Best sports cars 2025
Anybody who loves driving should own a sports car at some stage. That's the rules. It doesn't even need to be expensive - find a good used one and you needn't spend much at all.
Nor does it need to be a supercar with a six-figure price tag and a gazillion horsepower, either. In fact, the most fun you can have behind the wheel most of the time is with a sensibly-powered car that handles beautifully at reasonable speed. Supercars need a track to get anywhere near their limits.
Here we're looking at new sports cars that you can buy in 2025, most of them priced reasonably and most offering relatively decent running costs. Apart from the Porsche 911. They're mad expensive now, right? There's even a fully electric one in here. Times are changing.
Best sports cars |
1. Mazda MX-5
This is the best-selling affordable sports car on the planet. It's also the only affordable roadster you can buy new in the UK. As much fun to drive as some sports cars ten times the price, it feels like the kind of two-seater your parents (or grandparents) owned in the 1960s, but with the advantage of modern safety features and the latest tech.
The fabulous 2.0-litre engine is our favourite, but don’t rule out the cheaper 1.5-litre version, which is quick enough to get the most out of the brilliant chassis. Be careful if you're over six-foot tall, though - there's a good chance you won't be compatible with the MX-5's tiny two-seat cabin.
2. Porsche 911
As recently as 2012 you could buy a new Porsche 911 for less than £50,000. These days it's £100,000-plus, which means it bridges the gap between sports car and supercar. At the top of the range, the Porsche 911 Turbo S offers performance to rival the most expensive and exotic supercars, thanks to a 3.7-litre twin-turbo engine developing 650PS. It will sprint to 62mph in just 2.7 seconds before hitting a top speed of 205mph.
But the entry-level Porsche 911 Carrera is, for 9/10ths of the time, just as much fun. It has the classic 911 'rear-engine, rear-wheel drive' handling balance and is powered by a 3.0-litre twin-turbo engine producing 385PS. Quick enough. In 2025 the Porsche 911 is as amazing as it ever was. But, to be honest, a Porsche 718 Boxster is arguably even better as a day-to-day fun machine.
3. Alpine A110
The Alpine A110 is arguably the purest sports car you can buy, short of the extremely compromised Caterham Seven or Ariel Atom. A basic one might sound underwhelming for a £50k car, with its Renault-sourced 1.8-litre turbocharged engine producing 'just' 252PS, but the A110 weighs just 1102kg - about half a Range Rover Sport.
It's quick and it changes direction quicker than the bluebottle you just can't chase out of the house. And, bonus, you'll get 30mpg from it. You're more likely to see a £1m scratchcard on the street than another one, too.
4. MG Cyberster
From one £55k sports car to another, yet a very different thing. The MG Cyberster isn’t the first production electric sports car (the Tesla Roadster was), but it’s currently the only two-seat, two-door EV on sale. And what a pair of doors, too. Butterfly doors, no less.
It's weird that MG built the Cyberster at all, because having spent more than a decade rebranding itself from ‘affordable British sports car maker’ to ‘affordable family motoring squad from China’, it then goes and does… a sports car. The sort of ‘proper’ MG that a certain generation has been crying out for.... ish. It’s not actually as good to drive as it could have been, but still, it’s quick, looks great and is very cheap to run.
5. Lotus Emira
If the MG Cyberster is the first of a new breed of modern electric sports car, the Emira is the last of an old guard. It will be the final petrol-powered Lotus Sports car. Sad times. What a way to go out, though, because the Emira is absolutely wonderful.
The archetypal Lotus, the handling is spectacular, it’s relatively comfy (very unlike the Lotus Elise) and it’s quick whether you get it with the 2.0-litre Mercedes-AMG turbo engine or the more characterful 3.5-litre V6. There’s even a manual option. It’s not cheap, but it’s the sort of car you could buy now and keep enjoying for decades.
6. Porsche 718
The fact that the Porsche 911 is so expensive now makes the Porsche 718 models look even better. As amazing as the Porsche 911 is, there's no way it's twice the car a Porsche 718 is. Any Porsche 718 is as much fun to drive for the majority of the time - arguably more so, because the more conventional mid-engined layout means it's better balanced and more predictable. Predictable in a good way, not in the way you'd say that about an Ed Sheeran song.
The basic 2.0-litre engined Porsche 718 is great but the 4.0-litre 718 GTS is sensational, with its amazing non-turbo 400PS engine taking centre stage. Get one while (and if) you can.
Read our full Porsche 718 Boxster and 718 Cayman reviews
7. Ford Mustang
It's may not be the bargain it once was, but it's still difficult to think of a car that offers as much theatre and presence for the money as a Ford Mustang. The old 2.3-litre EcoBoost engine has been axed, so all models come with the thunderous 5.0-litre V8, producing 446PS in the standard GT car, or in the Dark Horse model, to quote Ford, a "higher output".
Turns out that means 7PS more. For an extra £14,000. Shady horse, more like. It does get mechanical and visual upgrades, of course, but a GT will be enough Ford Mustang for most.
8. BMW M2
Any proper BMW M car is brilliant and the BMW M2 is the most affordable way into proper BMW M car ownership. Okay, it’s not that affordable in the grand scheme of things (it’s not far off the price of a Porsche 718 Cayman GTS), but it is rear-wheel drive – an increasing rarity on M cars – and it can be ordered with a manual gearbox.
As you;d expect, it’s tremendous to drive, with extra maturity over the previous model, but still a focus on pin-sharp handling and relentless speed. It’s also a much more practical car than everything else on this list.
9. Mercedes-AMG GT
The GT here is Mercedes-AMG's answer to the Porsche 911 because... it costs about the same. That's it, really. It actually feels very different. The engine is in front of you (as opposed to the 911's, which is behind), and the focus is less on razor-sharp handling and more on basking in the glory of a massive 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine.
It's obviously great to drive (AMG wasn't going to make it drive like a people carrier, right?), but it's a bit more comfy than the Porsche 911 and it looks a lot more spectacular. Some people think it all looks a bit phallic, but not us. No way.
10. Caterham Seven
Keeping on top of all the versions of the Caterham Seven is like watching Sky Sports News. It's a constant ticker-tape of change, even though everything looks basically the same. And has done for decades. At the moment, the cheapest way into a Caterham Seven is the ‘Super Seven 600' model, with a 660cc turbo engine from Suzuki.
It’s tiny, but it's reliable and it's more than enough for a sports car whose weight should be measured in grams. The Caterham Seven is noisy, uncomfortable and basically a bit silly, but it's also a constant laugh. Unless it’s raining. Or cold. Or dark. Or Tuesday. Go on… you know you want to.
Are sports cars expensive to run?
While it’s true that a sports car is likely to be more expensive to run than a family hatchback, a lot of them are more affordable than you think. The Alpine A110 officially returns 41.5mpg, for instance, which means you're likely to see high 30s. The same is true of the 1.5-litre version of the Mazda MX-5, which offers 44.8mpg in official tests. Just remember that insurance is likely to be more expensive for a sports car, while parts, servicing and maintenance can also be costly.
Does a sports car need to be rear-wheel drive?
Most cars are front-engined and front-wheel drive, because it's less complex (and therefore cheaper) to engineer them that way. For 99% of driving that's just fine, but for the best - or "purest" - handling balance, the rear wheels should push the car and the front wheels should steer. Having the front wheels do both the steering and pushing of the car can overwhelm the front tyres in high-load situations. Like when you're accelerating out of a corner at speed.
That said, front-wheel-drive cars can be fun, because on a public road you should never really be in a situation where the tyres are overwhelmed. It means you're probably going too fast. Lots of sports and performance cars are four-wheel drive now too, because that offers the best traction. So, in short, yes... a sports car should be rear-wheel drive and they usually are, but they don't have to be.
Will sports cars survive the ban on new petrol and diesel cars?
In short, yes. Look at the MG Cyberster. It's not brilliant, but it's a great starting point. And you can bet your favourite jerry can Porsche will make a brilliant electric two-seater sports car. Just look at the Taycan. The challenge for manufacturers is to balance the weight of a battery pack with the precision and lightness required to make a great sports car. The affordable electric sports car might be a little way off, but it will turn up.
