Mid-Priced Sports Cars

Mid-priced sports cars: $40,000 to $70,000

While we've given the overall nod to the Chevrolet Corvette in this price category, you can't go too far wrong if you opt for the Porsche Cayman or Boxster instead. These vehicles are identical except for body style -- the Cayman is a coupe, while the Boxster is a roadster. But regardless of the body style, both models have received more than their fair share of positive reviews.

Car and Driver is among the reviewers to laud the Cayman and Boxster, placing them as an entry in their list of the 10 best cars for 2008. Automobile magazine names them as "All-Stars." These are mid-engine cars, with their powerful flat six motors located between the cockpit and the rear axle for greater balance and agility. You can also count Edmunds.com as a fan. They note that the Boxster "carves up canyons like nothing else on the road," and they add that the fit and finish are "solid." The site adds that it stands up to exotic cars that sell for twice the price.

If you could care less for comfort or practicality, Lotus might have your next car waiting for you in the decidedly spartan Elise roadster . This car, which uses a 189-hp, 1.8-liter, four-cylinder &Toyota engine, is built to do one thing and one thing only -- drive fast and true. A supercharged 218-hp engine is available for an extra $8,230 in the new-for-2008 Elise SC.

Named one of Automobile magazine's 2008 All-Stars, the Elise is "a bravura engineering performance that reprises the truest Lotus virtues, namely light weight (1,984 pounds) and fealty to handling excellence." The magazine also admits: "Yes, the Elise is loud and cramped and difficult to get into. It buzzes and vibrates and crashes over bumps… It's still great." Edmunds.com says "with its loud interior and punishing suspension, the Elise never lets you forget you're in a single-minded sporting convertible." There's also a coupe counterpart called the Exige , which delivers even more of a race car sensibility thanks to an more rigid structure and supercharged 218-hp engine in the S model, or a new 240-hp model logically called the S240.

The BMW Z4 and higher performance Z4 M roadster and coupe draw some nice notices as well. With its "Best Buy" rating, Consumer Guide notes that these are true sports cars, but says they're still reasonably practical for every day use for those that can afford it. Trunk space is actually marginally spacious, though cabin storage is at a premium. Joe Wiesenfelder at Cars.com notes that the cars have greatly benefited from an increase in power from their initial introduction in 2003, "balancing out the dynamics as well as providing more of an acceleration rush." The styling is largely unchanged, and while originally widely disparaged, it has begun to earn its share of fans.

Another sporty convertible is the Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class , which puts a greater emphasis on luxury than most small roadsters. Three engines are offered: a 228-hp, 3.0-liter V6 in the SLK280, a 268-hp, 3.5-liter V6 in the SLK350 and a beastly 355-hp, 5.4-liter V8 in the SLK55 AMG . The SLK's fine road manners, high level of equipment and power retractable hardtop make it a very pleasant convertible. A unique option called Airscarf channels warm air to the headrest area for more comfortable top-down motoring. In 2009, Mercedes will introduce a slightly restyled SLK with new steering, some new features and more power from the 3.5-liter engine.