Driving.co.uk’s guide to the best sports cars to buy in 2024
Do you like to drive? Really drive?
In a world of humdrum hybrid hatchbacks and increasingly weighty electric SUVs, it’s good to know that there are still cars out there designed specifically to thrill.
It’s true that there are many fewer sports cars on the market than there used to be and they really do feel like a dying breed, especially at the less expensive end of the market. That said, buyers still have some choice when it comes to cars designed not for mere mobility, but to put a smile on a driver’s face and to look good doing it.
Here are some of the best sports cars on sale in the UK today.
Alpine A110 R
From £91,490
The most hard-edged, performance-focused version of what was already one of the best drivers’ cars on sale today, the Alpine A110 R is a featherweight, clocking in at just 1,082kg. That makes it a real antidote to the likes of the BMW M4 which, awesome though it is, feels really rather heavy.
The 296bhp 1.8-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine in the middle of the Alpine isn’t the most exotic or mellifluous power unit, and isn’t any more powerful than the one found in the A110 S, but with so little mass to propel thanks to the extensive use of carbon-fibre and a borderline ascetic level of dedication to weight-saving, it’s more than adequate to really exploit the A110 R’s outstanding chassis on both road and track.
There’s one big fly in the ointment with the A110 R though — its price. At £91,490, it’s a significant jump beyond the asking price for the £67,490 A110 S. The Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 4.0 starts at £75,300 and, with almost 400bhp on tap, it might seem mad to opt for the Alpine instead.
But while not a heifer by any stretch of the imagination, the Porsche is a lot heavier than the featherwight Alpine. The French car is also likely to be more exclusive, and the carbon fibre wheels must cost around £10,000 a set on their own, so the A110 R is capable of justifying its lofty price tag.
Mazda MX-5
From £28,015
Think of some of the great cheap classic sports cars, such as the MGB, Triumph Spitfire and Fiat 124 Spider. They weren’t especially quick even in their own time, but they looked great and offered relatively accessible driving fun and wind-in-the-hair motoring to the ordinary man or woman in the street. There aren’t many cars left like that, but the Mazda MX-5 is one of them.
The current-generation MX-5 is getting on a bit now (it was launched in 2014), but with so few real rivals left, it’s just as compelling a prospect as ever. The 1.5-litre engine is perky enough to be fun in such a small, lightweight car (it only weights around a ton), though the 2-litre unit that was introduced in 2016 adds some welcome performance.
The MX-5 looks just as good now as it did when it was launched, and a starting price of just over £28,000 for the classic rear-wheel-drive roadster experience makes it a very tempting buy.
BMW Z4
From £45,170
The Z4 is a bit of a forgotten man in the sports car market, but it’s still fighting fit. And now it looks and feels better than ever.
Offered with a lightweight turbocharged four-cylinder engine or a more powerful 3-litre straight six, it is still one of the best open-top sports cars on the market, and it’s as capable on suburban street as it is on a back-country B-road.
With rear-wheel drive ensuring perfect balance and BMW’s ever-impressive engines under the bonnet, it’s a muscular but poised roadster with plenty of luxury inside. And now BMW has started offering some sensational paint options, including Sanremo Green and Thundernight, it’s a fabulous thing to look at. And for those who want the tech, luxury and style with even more driver involvement, it’s now offered with a manual gearbox.
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Caterham Seven
From £29,490
With the possible exception of the Alpine A110 R, and maybe the 718 Spyder RS, all of the other cars on this list could be used as a person’s daily driver without too much in the way of compromise or discomfort. But commuting to work on a cold, wet winter’s morning in a Caterham Seven would take bravery of the highest order. Or should that be stupidity?
Little has changed in the Seven since it first wore a Lotus badge back in the 1960s and, now as then, it’s a car for people who care about driving pleasure more than anything else.
The Caterham is not especially comfortable, it’s not at all practical and it’s probably not very safe. What it is, though, is pure undiluted fun, and we love it.
With prices starting from a fairly reasonable £29,490 for one of the 84bhp 660cc three-cylinder turbocharged models, and reaching upwards of £58,490 raw, visceral, windscreenless experience of the 310bhp supercharged 620, the Seven is available for drivers of varying levels of skill (and nerve) but all versions are guaranteed to put a smile on your face.
Porsche 718 Spyder RS
From £125,500
The convertible equivalent of the awesome 718 GT4 RS, the Spyder RS is the last of the purely petrol-powered Boxster RS models, and it’s utterly sensational. Yes, it has a confusing two-part manual roof that’s tricky to erect in case of a sudden downpour, and yes, the Boxster’s cabin is beginning to look outdated, but the way the Spyder RS drives and sounds is easily enough to push aside all those concerns.
Like the GT4 RS, the Spyder RS gets the 4-litre flat-six engine from a 911 GT3, but it has fractionally less power than the 911, at ‘just’ 493bhp. All that goes to the rear wheels via a sharp twin-clutch automatic gearbox, and gets the fastest 718 Boxster from 0-62mph in 3.4 seconds.
More importantly, however, the induction noise from those shoulder-mounted air intakes is an airborne assault on your ears, and it’s backed up by the bassier cavalry charge that comes from the massive exhausts. The sound is epic, and it’s matched only by the agility of that finely honed chassis.
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