pictures are lovely to look at. Kick back, pour a pint and get your weekend started off right.