Best Sports Cars

Sports cars for every budget

For this update, we've selected four very different sports cars at widespread price points as the best of the current crop, based on the research we found in reviews. There are also a bunch of worthwhile "honorable mention" candidates that deserve at least a once-over to see if they fit your style or budget. See our sections on Bargain, Midpriced and Premium sports cars.

Nissan 370Z: Best bang for the buck

If you've got $30,000 or so to spend on a sports car, experts say the 2009 Nissan 370Z (*Est. $29,930 to $39,130) delivers the most performance per dollar. It's priced like a pony car -- think Ford Mustang or Chevy Camaro (see our report on coupes for more on these cars) -- but testers say the two-seat 370Z drives more like the illustrious 2009 Porsche Cayman (*Est. $50,300 to $60,200) that Nissan engineers used as their benchmark.

"A Porsche for the guy on a beer budget," is how one reader describes the Nissan 370Z, a Readers' Most Wanted car at Edmunds.com's Inside Line. In a head-to-head test at Road & Track, the more expensive Porsche Cayman is judged no more powerful or stylish than Nissan's latest version of the venerable Z car -- although the Porsche does deliver nearly perfect balance, refinement and communion between man (or woman) and machine.

Balance and the car/driver connection are very good in the Nissan 370Z, too, testers find. This sports coupe falls down a bit on refinement, with a droning engine that rattles at high RPMs and squashed windows that create frustrating blind spots. But critics say the 370Z makes up for its flaws with its fluid shape, high-quality interior and nearly unlimited grip in corners. It breaks the "magical 70-mph barrier" in Edmunds.com's slalom test, a feat that has been accomplished by only a handful of much pricier sports cars. A convertible version has arrived for 2010.

Porsche Cayman: Midpriced "driving bliss"

If you crave the ultimate connection between man and machine, look no further than the 2009 Porsche Cayman (*Est. $50,300 to $60,200), experts say. All of the usual Porsche superlatives are present -- Car and Driver calls the Cayman "one of the few cars that really can deliver complete driving bliss" -- and it costs less than the legendary 2009 Porsche 911 (*Est. $76,300 to $130,000). Testers say the Cayman may be even more perfectly balanced in corners than the rear-engined 911 because the Cayman carries its engine in the middle.

"It's impossible to recommend anything else if going around corners is your No. 1 priority," Edmunds.com says of the '09 Cayman.

Testers say you'll get plenty of power from either the 265-horsepower base Porsche Cayman or the 320-horsepower Cayman S. A sleek fastback shape and upscale interior with extraordinarily comfortable seats round out the driving experience, although reviewers say tall people may find the two-person cockpit a bit cramped. Critics' only major complaint about the Porsche Cayman is that its steep starting sticker price doesn't include common features such as automatic climate control or Bluetooth. Still, in the rarefied sports-car segment, the Cayman is considered midpriced.

The big news for 2009 is Porsche's optional PDK automatic transmission, a seven-speed, dual-clutch, automated manual that shifts gears faster than any human can. Reviews say it may be the best such transmission ever created, although some say anything automated blunts the Porsche driving experience. A traditional six-speed manual gearbox is still standard equipment. You can also get a convertible version of the Cayman, the 2009 Porsche Boxster (*Est. $46,600 to $56,700), which experts like just as well (see our report on convertibles for more on the Boxster).

The new supercars: Chevy Corvette ZR1 and Nissan GT-R

The word "supercar" has always conjured images of $300,000 Lamborghinis and Ferraris. But when the 2010 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (*Est. $108,880) started beating the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano and Porsche GT2 in head-to-head tests, Motor Trend crowned it "the new supercar king."

Edmunds.com says of the ZR1, "There's nothing you can buy that will touch it. Nothing." Jalopnik.com declares it "the best car ever made." Not only can it smoke the quarter-mile in 11.2 seconds and top out at 205 mph, but every other stat -- zero-to-60, slalom, braking, skid pad, road course -- resides firmly in the supercar stratosphere.

But could you drive it every day? Experts disagree on this one. Several say the ZR1 is comfortable, even easy to drive, but Ed Hellwig at Edmunds.com says its whopping 631 horsepower "is difficult to harness" in anything but a straight line. Almost all critics find the ZR1's two-person cabin unbelievably chintzy for a $100,000 car, and an $11,700 luxury package succeeds only in "moving the interior from cheap and nasty into luxurious bass boat territory," says Wes Siler at Jalopnik.com.

Lest you think the new Corvette is the only story here, another newcomer is shaking up the supercar world as well. The Nissan GT-R debuted in 2009; the 2010 version is now in showrooms (*Est. $80,790 to $83,040). In head-to-head tests, the Nissan GT-R gets beat by the Chevy Corvette ZR1 -- but not by much -- and it costs less. Edmunds.com calls it "the most accessible exotic sports car on the planet."

Reviews say the Nissan GT-R is a technological wonder. "Better driving through science," writes Jonny Lieberman at Autoblog.com in his review of the 2010 Nissan GT-R. With its sophisticated all-wheel-drive system and dual-clutch, automated manual transmission switching gears at eye-blink speed, the 485-horsepower Nissan GT-R beats supercars from Porsche and Audi in head-to-head-autocross, road and track tests. Testers say the GT-R responds perfectly to the slightest driver input -- maybe too perfectly.

Several reviews liken the Nissan GT-R to a robot or a video game -- scientific and soulless. But Lieberman argues that "those who complain about the GT-R's supposed soullessness simply aren't pushing it hard enough," and its awesome performance is soul enough for him and others. Motor Trend named the Nissan GT-R its 2009 Car of the Year, and Edmunds.com's Inside Line editors picked it as an Instant Classic.

One point of contention is the styling of this somewhat large four-seat car. The car critics call "Godzilla" is all angles, with a gaping black-hole grille that dominates the front end. Critics' reactions range from "brutally elegant" to "the world's ugliest, oversized electric shaver." Clearly, it's a matter of taste.

The 2010 Nissan GT-R remains essentially unchanged from the 2009 version, so we looked at reviews for both model years.