The eight best German cars to buy in 2023
Germans know what they’re doing when it comes to cars. All kinds of cars, in fact. There’s nothing niche about what the German automotive industry makes - it has something for everyone.
But while we could fill vast expanses of the internet waxing lyrical about every nook and cranny of Europe's biggest car making nation, it’s the hot stuff that we’re most interested in. Germany’s brands are undisputed industrial giants, and as such, the level of engineering that goes into their fastest wares is legendary. The particular demands of its domestic audience and the famous limit-free Autobahns all play their part but, most of all, the German brands just seem to understand what people want from their cars, and how we use them to project our personalities. These are our favourite German cars in 2023.
BMW M3 Touring xDrive
The G80 BMW M3's controversial weird face is entirely forgiven after a long-awaited estate version – the M3 Touring xDrive introduced at the 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard. Behind that toothy snout the new M3 in general has turned out to be a far better-resolved performance car than its predecessor. All that turbocharged torque is sent through a capable chassis for a driving experience that’s more fun than fearsome. Still, that twin-turbo six-cylinder engine is a meaty machine even in the new car, which is where BMW’s latest xDrive system comes in. The M3 xDrive is getting praise from all sides for how it handles that tower of performance and how the powered front wheels only add to the experience. Yes it’s heavier, yes it’s bigger but it seems the M3 has evolved into quite the all-round package, especially now you can have it in estate car form for the first time ever.
Volkswagen Golf R
The Golf GTI is credited with making hot hatches respectable – and mainstream – and has a longer heritage but in recent years the Golf R has become the fast VW of choice for its understated looks, turbocharged performance and all-wheel-drive traction. In short the R is the 911 Turbo S of hot hatches, the confirmation of an all-new Golf R based on the latest eighth-generation Golf building on the success of its predecessor. The formula remains similar, power now up to 320PS and the 0-62mph sprint blitzed in just 4.7 seconds. Perhaps acknowledging the previous one was a little one-dimensional, as there’s a new all-wheel-drive system able to do more exciting things with the torque split, up to and including a Drift Mode with the optional R Performance pack.
Porsche 911 Carrera
Head says we should put the all-electric Taycan here for its electric reinvention of Porsche’s brand values. But the 911 arguably is Porsche as far as most people are concerned and, while the latest 992 version isn’t beyond criticism, it remains arguably the single most iconic German car on sale. And its bandwidth is huge. The Turbo S is a horizon-shrinking monster with hypercar pace in a daily driveable package. But the purest expression of its character is arguably in its most basic form – the entry level 911 Carrera. OK, all things relative, this is now an £82,000-plus car dripping with tech and against the 650PS Turbo S the 385PS from the rear-mounted turbocharged six sounds modest. But for all the attempts to polish the rough edges the 911 remains a car of unique and beguiling character.
BMW M5 CS
Of all the models to craft an all-time great driver’s BMW M car out of, the M5 is an unlikely candidate. But they have, by most accounts, done the impossible with the M5 CS. It’s a classic example of the whole entirely outshining the sum of the parts. Take the M5 Competition, a competent and devastatingly fast if not inspiring super saloon, drop 70kg via some carbon bits, reduced sound deadening, forged wheels and a stainless exhaust. Then tune the new dampers, lower suspension and anti-roll bars. Then revise the engine with new turbos and better oiling, for 635PS (467kW). The result is a car that many claim is a night and day revolution over the car on which it’s based and the best M5 in generations. That it doesn’t wear its aggression quite so much on its sleeve stylistically compared to rivals, channeling that original M5 subtlety, sits very well with us too.
Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series
Mercedes-Benz builds everything from small hatchbacks to limousines and SUVs to luxury coupes and, on its current run of form, pretty much any would stand inclusion here. The 730PS AMG GT Black Series is perhaps the least representative model of the brand’s entire output. But we love it for that, and for all its wild aero, muscle car vibe and Nürburgring lap records it is still a Mercedes. The valedictory send-off for AMG boss Tobias Moers before he upped sticks to run Aston Martin (now part owned by Mercedes), the GT Black Series is an extreme embodiment of his single-minded approach to making fast cars faster, which now goes a long way beyond just levering a massive V8 into an unsuspecting Mercedes.
Audi RS3
You can’t beat the swagger of an Audi RS, with its big shoulders, parping oval exhausts and frowny fascia. Yet in spite of almost always looking great, these cars haven’t always actually been good. Happily in the case of the latest RS3, we have a good one. A really good one. With a clever diff at the rear that’s not afraid to take most of the RS3’s 400PS (294kW), this is a hyper hatch from Audi that will actually dig in and dance. Then there’s what has to be one of the most charismatic engines still on sale, the 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbocharged engine that delivers that spectacular performance. With 500Nm (369lb ft) and all-wheel-drive, it’ll get to 62mph in a supercar-humbling 3.8 seconds. Woof.
Ruf CTR Anniversary
Another 911 you say? Actually no, as Ruf’s status as a manufacturer in its own right means its Porsche-based products stand apart. And in the case of the CTR Anniversary the resemblance literally is only skin deep, this being a ground-up car based on Ruf’s own carbon-fibre chassis and wrapped in retro style bodywork made of the same. Inspired by the legendary CTR Yellowbird of 1987, the CTR Anniversary uses a Porsche-based 3.6-litre flat-six built by Ruf and deploying a mighty 710PS to the rear wheels via little more than a manual gearbox and limited-slip differential. With a dry kerbweight of just 1,200kg, or nearly half a tonne less than a 911 Turbo S. If you’ve ever seen Stefan Roser’s legendary ‘ring lap in the original Yellowbird that hairy-chested combination will make total sense – slip on your loafers and get ready to burn some serious rubber!
Wiesmann Project Thunderball
To call Wiesmann the German Morgan would be a little inaccurate, the retro styling of its original cars clearly owing a lot to a bygone age but the engineering is anything but old-fashioned. True, like Morgan Wiesmann is associated with using BMW engines but its cars have always been about serious performance. Shifting a kerbweight of little over a tonne this made for some stonkingly fast cars, the MF5 of 2008 using the E60 M5’s mighty V10 engine with over 500PS (368kW) before switching to the later turbocharged V8. It all went south in 2014 but it’s back in 2023 with that quintessential retro style and in the place of M power, E power, in the form of electric motors and a battery pack. Project Thunderball moves the incredible Wiesmann retro-futuristic style and electrifies it. It’s probably one of the most exciting EVs out there, without resorting to delivering more than 2,000PS.
Apollo IE
Evolved from Gumpert, the eponymous supercar brand founded by ex-Audi Sport engineer and rally boss Roland Gumpert, Apollo has adopted the name of the car he built and recently announced a buy-out by a conglomerate of entrepreneurs from Macau, China and Hong Kong. Gumpert himself is no longer involved but the Intensa Emozione that stunned crowds at its Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard debut in 2018 has German engineering at its heart thanks to the involvement of HWA in its 6.3-litre naturally aspirated V12 engine and the car’s set-up. Should those credentials be in doubt HWA are the initials of founder Hans-Werner Aufrecht or – to put it another way – the original ‘A’ in AMG. Following the construction of 10 IE models Apollo it’s promising to turn its expertise to “revolutionise the mobility industry from a foundational perspective” and “disrupt the status quo and antiquated legacy structure of the automotive industry.” Strong words. But an amazing car.
List
BMW
M3
M5
Apollo
Wiesmann
Audi
RS3
Ruf
Mercedes
AMG
AMG GT
Porsche
911
Volkswagen
Golf
Golf R
