Best sports cars in 2025

The Porsche 718 Cayman might be the most complete sports car ever built. It’s smart looking and fantastic to drive but also easy to live with. It’s practical for what it is, feels posh inside and is available with the latest tech.

The Cayman’s driving experience is dominated by its mid-engine layout which makes it perfectly balanced in corners. On a £40,000 used car budget, you can choose from a punchy turbocharged four-cylinder model or go for an older car with a six-cylinder engine that brims with character. Six cylinder engines are available in later GTS and GT4 versions. They cost more, but they're worth it.

The Porsche blends its great drive with everyday usability. It looks brilliant inside and has the build quality to rival a posh German saloon. Okay, so it’s only a two-seater but you do get a pair of luggage areas that swallow a surprisingly large amount. 

Like the sound of the 718 Cayman, but want the wind in your hair? The 718 Boxster is every bit as good as the 718 Cayman: it just swaps a barely detectable touch of the Cayman’s handling prowess for a soft-top roof that can drop in seconds.

Unlike most open tops, you’ll not feel the Boxster twist and shudder over bumps. It feels tied down in corners with direct steering that leaves you full of confidence. Okay, so the four-cylinder models don’t sound great but they’re punchy, and there are six-cylinder models available if you're willing to pay more.

The Mazda MX-5 proves you don't need a billion horsepower, massive tyres and an inflated price tag to have fun. 

In fact, on the UK's tight, twisty and heavily speed-controlled roads, we reckon most people would have more fun in this than a lot of the high-end metal in our list. However, the MX-5 does demand some compromises.

For starters, it's not exactly practical. There's a tiny 130-litre boot, it's a strict two-seater, and the very tall might find they can't actually fit inside it properly. What's more, you'll need to be braced for pub bores with hairdresser jokes...

But that's the downsides over with. What you do get is the choice of a revvy little 1.5 or willing 2.0-litre engine, rear-wheel drive, a slick manual gearbox, a convertible roof that you can retract in seconds by hand and effervescent, enjoyable handling. 

It's a car you can enjoy at low speeds and drive hard without breaking the speed limit. And it weighs less than a modern supermini, too, which makes it seriously agile and even quite economical. It's been around since 2015, and prices start from as little as £12,000. Go on, you know you want to.

Although technically not an all-new car, the Toyota GR86 took the excellent starting point that is the older GT86 and refined it into affordable sports car perfection. Changes included an overhauled chassis, new front and rear ends, and a new 2.4-litre, naturally aspirated 'boxer' four-cylinder engine to replace the old 2.0-litre unit. 

For the price, you simply can't get anything that delivers this much fun. And that's the problem. Toyota didn't bring all that many to the UK, and that attractive price point meant that all of the initial UK allocation was snapped up in 90 minutes. You'd have had better luck securing Taylor Swift tour tickets. A second batch went to those who expressed interest in the first lot but missed out, so were as good as sold before even landing. 

Buying one used, then, is your only option, and don't expect much of a saving on the original price when new. In fact, we've seen some lightly used examples listed for slightly more. Worth it, though? You betcha.

We couldn't have a list of the best sports cars without mentioning one of the longest-running dynasties in the game - the Porsche 911. It's been through more evolutions than Trigger's broom, which has kept the 911 relevant as the high-end sports car you can use everyday for everything.

It helps you can have the 911 in a broad spectrum of different power outputs, body styles, gearboxes, and with two- or four-wheel drive. There really is a Porsche 911 to suit everyone.

Even 911 doubters are won over by the car's supreme handling and high-speed stability, the noise of the engine, and the feel of the steering. There's also a cabin with security box build quality and jus the right amount of tech to be up to date but not take away from the essential driving experience.

All of this does come at a price, however, so reckon on spending from £85,000 for a carefully maintained used example. Want a new one? You'll need at least £100,000.

As far as a lot of performance car enthusiasts are concerned, the BMW M2 is the best car the German manufacturer sells. This is a car made by taking the turbocharged six-cylinder engine from the bigger, more expensive BMW M3 and M4, very lightly detuning it, and shoehorning it into the more compact bones of the 2 Series coupe. 

The results are very exciting indeed, with the shorted wheelbase making for a lively car to drive, and an especially engaging one if you spec the manual gearbox, which is something you can't have on the current M3 or M4. 

As potent as the engine powering these three M cars is, though, we reckon the old version in Competition form sounds a bit better, and is keener to rev. Happily, there are loads around on the used market which can give huge savings over the current M2. 

The Toyota Supra has a long and illustrious history of delivering lots of performance in a package that can upset plenty of its rivals. Guess what? Nothing has changed on that front as the Supra offers rapid performance, especially if you choose the 3.0-litre version over the cheaper 2.0-litre model.

We'd take the bigger engine for its added pace and the sound it makes - both motors are borrowed from the BMW Z4 so they work well depending on what you want from the Supra.

The coupe-only Supra is practical for the type of car it is, but it's the way this sports car drives that will have you signing on the line. It's just sheer fun on any road, and that comes with prices starting at £35,000 for a lightly used four-year old car. You will need to look to the second-hand market now as Toyota no longer lists the Supra as a new model.

Made by Renault, the Alpine A110 is France’s answer to the Porsche Cayman and it’s really rather good. The Alpine has an all-aluminium construction that makes it almost as light as a Mazda MX-5 (but with around twice the power) and it’s this that dominates the driving experience. 

It feels nimble and agile in corners, and because the Alpine isn’t heavy the suspension can be relatively soft, allowing it to breathe with the road and flatten out nasty bumps. Its turbocharged 2.0-litre engine gives the Alpine a serious turn of speed and has a much better soundtrack than you might think. 

Inside, you sit low and the interior has neat features like deep bucket seats, quilted leather upholstery and trims based on the tricolour French flag. Okay, so the boots are small, but you do at least get two of them, while only the cheaper Renault-sourced cabin bits let the side down. 

The car's rarity means used prices for the A110 have held firm: you'll need at least £35,000 for an early 2019 example with 15,000 miles. 

The Aston Martin Vantage was given a total redesign in 2018 (followed by a major update 2024) with a sharp new look and a change from a naturally aspirated engine to a turbocharged unit. The result? It's one of the most stunning and desirable sports cars on sale today.

You’re blown away when you see it, but to drive it is to love it. The engine (sourced from Mercedes-AMG) is keen to push you forward at a rapid rate, the noise is addictive, and the car handles superbly. It comes with a sweet eight-speed ZF automatic gearbox that’s as smooth as silk around town and hugely engaging at speed. An electric differential aids high-speed stability and allows for fun in corners, too.

Prices start at around £70,000 for a used, second-generation Aston Martin Vantage, though for £50,000 and up can get the previous-generation Vantage. It doesn't look quite as striking at the latest car, and lacks some of the tech, but it's still an achingly pretty car that'll turn heads and put a huge smile on your face when you blip the throttle. 

The very latest one (pictured) had a big uplift in price as well as power, and hasn't been around long enough for much in the way of depreciation to kick in, so you'll need to pay upwards of £150k if that's your Vantage of choice. 

Given how much it costs and the performance on offer from the most powerful models, some might label the Mercedes-AMG GT a supercar. We reckon it just about qualifies as a sports car, helped by there being a lighter, cheaper four-cylinder model available in some countries. 

In the UK, your only choice is a V8, and that's just fine by us. There are three flavours in which to experience this rumbly eight-cylinder engine - a 480PS AMG GT 55, the 610PS GT 63, and the plug-in hybrid AMG GT 73 with a whopping 843PS on tap. 

Really, the GT 55 is more than enough. It feels quick without being excessive on the road, and even though all versions of the GT are now all-wheel drive (the old version was rear-wheel drive), this is still an engaging, exciting car to get behind the wheel of. It's also, we think, very handsome. 

The 55 still costs nearly £150,000, though. Go for a used example of the previous-generation car, which is also excellent, and you could snag one for a third of that price. 

A few years ago, you'd have been laughed at for describing the Ford Mustang as a 'sports car', but when the fifth-generation car arrived in 2014, it really moved the game on for the model, bringing it closer to European rivals. What's more, you could finally buy one in the UK in right-hand drive from your local Ford dealer. 

The 'Stang is now in its sixth generation, and while it's not a completely new car, sharing much of its structure with the old one, it's taken another step forward in terms of handling. It's not the bargain it once was, but it's still a credible alternative to the likes of the BMW M2, and is also now the last remaining V8 you can buy either with a manual gearbox or a lack of turbochargers. 

Particularly keen drivers will want to take a look at the Dark Horse version. This has a different, closer-ratio manual gearbox, and various upgrades to make it cope better with the rigours of track driving.