Nine underrated performance cars
Cars don’t always live up to their hype. Without naming names, the performance car world has had its fair share of swings and misses over the years. And perhaps we’re only going to see more of that in the near future, as car makers scrabble to make electrified and fully-electric cars appealing to the petrolheads they’ve always sold their hotter wares to.
But underrated cars? They’re much harder to come by. Few genuinely good machines tend to slip through the cracks, but they can be crowded out by unbeatable rivals, arrive with the wrong price tag, or just be plain elusive.
9. Toyota Yaris GRMN
We all know about the bombastic Toyota Yaris GR, fielding four-wheel-drive underneath its wild, un-official homologation-special bodywork and pushing out 261PS (192kW) from its superb 1.6-litre three-cylinder turbo engine. But before the GR, came the Yaris GRMN; a short-lived Yaris track weapon that’s been hugely overshadowed by the leaner, meaner-looking GR. That’s a shame because arguably it has a more entertaining powertrain than the GR – the supercharged 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine Toyota supplied to Lotus for the Series 3 Elise, chucking out 212PS (156kW) to the front wheels via a snappy six-speed manual gearbox. Only 400 came to Europe.
8. Tesla Roadster
The car that got the Tesla revolution - and arguably the wider electric car revolution – underway. Fiddly re-engineering of a Lotus Elise chassis would hold the key to launching the world’s most prominent electric car company. The Tesla Roadster was desirable and fast, at a time when all other electric cars before it had been compromised conversions of mainstream cars made in tiny numbers and nothing more than small shopping cars. It was fast, it looked the part, and it was good to drive. And it’s easily forgotten, given everything Tesla's gone on to become.
7. Ferrari 456 GT
Is this the best forgotten Ferrari ever? The 5.5-litre V12 456 GT revived the four-seat Ferrari when it arrived in 1992, sporting a far more modern look inside out, and far more performance, than the ageing 400-series model it replaced. It was essentially the first modern four-seat Ferrari, laying the template for the much-lauded but divisive looking 612 Scaglietti and the shooting-brake duo of the FF and GTC4. But, until recently it’s never quite hit the spotlight like those cars, despite being the final Ferrari to be offered with pop-up headlights. We think it deserves a lot more credit.
6. Renault Clio R.S
The RenaultSport Clio’s time as the champion of hot superminis came to a crashing end in 2013, when Ford’s second and somewhat overdue attempt at an ST version of the Fiesta landed a knockout blow. The Clio III in RS 200 form had been a barnstorming small fast car, so the hot version of the Mk.4 Clio arrived shouldering the weight of great expectations when it emerged at the same time as the new hot Fiesta. Sadly, the new Clio R.S’s recipe wasn’t an evolution of what had made the Clio 200 such a success. The new, grown-up direction resulted in a five-door Clio using a turbocharged 1.6-litre engine, mated exclusively to a DCT transmission. It left a bit of an open goal for the feisty, cheaper, manual Fiesta to tap the ball into. The Clio wasn’t by any means a bad car, it just lost this somewhat high-profile battle quite decisively, and couldn’t recover.
5. Audi TT RS
The Audi TT’s reputation as a car bought purely on image was forged from the moment the first-generation model emerged, almost completely unchanged from the 1995 concept that set out Audi’s sports car stall. Sharing parts over the years from other Volkswagen Group products, it’s always been easy to accuse the TT of being a hodgepodge of borrowed Golf bits in a fancy frock instead of a bonafide Porsche 718 Cayman rival. The TT RS, then, is a version that tries to put that notion to bed. Shoehorned under the bonnet is the brand’s 2.5-litre turbocharged inline-five, spitting out 400PS (294kW) and a soundtrack to give you Group-B thrills in earlier versions not equipped with gas particulate filters.
4. Kia Pro_Cee'd GT
Before Hyundai got stuck into making proper performance cars under the watchful eye of ex-BMW M boss Albert Biermann, who oversaw the launch of the Korean marque’s ‘N’ division, Kia had a go at making a hot hatchback. The Pro_Cee'd GT was the marque’s first stab at making something with a bit of performance appeal (if you ignore the badge-engineered Kia Elan). Essentially a cut-price Golf GTI rival, a turbocharged 204PS (150kW) 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine enabled 0-62mph in 7.4 seconds and a top speed of 143mph. Though reviews at the time were lukewarm at best, criticising the engine’s top-end and the dull handling and fuel economy, it’s a moment in Kia history that deserves a pat on the back.
3. Honda NSX
What makes the Honda NSX underrated, you ask? It was removed from Honda’s UK line-up in 2020 due to staggeringly slow sales, but we reckon that this is a case of the customer not always being right. The NSX’s appeal alongside, say, an Audi R8, lies in the sheer dedication sunk into its bespoke engineering. Parts sharing is just not a thing the NSX does, ranging from the switchgear, to the chassis componentry and even the unique hybrid powertrain, utilising a twin-turbocharged 3.5-litre V6 and a lithium-ion battery-backed motor for a healthy 581PS (427kW). For second-hand supercar buyers after something unique and rare, it’s a no-brainer.
2. Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X
Ten miniature generations of Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution history came to an end in 2016, but the final member of the decade of Evos, the Evo X, is often overlooked. It didn’t boast any of the World Rally pedigree of its predecessors, and its design was a break from tradition, the previous nine Evos steadily developing over a 15-year arc until the X arrived with a totally new appearance inside and out, plus a newly developed 2.0-litre turbocharged engine. As such, the youngest member of the Evo line-up is a bit of a black sheep, sticking like a sore thumb out rather than slinking into the flock. But as the final iteration of a ten-generation performance icon? It’s the most rounded Evo of the lot.
1. Lexus LC500
Lexus could well be the most underrated manufacturer on the planet. Think about some of those barnstorming F models it’s chucked out seemingly from nowhere over the years – the brilliant V8 IS F saloon, the RC F coupe, and of course, the incredibly rare LFA supercar, with its howling front-mounted V10. But lurking beneath the LFA, the more recent LC coupe stands out as a bit of an underrated curio. Drop dead gorgeous, available with hybrid power in the 500h model, or a thumping 5.0-litre V8 in the standard 500 variant, what’s not to like?
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