Sports cars

The Mazda MX-5 has become a sanctuary for anyone that savours cheap but hugely rewarding sports car driving. It’s available with a cloth roof that folds down manually, or with a metal roof that does so electrically. This kind of simple driving enjoyment that the Mazda MX-5 provides is hard to match at any price.

The Audi R8 is a powerful sports car that you can use everyday. It’s a rival to mega-fast machines Ferrari, Lamborghini and McLaren. The huge levels of grip provided by the quattro four-wheel-drive system mean you can use every single one of the R8’s horsepower, making it an an utterly captivating and addictive sports car to drive.

The Porche Boxster is fast, corners brilliantly and boasts a high-quality interior. Its 2.0-litre, 300hp petrol engine can take it from 0-62mph in 5.1 seconds, while its interior and suspension will keep you comfortable the entire time.

The Toyota GT86 was never supposed to be the fastest or the most outlandish sports car, instead, its bare-bones approach is meant to put a huge smile on your face all the time. The GT86 is incredibly nimble and fantastically responsive. Few rivals can turn a series of mini-roundabouts into as much fun as this two-door sports car.

Alfa has knocked the ball out of the park with Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. It's better than a BMW M3; it's better than a Mercedes C63 AMG. It's beautiful, charismatic and a whole heap of fun and you can absolutely live with it every day.

Okay, so not many of us will be able to spend £150,000 on a car, but if that lottery win comes in and you need a sports car with four seats then the Bentley Continental GT represents the very best money can buy.

The Alfa Giulia Quadrifoglio has a beautiful 2.9-litre V6 engine, really strong acceleration and is so much fun to drive. That’s what’d you’d expect in a sports car. What’s more unexpected is that it is also a practical, four-door saloon, with back seats that are comfortable, with decent knee room and okay headroom.

The BMW M3 is what happens when talented engineers shoe-horn a twin-turbo engine into a practical family saloon. The BMW M3 sports car is one of the best high-performance saloons in the business yet the back seats are spacious enough for two adults to get comfy, too.

The Mercedes AMG C63 has a superb V8 petrol engine that brings big performance and raucous soundtrack. In practicality terms, taller adults will find the rear is a little more cramped than you’d expect, and more importantly, than in an Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio – the Merc’s sloping rear roofline is to blame for that.

The Ford Mustang is one of the cheapest ways to own a rumbling V8 that’s lots of fun. Sure, the back seats in this sports car aren't the most useable of the cars on this list but that V8 engine makes up for a lot of deficiencies elsewhere.

This kind of simple driving enjoyment that the Mazda MX-5 provides is hard to match at any price, but the fact that it should be reliable and economical too only makes it more tempting. Assuming you only need two seats, and luggage space isn’t a priority, it seems rather difficult to find any weaknesses.

The Porsche Boxster has been one of the finest handling small sports cars in all its forms since being launched back in 1996. Today’s Boxster has a potent turbocharged four-cylinder engine in two power outputs which is placed in the middle of the car for better weight distribution, as well as rear wheel drive and superb steering.

Although it doesn’t appear so from the outside, the Fiat 124 Spider shares its underpinnings with the Mazda MX-5. As such the 124 is great fun to drive and also offers the same recipe of open-top, two-seat motoring for that compact, wind-in-your-hair experience.

The BMW M2 is the smallest of BMW’s hallowed M models. It’s based on the standard 2 Series coupe, but is fitted with a turbocharged six-cylinder petrol engine that packs a serious punch. It’s not all about power, though: the M2’s bespoke suspension setup makes it one of the very finest-handling rear-wheel-drive coupes.

The Toyota GT86 was never supposed to be the fastest or the most outlandish sports car, instead, its bare-bones approach is meant to put a huge smile on your face all the time. The GT86 is incredibly nimble and fantastically responsive. Few rivals can turn a series of mini-roundabouts into as much fun as this two-door sports car.

The Mazda MX-5 is a great entry point into sports car ownership. For its modest price you get all the ingredients necessary to have fun behind the wheel – communicative steering, decent power, a precise gearshift, and agility around corners – what more could you want.

The Audi TT isn’t just a great sports car – it’s a great car overall. There’s very little that this Audi can’t do – you can have it with a range of powerful yet efficient engines, quattro all wheel drive that makes sure you have limpet grip around corners and if you drop the rear seats you can carry a surprising amount of luggage.

The BMW 2 Series is different to the Audi TT mainly in the way it drives. The BMW sacrifices some ride comfort for greater balance in corners. The 2 Series is less practical and easy to live with than the TT, but it more than compensates with how joyous it is to drive. You can also have it with a silky-smooth straight six engine but you’ll have to use the carwow discount to get within the £30,000 budget.

The Toyota GT86, similarly to the MX-5, bets on lightness and agility to win you over as opposed to the brute horsepower of the German alternatives. You can’t get a GT86 with more than 200hp but the point of it is how approachable and easy it is to drive. The GT86 has a well-built interior and a decent boot, but most importantly, it’s the easiest car to have fun with in this list.

The Nissan 370Z has been with us for a while – there’s no getting away from the fact it went on sale back in 2009. There’s also no getting away from the fact you get a huge amount of ability and character for your money. The 370Z is powered by a 3.7-litre V6 and generally goes about it’s business in a brutish and charming kind of way. If you’re looking for a Japanese muscle car, you’ve found it.

The Mercedes E63 is one of the fastest sports cars around thanks to its thundering 4.0-litre twin turbo V8 and grippy four-wheel drive. Go for an estate version, and it’ll happily swallow a whopping 540 litres of luggage, too. Perfect if you’re moving house in a hurry.

The BMW M5 is a seriously fast version of the tech-laden 5 Series saloon. Its turbocharged V8 sends 600hp to all four wheels helping it rocket from 0-62mph in 3.4 seconds – 3.3 seconds in Competition models. It isn’t just good at rearranging your face muscles, though – there’s space in the back for three adults and enough room in the boot for 530 litres of luggage.

A quick glance at the Audi RS4 Avant and you might mistake it for an unassuming A4 estate – until you notice the swollen arches, huge brakes and vast twin exhausts, that is. Under the bonnet sits a 450hp 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 and Audi’s signature quattro four-wheel-drive system that’ll rocket the RS4 (and up to 505 litres of luggage) from 0-62mph in just 4.1 seconds.

Part grand tourer, part sports car – the Porsche Panamera is a seriously luxurious coupe that’s fast and practical. There’s space inside for four adults to get comfortable and room in the boot for 495 litres of luggage. Strap your cargo down securely and hybrid Turbo S models will happily blast it from 0-62mph in just 3.4 seconds.

The Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio is not just the best high-performance SUV, it’s more fun than most pure sports cars. Then when you factor in that it has a decent sized boot you get a pretty good combination of performance and practicality.

The Bentley Continental GT is about as luxurious as swooping sports cars can get. It looks fabulous inside and out and packs a powerful V8 or W12 engine to help make sure it has the pace to match its high-class looks. It isn’t the sharpest-handling car on sale but it laps up cross-continental trips with ease.

The Mercedes S-Class Coupe pairs a seriously comfortable, seriously classy interior with imposing styling and a super smooth V8 engine. The comfortable cabin is the perfect place to soak up long drives, and, If you absolutely must have the fastest luxury sports car around, there’s also a more powerful S63 model with 612hp.

The Porsche Panamera combines a seriously plush interior with a slinky coupe body and agile handling more reminiscent of a lightweight racing car than a luxurious four-seater. It’s huge fun to drive on a twisty country road yet still comfortable enough to take in the odd jaunt across Europe.

Few cars come with interiors as outlandish as the Lexus LC. Everything looks and feels like it belongs in a concept car which makes the LC a very luxurious place to spend time. You can get it as either a V6 hybrid or as a sportier non-turbocharged V8 that sounds fantastic and can sprint from 0-62mph in a rapid 4.7 seconds.

The Aston Martin DBS Superleggera is the most expensive and fastest model in the British brand’s range. It comes with an eye-catching interior with lashings of leather and red stitching inside, and some seriously aggressive styling on the outside. Its turbocharged V12 engine produces 725hp which is enough to blast this luxurious sports car from 0-62mph in 3.4 seconds.