Ford Fiesta ST
The same Fiesta that Clarkson from Top Gear drove through a Mall! Exterior-wise – the Fiesta ST looks great for a subcompact car, while despite its wrong wheel drive - its handling and riding are close to perfection. And things get even brighter when we look into its tiny boosted engine that pumps around 200 horsepower and still achieves 33 miles to the gallon.
No surprise that quite a few have listed the Ford’s turbocharged 1.6 liters Fiesta ST as the best car below $25,000 dollars they have driven. So, for all of the skeptics out there – don’t judge before you've given it at least a go.
VW Golf GTI
Many have preferred to go for the performance version of the well-liked VW Golf, because of the powerful turbocharged engine and wide-ranging creature comforts it offers. And that hot hatchback can also get 34 miles to the gallon on the highway… Now you know why this vehicle has gained such a massive and devoted following over the years.
The new VW GTI is powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged direct-injection petrol engine (TSI) with 220 PS (160 kW). In the GTI Performance version, the engine’s maximum power is boosted to 230 PS (170 kW). Both GTI models develop a maximum torque of 350 N·m (260 lbf·ft). The standard GTI accelerates to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 6.5 seconds and reaches a top speed of 152 mph (245 km/h).
The GTI Performance has a top speed of 155 mph (249 km/h) and takes 6.4 seconds for the sprint to 62 mph (100 km/h). Despite its performance, it is in insurance group 29E – five groups lower than its predecessor.
BMW I8
Yes, yes we know. The i8 is a hybrid car and it is pretty expensive, around $140,000 dollars, so while at first it didn‘t feel just right to participate in our list, at a second thought we were convinced else. First, consider its marvelous modernistic coupe, and then its turbocharged three-cylinder engine and two electric motors that make 0 to 60 times of 3.6 seconds become reality. That’s certainly enough to qualify that ride to compete with the other cool sports cars in its price range.
And when we found out that this plug-in hybrid that gets close to 76 mpg in its standard driving mode can actually achieve 40 mpg in its sports mode – well, we couldn’t have possibly resisted the temptation to add it to our list...
