0. Price Bracket: £0 - £10,000
Make: Hyundai
Model: i10
Price: £8,705
Starting cheap and cheerful, the i10 is a spritely little package which offers a well rounded driving experience and easy motoring with change left on a £10k budget. The i10 won the WhatCar? Car of the Year 2015 ‘Best City Car’ offering the most practical car in its class with the generous spec levels offered from entry level upwards.
The reasonable fuel economy (around 57mpg in the 1.2 petrol) and 5 year warranty make the i10 a truly solid purchase for affordable motoring. Hyundai will concede it is not the most engaging driving experience ever put forward, but for £10,000 you’ll struggle to find many better.
Now, onwards and upwards...
1. £10,000 - £20,000
Make: Ford
Model: Fiesta ST3
Price: £18,065
The UK’s best selling vehicle for the last 7 years, the Fiesta, has an angrier and more aggressive brother in the form of the ST, with the ST-3 being the top spec variant. Since release the ST has received huge praise from Motoring journalists across the globe - Ford have really hit the nail on the head with this one. The handling in the hot-hatch is simply excellent and the car lies flat through corners, really encouraging the driver with the fruity 1.6 turbocharged engine which pushes out 180bhp. Supportive Recaro Seats and lower, stiffer, suspension really complete the package that this car offers, anyone who claims the ride is too firm has missed the point.2. £20,000 - £30,000
Make: Volkswagen
Model: Golf GTD
Price: £26,935
It’s hard to look anywhere else than the Volkswagen Golf for value-for-money in this price bracket. The Golf has been a well-made and affordable car for over 40 years now, and no model has offered such high levels of practicality, economy, performance and efficiency as the new GTD - the diesel variant of the famous GTi. Put simply the GTD is the most pleasing compromise between the super-hot GTi and the super-economical 2.0TDi. 0-60 is achieved in 7.5 seconds all while returning up to 67mpg.
3. £30,000 - £40,000
Make: Mercedes
Model: A45 AMG (A class)
Price: £38,000
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years, you’ll have noticed Mercedes have launched their first entrant into the ‘family hatchback’ class in the form of the A Class - a completely reinvented car with no ties whatsoever to the A class it replaced, luckily. And of course with every hatch comes a hot-hatch variant. Mercedes delivered. The A45 AMG is a monstrous creation which puts out 350bhp to all 4 wheels. Why choose the A45 over other prestige hot-hatches? Well, because it is faster, noticeably faster. The Audi RS3 will get you to 60mph in 4.5 seconds, the BMW M135i in 4.6 seconds, the Merc? A staggering 4.2 seconds is all that it takes to get up to 60 mph and, furthermore, it is also a second faster from 50-100mph than the two main German oppositions. Motoring journalists have praised that the A45 AMG provides as much performance as you could ever use on the road while maintaining your own sanity - which is good.4. £40,000 - £50,000
Make: Jaguar
Model: XF Sportbrake R-Sport Black
Price: £40,850
The R-Sport spec from Jaguar is the latest specification which combats the ‘M-Sport’ and ‘S-Line’ specs of competing models. The aesthetics and interior features of the outgoing performance model of the Jaguar XF-R are combined with the frugal and more progressive diesel engines. This then provides a more well rounded and attractive car more suited for everyday use and the new. The R-Sport Black is all this and much more, with a HD Sat Nav System, Meridian sound system, 20” alloys, Premium paint and Jaguar Smart Key System - This is arguably one of the most refined and attractive executive-estates on the market and the 2.0 diesel models are not only powerful, but also forgiving on company car tax. Perhaps one to consider when you’re due a new company car?
5. £50,000 - £60,000
Make: BMW
Model: M4 Coupé
Price: £57,055
The end of the M3 coupé is here - out goes the larger naturally aspirated engines that have made the M-power brand so successful and in come the new, turbocharged, smaller engines. But don’t go thinking BMW have calmed down. The new M4 uses a twin-turbo 3.0litre straight six which is not only more efficient than the V8 it replaces, but also more powerful and has more torque. Sounds good doesn’t it? ‘Going turbo’ was a huge leap for BMW and although many purists were upset initially, the M4 provides a simply exquisite package which made us question why we ever feared turbochargers in the first place. Now is your chance to get involved with the new generation of M cars and the M4 is a very good place to start.
6. £60,000 - £70,000
Make: Jaguar
Model: F-Type Convertible
Price: £60,260 (Manual V6 Type S)
Remember the EType Jaguar from the 60’s? The one that Clarkson labelled ‘the best looking car ever built’? Well this is the modern day successor, only it’s a lot faster. You can pick up the FType Convertible in V6 form with a manual gearbox from just £60,260 in the Type S variant. That last bit, ‘Type S’ means “greater power and an increased range of sophisticated driving technologies” according to Jaguar…
The greatest selling point in most peoples eyes is the aesthetics, although its no EType, the FType is a gorgeous car which produces an equally desirable exhaust note out of the centralised twin-pipe exhaust, which look and sound more like Trumpets than any exhausts you've heard before.7. £70,000 - £80,000
Make: Nissan
Model: GT-R
Price: £78,030
Fondly nicknamed the ‘Godzilla’ and ‘Supercar Killer’ - the R35 GTR from Japanese Manufacturer Nissan is an exquisite piece of technology. The level of thought and precision that went into developing the GTR is almost unparalleled. For example, the launch-control was the first of its kind to learn and calculate the specifics of road surfaces from all 4 driven wheels. This system takes the car from 0-60mph in 2.8 seconds - staggering. Furthermore, Nissan don’t fill the tyres with air, as air is inconsistent at different temperatures, instead they used Nitrogen. Talk about thinking things through...
If going fast in a relatively practical coupé with an all wheel drive system is what you want, then look no further. The GTR will beat non-turbo Porsche 911’s and countless Ferraris around the track all day long, and it costs under £80,000, hence why it is called a ‘Supercar Killer’, because no real supercar could ever be this affordable...8. £80,000 - £90,000
Make: Range Rover
Model: Vogue
Price: £81,950
It’s no secret that Land Rovers (and Range Rovers accordingly) are the greatest off road vehicles sold on the consumer market. Their dominance in this sector has seemingly got to a point where most manufacturers no longer bother to compete. The new Range Rover Vogue offers the most superior, complete and executive package for under £90,000 in terms of interior comfort, driving sensation, versatility, practicality and of course off road capability. The 4.4litre SDV8 model starts at £81,950 and this is the engine to go for. The refinement offered is unparalleled by any 4x4 on the market today.9. £90,000 - £100,000
Make: BMW
Model: i8
Price: £99,590 (after £5,000 Government contribution)
At the top of our list is one of the most exhilarating and futuristic cars ever produced. The BMW i8 won UK Car of The Year 2014 and quite rightly. The i8 has set the benchmarks for performance cars of the future as the 1.5 litre three cylinder engine soars from 0-60 in 4.4 seconds and on to an electronically limited 155mph, while returning 134.5mpg and costing £0 a year to tax.
The i8 actually costs £104,590 to buy from a dealership but the government will then contribute £5,000 to the purchase as the i8 qualifies under the ‘Plug-in vehicle’ grant.
