10 underrated performance cars

Fiat 124 Spyder 

Frankly, you'd have been mad to choose the Fiat 124 Spyder over the (mostly) mechanically identical Mazda MX-5 – a car that had more character in its fingernail than the Fiat had in the entirety of its pastichely styled body. The Fiat was slightly too soft, but its engine was a bigger problem. Its low-revving torque-laden delivery would have been fine in a turbo diesel but in a two-seater sports car? No thanks.  

But that was then, and this is now, and with the factory warranty long gone, you can now take your 124 to a tuning shop that, with a few finger taps on a keyboard and just a little cash outlay, can bring a 50 per cent increase in power turning this gummy mutt into a wolf in sheep's clothing. Essentially, it's a turbocharged BBR MX-5 very much on the cheap, with used 124s starting from less than £7,000 and a £1,000 tune; your 124 Spyder could be a Boxster-busting shock jockey, and that's certainly food for thought. 

Toyota GT86

The Toyota GT86 is not universally underrated, but read a few reviews and prepare yourself for a cliche tsunami covering points like the car's "industrial engine noise", "power flat spot", "economy tyres",  "interior made from milk cartons", "slower than a hot hatch"... the list goes on. I'm pretty sure I've said some of those myself.

But spend some time with the Tubaru (the GT86 and Subaru BRZ are essentially the same car), and you will very quickly realise that none of this matters. Having owned one for a couple of years, I'd pick it over the 987 Boxster I had previously – and nobody is more surprised to say that than me. I'd still have the 86 today were it not for the sudden influx of sprog. You see, much like a newborn, the Toyota had the power to turn the everyday mundane into an absolute delight with an incisive chassis happy to oversteer at the faintest opportunity, but with none of the unwanted pretence that comes with a Porsche key. A drive down Route Napoleon with a Cayman GT4 in tow (thank you, whoever you were) is forever etched in my memory for all these reasons.

Porsche 911

Okay, so calling the Porsche 911 underrated is a stretch, but when was the last time you read a review of a bog standard Carrera? Precisely, even Porsche forgets about its bassline model, the 992 launched exclusively in 911 S form, with reviews for its underendowed sibling only coming out months later.

This, dear reader, is a travesty because the Carrera does '911' better than any other 911. By that, I don't mean it's the fastest, loudest, or best to drive, but it is the best all-rounder – and all-around ability is what Porsche's sports car is all about. Your GT3 RS is fabulous on a bone-dry track, but on a wet and windy motorway in the dead of winter, as your un-helmeted head brushes off the factory-fitted roll cage and the steering pulls and pushes over cambers, I'd wager you'd happily take the keys to the standard car. About 99.9% of the time, it's the better machine – and it costs half the price of its track-bred namesake.

Renault Megane 300

The Renaultsport Megane 300 is like Andy Murray. Born into another generation, without the everyman's GT3 Honda Civic Type R or the all-wheel-drive Volkswagen Golf R, the Megane would have shone in a way it couldn't when surrounded by its once-in-a-century rivals. It could never be as phenomenally quick as the Honda or as downright capable as the Golf. 

However, as a car that communicates the joy of driving, the Renaultsport Megane 300 was better than both. Its rear-wheel steering made it palm-sweatingly edgy (all the more when you had established it would tip out its back end like a circus master cracks their whip). While its engine was down on power on paper, it was overloaded with the great unmeasurable – charisma. The Megane's frenetic delivery and exhaust cracks bordered on the biblical. While its gearbox shunted through its cogs with the finesse of heavy machinery, its utility merely added to the drama. And it was all packaged in a brooding body that gave little away about the monster lurking beneath.

Peugeot 308 GTI

I can remember the Peugeot 308 GTI's launch in Lisbon like it was yesterday (and, no, not because of the quality of the Pastéis de Belém custard tarts that became a staple of the event, although they were wonderful) but because of Peugeot's bold claims that its new creation could beat the Golf GTI at its own game. Yeah, right, I thought. 

And, in a way, I was right. The Golf outsold the Peugeot by (I’d estimate) at least 10 to one. But the Peugeot won hands down in masking its performance, previously a Golf GTI speciality. Over those couple of days, it was impossible to spot the GTI from any other 308 in your rearview mirror – the fat twin exhausts and (if you specified it) the 50:50 red-black paint finish were the only real signs. But the 308 had 275PS – or about 50PS more than the Golf – and a mechanical differential that could latch itself to the tarmac like a police dog to criminals. The 308 proved ferocious on track while being a million times more palatable on the road than an FK2 Honda Civic Type R.

Toyota Yaris GRMN

We all know about the bombastic Toyota Yaris GR, fielding four-wheel-drive underneath its wild, un-official homologation-special bodywork and pushing out 261PS (192kW) from its superb 1.6-litre three-cylinder turbo engine. But before the GR, came the Yaris GRMN; a short-lived Yaris track weapon that’s been hugely overshadowed by the leaner, meaner-looking GR. That’s a shame because arguably it has a more entertaining powertrain than the GR – the supercharged 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine Toyota supplied to Lotus for the Series 3 Elise, chucking out 212PS (156kW) to the front wheels via a snappy six-speed manual gearbox. Only 400 came to Europe.

Audi TT RS

The Audi TT’s reputation as a car bought purely on image was forged from the moment the first-generation model emerged, almost completely unchanged from the 1995 concept that set out Audi’s sports car stall. Sharing parts over the years from other Volkswagen Group products, it’s always been easy to accuse the TT of being a hodgepodge of borrowed Golf bits in a fancy frock instead of a bonafide Porsche 718 Cayman rival. The TT RS, then, is a version that tries to put that notion to bed. Shoehorned under the bonnet is the brand’s 2.5-litre turbocharged inline-five, spitting out 400PS (294kW) and a soundtrack to give you Group-B thrills in earlier versions not equipped with gas particulate filters. 

Honda NSX 

What makes the Honda NSX underrated, you ask? It was removed from Honda’s UK line-up in 2020 due to staggeringly slow sales, but we reckon that this is a case of the customer not always being right. The NSX’s appeal alongside, say, an Audi R8, lies in the sheer dedication sunk into its bespoke engineering. Parts sharing is just not a thing the NSX does, ranging from the switchgear, to the chassis componentry and even the unique hybrid powertrain, utilising a twin-turbocharged 3.5-litre V6 and a lithium-ion battery-backed motor for a healthy 581PS (427kW). For second-hand supercar buyers after something unique and rare, it’s a no-brainer. 

Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 

Ten miniature generations of Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution history came to an end in 2016, but the final member of the decade of Evos, the Evo X, is often overlooked. It didn’t boast any of the World Rally pedigree of its predecessors, and its design was a break from tradition, the previous nine Evos steadily developing over a 15-year arc until the X arrived with a totally new appearance inside and out, plus a newly developed 2.0-litre turbocharged engine. As such, the youngest member of the Evo line-up is a bit of a black sheep, sticking like a sore thumb out rather than slinking into the flock. But as the final iteration of a ten-generation performance icon? It’s the most rounded Evo of the lot. 

Lexus LC500

Lexus could well be the most underrated manufacturer on the planet. Think about some of those barnstorming F models it’s chucked out seemingly from nowhere over the years – the brilliant V8 IS F saloon, the RC F coupe, and of course, the incredibly rare LFA supercar, with its howling front-mounted V10. But lurking beneath the LFA, the more recent LC coupe stands out as a bit of an underrated curio. Drop dead gorgeous, available with hybrid power in the 500h model, or a thumping 5.0-litre V8 in the standard 500 variant, what’s not to like?