Used Car of the Year Awards: Sports cars
With living costs on the rise, getting a good deal on your next car is more important than ever. That's where our Used Car Awards come in. These are our favourite sports cars...
Toyota GR Yaris
Price from £21,000 Our pick GR Circuit
The Toyota GR Yaris is no ordinary hot hatch. The pet project of Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda, it’s a road-going version of what became the brand’s World Rally Championship (WRC) car. Compared with the regular Toyota Yaris hatch, it shares only its headlights, door mirrors and shark-fin antenna, and it’s built in the same factory as the legendary Lexus LFA supercar.
The end result is extraordinary. The GR Yaris may be modest in its cylinder count (three), but its 1.6-litre engine is turbocharged and, with 257bhp, remarkably powerful. That power is sent to all four wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox – one with a satisfyingly short and snappy shift. We timed 0-62mph in an astonishing 4.6sec, matching the 2.0-litre Porsche 718 Cayman and seeing off every other hot hatch this side of a Mercedes-AMG A45.
But even that formidable powerhouse has to bow to the GR Yaris when it comes to agility; the way it can attack a series of challenging corners is its strongest attribute. Wonderfully precise steering, that four-wheel drive system and terrific body control combine to put an immense grin across any keen driver’s face.
Of the versions offered, the GR Circuit is the cream of the crop; its stiffer suspension, lightweight forged 18in alloy wheels, Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres and traction-enhancing Torsen limited-slip differentials front and rear further sharpen the GR Yaris’s scalpel.
The GR Circuit also happens to be much more widely available as a used buy than the regular GR Yaris, yet there’s very little between the two in terms of price. You can pick up a GR Circuit for around £21,000, so it’s the cheapest of our three contenders in this category. It should also be reasonably affordable to run.
What’s more, the GR Yaris beat all other sports cars, coupés and convertibles in our latest What Car? Reliability Survey, with no faults reported. And if anything were to go wrong, you’d have Toyota’s class-leading warranty to fall back on. This lasts for up to 10 years, provided you have the car serviced regularly by a Toyota dealer.
If you want a sporty car to soak up the miles, the BMW 4 Series and Mercedes-AMG C63 will suit you better, but the GR Yaris would walk away from either adversary on a twisty road. And that’s what sports cars are really all about.
Also consider...
Best coupé/convertible
BMW 4 Series (2021-present)
Price from £23,000 Our pick 420i
A coupé is all about blending comfort with driver involvement, and – unless you head into fantasy budget territory – few
balance the two disciplines quite as convincingly as the BMW 4 Series.
Even the cheapest version – the 420i – has the power to impress; its 181bhp is enough for 0-62mph in a swift 7.5sec. But it’s the way it handles that really teaches its rivals a thing or two. Precise steering and a predictable, satisfying rear-wheel drive balance make the 420i more fun to drive than an Audi A5 Coupé or Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupé – if not as nimble on a twisty road as the ferret-like GR Yaris.
Remarkably, the BMW 4 Series Convertible is almost as good to drive as the coupé; there’s little of the body flex you often get when a car sacrifices its metal roof for fabric. Both versions are comfy cruisers, too, with a well-cushioned ride (especially with the adaptive suspension available as an option when new), hushed motorway manners and an expensive-feeling and distinctly upmarket interior. On top of that, the 4 Series looks terrific value at a year or two old.
Read our full used BMW 4 Series Coupé review >>
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Best for old-school thrills
Mercedes-AMG C63 (2015-2021)
Price from £27,000 Our pick S
For all its uncanny agility and appetite for hard cornering, the GR Yaris is a little short on aural delight. The 2015-2021 Mercedes-AMG C63 is right at the opposite end of the scale in that regard; this is courtesy of its monstrous V8 engine, which serves up grunt and sheer sonic thunder in roughly equal proportions.
In the case of our preferred S version, it produces a whopping 503bhp – enough for 0-62mph in 4.0sec, so you’d get the jump on a GR Yaris in a drag race (and leave the 420i for dead). By the standards of turbocharged engines, the V8 is very responsive, too.
Naturally, the GR Yaris is more nimble, but the C63 entertains in a very different way. It’s less razor-sharp, but its steering feels deliciously meaty and it’s more playful than the rival Audi RS4 and BMW M3 – both of which are pricier to buy at the same age. The GR Yaris is a better sports car, but the C63 is tops for theatre.
Read our full used Mercedes-AMG C63 review >>
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