Best roadsters 2025 – serious alfresco driving machines
The best roadsters offer big thrills with minimal compromises - these are evo’s favourites from past and present
There are fewer and fewer convertibles and roadsters being built these days but there are still plenty of delectable drop tops to choose from. Indeed, there are some in the pipeline that we can’t wait to sample this year – machines like the upcoming Aston Martin Vantage Roadster. It looks stunning and if it performs as well as the coupe we’re going to be in for a real treat.
But what’s the difference between a roadster and a convertible? In truth, there are no hard and fast rules that put a car in one category or the other, but we’d argue that Roadsters are the more overtly dynamic and sporting in nature and happen to have removable roofs. Convertibles are sometimes, but not always, based on slightly more prosaic coupes, saloons or grand tourers and while there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s the roadsters that offer the ultimate in thrills.
In the UK you could argue that roadsters are aimed at the eternal optimist. But believe it or not, this country has the second highest ratio of drop-tops per capita of any in the world, so there are plenty of glass-half-full motorists about. We should celebrate then the manufacturers who can still justify chopping the roof off various sports and supercars and these are our current favourites.
Best roadsters 2024
- Maserati MC20 Cielo
- Ferrari 296 GTS
- Porsche 718 Spyder RS
- McLaren 750S Spider
- McLaren Artura Spider
- BMW Z4 Handschalter
- Mazda MX-5 RF
- Morgan Plus Four
- Chevrolet Corvette
Maserati MC20 Cielo
Maserati’s new dawn got off to a stunning start with the MC20, its combination of raucous turbocharged grunt and dynamic finesse enabling it to take the 2023 eCoty crown. It’s no wonder, then, that the open-top MC20 Cielo is one of our favourite roadsters of the moment.
The Cielo is underpinned by a carbon chassis built by Dallara, which has been reinforced to mitigate the loss of rigidity from removing the roof. Weight has crept up to 1560kg (dry), and while the springs and dampers have been retuned to suit, the Cielo still captures what we love about the MC20 - namely the explosive V6 motor and wonderfully fluid chassis.
Ferrari 296 GTS
Somehow, after the brutally fast but slightly confused SF90, Ferrari pulled a blinder with its second series-production hybrid. The 296 GTB captures the noise, athleticism and sheer speed of our favourite mid-engined Berlinettas, and the Spider version adds even more drama, opening up the V6 symphony behind your head.
With the same 819bhp as the coupe, the 296 GTS feels just as intensely rapid – perhaps even more so given that it exposes you to the elements. But it’s the car’s natural balance that shines brightest, thanks to its impressively rigid structure and relatively small 70kg weight penalty over the hard-top.
Porsche 718 Spyder RS
Porsche’s entry-level roadster has morphed into an altogether more serious, hugely competent machine since the first Boxster arrived in 1996, and the 718 Spyder RS is the pinnacle of the breed. A drop-top Cayman GT4 RS in all but name, the Spyder RS gets the same 493bhp 4-litre flat-six, which revs to 9000rpm and sounds utterly sublime while doing so.
Straight-line performance is very similar to that of its hard-top stablemate, but the driving experience is a little less hardcore with more road-biased suspension and steering tuning. This is a good thing; on the road, the Spyder RS feels pure, intense and all-consuming, but without some of the harsher edges of the GT4 RS. Few – if any – modern sports cars are quite as intoxicating. As the last combustion-engined Boxster, it's a fitting send-off.
McLaren 750S Spider
Despite a new name and a £269,160 price tag, the McLaren 750S is very much an evolution of the 720S rather than a completely new car. For us, that can only be a good thing, because the 720S remains one of the world's greatest supercars.
For the 750S, McLaren has teased more power from its twin-turbocharged 4-litre V8 for peaks of 740bhp and 590lb ft, while also stripping out 30kg (the Spider weighs 1438kg and feels almost identical to the coupe thanks to its carbon construction). The suspension has also been revised to generate more 765LT-style sharpness and aggression, and the combined effect is one of the most thrilling and addictive open-top supercars you can buy.
McLaren Artura Spider
We immediately fell for the McLaren Artura when we first drove it, so much so that it made the podium at evo's 2022 Car of the Year test, sharing third place with Ferrari's 296 GTB. That a Spider version arrived later was no surprise, but we didn't anticipate the extensive upgrades that McLaren would apply to its baby supercar at the same time. The changes have made a stunningly fast car even quicker thanks to a power boost to 690bhp, with comprehensively reworked chassis systems designed to deliver more precision than before. The result is a car that managed a very close second at evo Car of the Year 2024.
The revised Artura is a significant step on from what was already a brilliant car, with newfound levels of finesse and sharpness to the driving experience. The best part is that thanks to a stiff carbonfibre chassis, the Spider weighs just 62kg more than the coupe and offers the same level of excitement – if not more so with unfiltered access to the tunes from its V6.
BMW Z4 Handschalter
BMW’s Z4 has always struggled to be the driver’s car that so many wanted it to be, and the main reason for that comes in a Boxster-shaped fly in the ointment. Put simply, the Z4 has never been its equal when it comes to out-and-out driver satisfaction. The latest generation – especially in M40i form – is a decent steer, but lacked the ultimate in involvement.
That’s changed though with the introduction of the Z4 ‘Handschalter’, which literally means ‘hand-shifter’ in German. Yes, six years into its life the most powerful Z4 is finally available with a six-speed manual gearbox. It’s only available in green with a brown interior, but that third pedal provides another layer of interaction that makes the Z4 a much better car.
The turbocharged straight-six is still an absolute joy to sit behind and the manual ‘box really lets you get the best from it. Additional revisions for the Handschalter include different chassis settings with mixed-size wheels, updated steering, new rear dampers and changes to the adaptive M differential. The steering’s still not perfect, but it’s comfortable, hooks up well out of corners and is a lot of fun. Still no Boxster beater though.
BMW Z4 Handschalter vs Toyota Supra
Morgan Plus Four
As a modern open-top car to turn back the clock to the times of the MGA and Jaguar XK120, there’s nothing better than the Morgan Plus Four. Yet while this retro cabriolet might look old-world, in reality it’s actually very new beneath that quaint exterior.
That’s because in 2018 Morgan introduced a whole new generation of aluminium chassis, pairing that classic charm with a new construction method and thoroughly modern BMW powertrains.
The Plus Four shares its 2-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine with many a BMW, while there’s a whole raft of new tech inside the cabin to make it a more pleasant and less compromised experience than its archaic predecessors offered. That’s especially true when equipped with the optional Dynamic Handling Pack, which adds adjustable Nitron coilovers and a rear anti-roll bar. So equipped, the Morgan is a competent driving tool as well as an endlessly characterful one and it certainly entertained in eCoty 2024, turning every journey into an enjoyable experience.
Mazda MX-5 RF
By some margin the cheapest car in this list, the MX-5 RF is still a pocketful of fun. Its diminutive proportions almost make it look three-quarter scale, and it delivers a lightweight simplicity that’s a rarity these days.
A round of updates in 2024 have made it better than ever, with lightly tweaked styling and new interior tech, but most importantly a new asymmetric limited-slip diff and retuned steering. The changes make its modest performance even more easy and satisfying to access, so much so that it was a real contender for 2024 evo Car of the Year title, missing out on the top step of the podium by a whisker.
The 2-litre model generates 181bhp, but speed isn’t really the MX-5 RF’s thing – it’s all about carrying momentum and working with the biddable, roll-happy chassis. It remains as simple a recipe as ever, and there are few better ways of experiencing the charms of a rear-drive sports car at law-abiding speeds.
Chevrolet Corvette Convertible
Almost an entire decade after it was first conceived, and most of a global pandemic later, the all-new Corvette Stingray C8 is here, finally, in Europe. To refresh, this new eighth-generation Corvette has a brand new dry-sumped 6.2-litre V8 at its core and is mid- rather than front-engined, as has been the case for the last 68 years. Its all-new, all-aluminium chassis is suspended by double unequal-length wishbones at all four corners and, yes, they’re making it in right-hand drive for the very first time.
The fact that it’s available in right-hand drive will ensure it has vastly wider appeal in the UK, along with the fact that even the coupe offers open-air motoring via a removable targa roof panel. For the full drop-top experience, though, you'll need to go for the Corvette Convertible with its retractable folding hard top.
The range is expanding, too. Chevrolet also offers the deeply impressive, hybrid-powered E-Ray version in convertible form, and the track-ready Z06 can also be specified with a folding hard-top.
Chevrolet Corvette Convertible review
Best used roadsters
- Lotus Elise S1
- Ferrari 458 Speciale Aperta
- Porsche 911 Speedster
- Toyota MR2 (Mk3)
- Pagani Zonda F Roadster
Lotus Elise S1
It’s not a stretch to suggest that Lotus might not be with us today if not for the dinky, lightweight hero that is the Series 1 Elise. Born from a tight budget and ingenious thinking, the first Elise set the tone for the next two decades of Lotus, rewriting just how good a small roadster can be.
The ingredients – two seats, a glassfibre body and a 118bhp Rover K-series motor – were simple, the execution masterful. Delicate across the ground yet seeping with feel, the Elise weighed just 731kg thanks to its extruded aluminium chassis; later S2 and S3 cars were heavier, but the original’s pure ethos remained. It remains one of the most absorbing sports cars at any price, firmly in the realm of evo legends.
Ferrari 458 Speciale Aperta
The 458 Speciale represents a high point for V8 Ferraris before turbocharging swept in, and supercars as a whole. The A (for Aperta) version uses the same drivetrain and chassis tech as the coupe, including a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox, E-Diff and Ferrari’s Side Slip Control, but with the added benefit of a foldaway metal roof.
The blare from the Speciale’s 597bhp V8 was so intense that Ferrari actually neutered the Aperta slightly to make it more liveable, but most of the coupe’s character is firmly intact. The scintillating chassis balance is just as entertaining as in the hard-top, even though there is more flex in the structure and an extra 50kg in Aperta form.
Porsche 911 Speedster
A convertible 911 GT3 might sound like sacrilege, but with the 991-generation Speedster, Porsche just about pulled it off – albeit with a subtle character change. With an impossibly low windscreen and sloping rear deck, there’s no mistaking it for an ordinary 911 cabriolet, and that’s before the 4-litre flat-six fires up.
It’s one of the world’s great engines, paired to one of the finest manual gearboxes we’ve experienced. The noise is sensational, and the Speedster has the chassis to match – it’s supple yet communicative, with a more road-biased ride and handling balance that makes it just as compelling, if not more so, than a 991 GT3.
Toyota MR2 (Mk3)
You don't need to spent five or six figures for an unforgettable open-top driving experience. Just £3500 can buy one of the most rewarding small roadsters of the modern era: the third-generation Toyota MR2. The dinky sub-1000kg sports car is about as pure as they come, and feels right at home on British roads.
Sharper and more precise than the Mazda MX-5 from the same era, the MR2 goads you into using every ounce of its modest 138bhp power output, and comes alive on the kind of narrow, craggy B-roads that can catch some serious sports cars out. A light facelift in 2003 made it even better, introducing a sweet-shifting six-speed 'box and chassis tweaks to refine the MR2's neutral, poised handling. It may be over two decades old, but the MR2 delivers timeless thrills.
Pagani Zonda F Roadster
The first Zonda arrived in 1999 as a genuine contender against Ferrari and Lamborghini, and by the time of the Zonda F Roadster, Pagani had established itself as a true disruptor. Nothing could match the F Roadster’s controlled assault on the senses at the time, and we question whether anything can today.
With a naturally-aspirated 7.3-litre AMG V12 and a manual gearbox, the F Roadster is analogue in every sense of the term, but also highly advanced in its construction. Magnesium suspension components, Öhlins adjustable dampers and a strengthened carbon chassis are just some of the technical highlights, which culminate in one of the most visceral and rewarding supercars of them all.
