Best Performance Cars

ISeeCars.com
·3 min read
1

Automotive performance has drastically improved over the past century, but what defines a performance car has remained remarkably consistent. A high-performance car, or really any form of high-performance vehicle, needs to provide a thrilling driving experience. For sports cars, the thrills will manifest in a small, responsive two-door coupe or convertible with rear- or all-wheel-drive, such as the Porsche 718 Cayman or Boxster. In a supercar like the Lamborghini Huracan, everything from sleek aerodynamics to an impressive top speed to aggressive racetrack performance is required.

For more attainable performance cars, like the Honda Civic Type R, Toyota GR Corolla, or Volkswagen Golf, a four-cylinder, front-wheel drive powertrain with an engaging dual-clutch or manual shifter, plus commendable fuel economy and even some real-world functionality, is all part of the “hot hatch” performance car recipe.

With so many factors in play, is there a single metric that can help automotive enthusiasts identify the best performance cars? Yes, it’s called a car’s power-to-weight ratio – though the format in which this metric is usually presented is technically a weight-to-power ratio. For instance, if a car has a curb weight of 3,000 pounds and has 300 horsepower, it has a power-to-weight (weight-to-horsepower) ratio of 10-to-1, meaning each horsepower is responsible for motivating 10 pounds.

The best sports cars, supercars, hot hatches, performance SUVs, and every other type of performance vehicle will consistently be the model with the best power-to-weight ratio, meaning the models with the lowest weight that each horsepower has to motivate. iSeeCars has identified the best performance cars, organized them by vehicle category, and ranked them below by their power-to-weight (weight-to-power) ratio. Vehicles with nearly identical power-to-weight ratios (within 0.1 pound per horsepower of each other) are considered a tie, with the lighter vehicle being ranked above the heavier vehicle.

This method makes it easy to identify the best performance cars with a vehicle category. It doesn’t matter if the car in question is a Hyundai or a Lamborghini, front-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive, manual or automatic transmission. The power-to-weight ratio will tell you more about vehicle performance than equipment like a six-speed manual gearbox or locking differential upgrades. A vehicle with a twin-turbo V8 engine sounds like an obvious performance car, but if that V8 is pulling a Porsche Cayenne instead of a Chevrolet Corvette or Ferrari F8 Tributo, the power-to-weight ratio (and driving experience) will be very different.

Here are the best performance cars across a variety of segments:

 

Best Performance Small Cars

Weight to HP

  1. Honda Civic (hatchback): 9.9

  2. FIAT 500L

  3. MINI Hardtop 4 Door

 

Best Performance Luxury Small Cars

Weight to HP

  1. Audi RS 3: 9.1

  2. BMW 2 Series (coupe): 9.8

  3. Mercedes-Benz CLA: 9.9

 

Best Performance Luxury Midsize Cars

Weight to HP

  1. Lincoln MKZ: 9.8

  2. Cadillac CTS: 9.5

  3. Lexus GS F: 8.6

 

Best Performance Large Cars

Weight to HP

  1. Chrysler 300: 9.0

  2. Dodge Charger: 5.7

  3. Kia Cadenza

 

Best Performance Luxury Large Cars

Weight to HP

  1. Jaguar XJ: 8.8

  2. Cadillac CTS-V: 6.5

  3. Jaguar XJL: 8.8

 

Best Performance Sports Cars

Weight to HP

  1. Nissan 370Z (coupe): 9.9

  2. Nissan Z: 8.8

  3. Chevrolet Camaro (coupe): 6.0

 

Best Performance Luxury Sports Cars

Weight to HP

  1. Ford GT: 4.6

  2. Porsche 718 Boxster: 8.0

  3. Porsche 718 Cayman: 6.5

 

Best Performance Convertibles

Weight to HP

  1. Ford Mustang (convertible): 8.2

  2. Mazda MX-5 Miata RF

  3. Chevrolet Camaro (convertible)

Visit our website for the complete list of Best Performance Vehicles across all categories.

More from iSeeCars:

About iSeeCars.com

 

 

This article, Best Performance Cars, originally appeared on iSeeCars.com.