Sports Cars Reviews

We found lots of well-done and informative sports car reviews for this update. The very best are those at Car and Driver and Motor Week magazines. Each has extensive experience reviewing cars, and it shows in the complete and in-depth reporting they do. We also found quality reviews at Consumer Guide and Automobile Magazine. Consumer Reports' automotive reviews are not as detailed as those from some other reviewers, but they include reliability and resale information that's hard to find anywhere else. Other good reviews can be found at Road & Track, Motor Trend and Edmunds.com. CNet.com is a good stop for those interested in the technology under the hood and in the drivers' cabin.

For this report, we restrict our coverage to vehicles that fit the image that most people conjure up when they think of the term "sports car" -- sleek hardtop coupes, racy convertibles and roadsters. All are two-doors, although a few have four-door variants. If you are interested in one of the high-performance, and usually much more luxurious four-door sports sedans , we offer a separate ConsumerSearch report that covers those in detail. We're leaving out the truly exotic - those mostly Italian supercars with prices that may reach more than $300,000. While these cars from Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati and British-built Aston Martin are the pinnacle of sports cars, they are produced in relatively small numbers and sold through limited dealer networks.

Most traditional sports cars are built for speed and handling, not comfort and practicality, and many are very expensive compared to the majority of vehicles on the road. You can more or less forget about hauling much in the way of people or cargo. For example, if there's a back seat, you can be fairly confident it's not one most people will want to spend much time in. Almost all are two-door models, although the Mazda RX-8 coupe has "suicide doors" (doors hinged on the trailing edge) to give a little better access for anyone silly enough to try to sit in its way-too-tight back seat.

Sports cars still require drivers to make some compromises in return for delivering exhilarating performance. However, there are some sports cars that might be asking for a few too many compromises to make them great choices.

For a completely new BMW sports car, however, many reviews are surprisingly lukewarm. Some criticism is obvious: the trunk is small and the rear seats are not suitable for adults. After all, the 1-Series is some 8.1 inches shorter than a BMW 328i coupe. But, despite the smaller size, the 128i tips the scales at 3,252 lbs., only 100 pounds lighter than a BMW 328i. EPA fuel mileage ratings are virtually the same. Also, reviewers are almost unanimous in their lack of enthusiasm for 1-Series styling. Car and Driver notes that the 135i looks "a bit like a 3-series coupe in a fun-house mirror." An Edmunds editor quips, "it looks like a pot-belly pig."

Styling is subjective, of course, but the value of this "lower priced" BMW convertible seems especially hard to justify. Though the base price of a 128i coupe is approximately $3,800 less than a 328i sedan, adding a few options quickly raises the price to a point where the price is higher than a base 328i. Similarly equipped, it might be worth the extra cash to buy the larger and more attractive BMW 3-Series sedan. The convertible makes a better argument for saving money, with a base-price difference of $10,100. But at more than $33,000, there are many other good choices in a sporty convertible.  ... Continued

Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
All The Reviews Reviewed chart.

Three sports cars in three different price categories get our nod as the best choices. The Mazda MX-5 Miata and the Audi R8 are clear choices in the entry level and premium categories. Things are much closer among mid-priced sports cars. We give the nod to the Chevrolet Corvette, but critics say you won't go too far wrong if you opt for either the Porsche Boxster or its Cayman model -- similar cars except for body style (coupe vs. roadster).