It pains us to say it, but sports cars are few and far between in today’s modern car marketplace. These fun machines, like muscle cars, sporty family sedans, and the wholesome lightweight subcompact hatchback, are overall a bit rare, but luckily the ones we do have are some of the best cars ever made. Most can be picked up for under $30,000, too.
The average American consumer seems only interested in SUVs, crossovers, and pickups, so prices for sports cars remain pretty flat. If $30k sounds like a lot of coin, it’s actually well below the average price for a new car today... by as much as $20k, depending on who you ask. Unless you’re interested in a pure exotic supercar, less than thirty grand will buy you a number of affordable sports cars, and most won’t have anywhere near 100,000 miles on their odometers. For those who want something fun, practical, and daily-able, look no further than what we’ve listed here.
If you were hoping to find something like a Dodge Challenger or a Chevrolet Camaro here, never fear: Check out our separate list of the best affordable muscle cars to find your next ground-pounder.
The Best Sports Cars Under $30,000 to Buy in 2025
- 2005–2013 Chevrolet Corvette
- 2020 Fiat 124 Spider
- 2012–2013 Ford Mustang Boss 302
- 2017 Honda Civic Type R
- 2020 Hyundai Veloster N
- 2023 Mazda MX-5 Miata
- 2024 MINI Cooper S
- 2005–2012 Porsche Cayman S
- 2023 Subaru BRZ/Toyota GR86
- 2022 Subaru WRX
- 2022 Volkswagen Golf GTI
2005–2013 Chevrolet Corvette
Best for: Anyone needing some good old-fashioned, Porsche-eating American ingenuity
Oh, boy, the C6. No other sports car telegraphs more about its owner. Drive this car, and your friends are immediately going to assume that you’ve given up Japanese selvedge jeans and Red Wing boots for jorts and spiffy leather New Balance sneakers (with white socks, natch).
But make no mistake: There’s no other sports car on the planet that offers as much performance potential as the rear-wheel-drive (RWD) C6 Corvette. These were world-beating cars offered at a third of the price of the cars that they regularly embarrassed at the Nürburgring. In a test back in June 2012, a Corvette Z06 on street tires posted a 20,832-meter Nordschleife lap time of 7:22:68. And that's the Z06, remember, not the supercharged Z01. That time was good enough to beat contemporary laps from a Porsche 911 Carrera GTS, an Audi R8 V10, a Nissan GT-R, a Maserati MC-12, a Pagani Zonda F Clubsport, a Ferrari Enzo, and a Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4. That speaks for itself. The Corvette is, without doubt, a fast car.
You’ll never have Top Gear fans singing your praises if you drive a Corvette, but you’ll be secure in the knowledge that you can beat the pants off of any of them at will... in a Chevy.
2020 Fiat 124 Spider
Best for: A vivacious Italian driving experience
Fiat seems to be sticking to the 500e in the United States, so if you’re on the lookout for a 124 Spider, it’s going to have to be on the used market. It’s a shame, because in a lot of ways, the Fiat 124 Spider was better than the model it was based on, the Mazda MX-5 Miata.
Start with the styling. The Fiat 124 Spider could be said to be a much better-looking car than the Miata. Yes, styling is subjective, but the Fiat 124 Spider really looks the part of a classic late 1960s/early 1970s Italian roadster.
Early in the 124 Spider’s run, it had the power advantage thanks to the TurboAir turbocharged four-cylinder engine in the Abarth model, but since then, the Miata has closed the gap and surpassed the former's performance levels, despite the Mazda’s lack of a turbo. Considering that the two models share so much in terms of mechanicals and components, it’s amazing how different these cars feel from behind the steering wheel. If it’s a track day you’re after, you could do a lot worse than the MX-5 Miata. If it’s simply enjoying twisty roads in one of the most pleasant sports cars on the market, choose the Fiat 124 Spider in Abarth trim. The better news is that you can buy one fully loaded and still stay under our price cap.
2012–2013 Ford Mustang Boss 302
Best for: Big-bore blue oval fans
We'll start by telling you that you can buy a Ford Mustang GT a lot more easily-and for a lot less money-than you can buy a Boss 302. But we're writing a story about the best sports cars under $30K, and the Boss 302 is the closest pony car to a true sports car that Ford ever turned out.
The Boss 302 is almost a skunkworks car from Ford. It got a 5.0-liter Coyote V8 with CNC-ported heads, a forged crank, revised cams, and a unique air intake straight from the 302R. The result was 444 horsepower, with just a tad fewer pound-feet of torque than the standard GT. Put another way, this was a car for speed, not for ripping donuts in the parking lot. The 2012 Mustang GT got a 5.0-liter V8 making 412 hp and 390 lb-ft of torque. (The EcoBoost wouldn’t hit the Mustang lineup till 2015.)
Handling got a major boost over the GT, too, with higher-rate coil springs, stiffer bushings, a larger-diameter rear stabilizer bar, and a body squashed 11 mm lower on the front springs. There's a Laguna Seca upgrade with even more aggressive suspension tuning, Recaro bucket seats up front, and the rear seat tossed in the dumpster, but you'll never find one in this price range. Satisfy yourself with the entry-level Boss 302. It's a whole different animal than the conventional Ford Mustang GT.
2017 Honda Civic Type R
Best for: Tack-sharp handling aficionados
The Honda Civic Type R kicked off a new generation for the 2023 model year. Finding more recent examples of the previous generation as used cars for under $30,000 is going to take some time, but it’s doable. Our nationwide CarGurus search turned up one with just 30,000 miles in Bloomington, Illinois. Most are in the $32,000 to $35,000 range, but keep your eyes peeled and a sub-$30k example will come up.
This is the car that left the automotive world with its mouth hanging open on April 3, 2017, when it recorded a 7:43:80 lap time at the Nürburgring Nordschleife-a time that was seven full seconds faster than its predecessor and represented an all-new record for a front-wheel-drive (FWD) production car. It went on to shatter front-drive records at tracks all over the world.
These cars are outrageously powerful for what they are, hammering the front wheels with 306 hp out of an engine no larger than those found in many motorcycles. With a top speed of 169 miles per hour, it was also the fastest Civic Type R ever produced. On top of that, its interior is more comfortable and modern than the car it replaced.
Alternatively, if you want something slightly more subtle (and affordable), a Civic Si is another great choice.
2020 Hyundai Veloster N
Best for: Channeling the purest rousing hot hatch vibes
When Hyundai was still making the Veloster, you often saw it compared to the Kia Soul. But don’t let that mislead you: The Veloster N is quite a different ball of wax, and it’s one of the best used sports cars you can get. The 275-hp Veloster N hatchback was the absolute best hot-hatch in this segment, by a country mile.
The specs are incontrovertible: 275 horsepower. Six-speed manual with rev-matching. At the time, the most aggressive exhaust in any production vehicle this side of Porsche. Zero to 60 in 4.3 seconds. The Veloster N from the final two model years includes all of the content that used to be in the Performance Package as standard equipment, but if you’re looking at earlier models, you’ll want to find one with that package in place. It also includes the electronic limited slip differential that’s incredibly effective in putting power to the pavement as you dig out of corners, making it great for track day/HPDE (high-performance driving event) driving.
2025 Mazda MX-5 Miata
Best for: Pure sports car enthusiasts
Still the reigning champion of two-seater sports cars, the Mazda MX-5 Miata sells at a rate of 10,000 per year like clockwork. This latest ND generation is an overall improvement over the third-generation NC—although those are starting to be more appreciated on the used market for what they were, too.
The naturally aspirated four-cylinder Skyactiv-G engine delivers an impressive 181 horsepower, and because it returns excellent fuel economy at 35 mpg, you can convince yourself that it’s somewhat economical. Even in its most base form, you get active safety features like lane-departure warning and Smart City Brake Support, along with performance identical to what you’d get out of the fancier Grand Touring Trim.
The base 2025 Mazda MX-5 Miata Sport's starting price is just a tick below $30,000, but the one to look for is the Club trim, which means you'll be looking at the used market. The Club includes nice-to-have luxury-car features like a nine-speaker Bose audio system with AudioPilot, driver and passenger headrest speakers, and a subwoofer. More importantly, on the manual transmission—why would you be looking at anything else—the Club trim features a standard Torsen limited-slip differential.
2024 MINI Cooper S
Best for: People who want truly small car thrills
The BMW MINI Cooper is still one of the more entertaining sporty vehicles available to American car shoppers, and you can almost convince people that it’s useful (especially in four-door guise). The cargo area is at least more spacious than the Audi TT’s, and the rear seats are actually usable for adult-sized humans if they don’t have to spend too long back there.
The driving experience is terrific. The MINI Cooper may not be the best at anything. It’s not the quickest. It’s not the fastest through the autocross course. But you can entertain yourself all day long and still enjoy a car that’s pleasant in city traffic and a snap to parallel park.
Due to a significant price bump for 2025, a new Cooper S eclipses our $30,000 threshhold, so you'll need to look for a used example or perhaps you'll find a 2024 leftover on a dealer lot. The 2024 Cooper S started at $29,100 when new ($1,000 more for the four-door versino) and offers a 55-horsepower advantage over the base model while only dropping 1 mile per gallon. Sixty mph comes in 6.4 seconds, which is nowhere near the Veloster N’s stats, but it’s still a lot of fun to play with. Perhaps more significantly, the 2024 MINI Cooper S is available with a six-speed manual gearbox, whereas the 2025 model is only offered with the seven-speed double-clutch transmission.
2005–2012 Porsche Cayman S
Best for: Porsche 911 fans looking for an even purer driver’s car
The Porsche Cayman and the Porsche Boxster are basically the same car, but the Cayman has a fixed hardtop roof to the Boxster’s open-top roadster configuration. Porsche 911 people are going to look down their noses at you, but they wouldn’t know truly lightweight motoring if it bit them in the rear end. Either the Cayman or the Boxster is probably the best car most of us are ever going to drive.
The 987.1 base Cayman was equipped with a 2.7-liter flat-six producing a hearty 240 horsepower, whereas the later 987.2 that debuted in 2009 had a 2.9-liter six pumping out 265. Transmission choices include a five-speed manual gearbox or a five-speed Tiptronic automatic transmission. After 2008, the Tiptronic gave way to the seven-speed Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK) dual-clutch automatic. Do not make the mistake of dismissing the PDK. If going fast is your only mission, you’re not good enough to go through the gears as perfectly as the PDK can. Its acceleration in launch mode is life-changing.
There’s a debate to be had about whether to purchase the coupe or the convertible body style. If you’re an open-air person, the Boxster is going to do it for you, but the Cayman is the more dramatically awesome of these two luxury sports cars.
2024 Subaru BRZ/Toyota GR86
Best for: Anyone after mid-engine handling for considerably less money than anything European
You get two for one here. The Subaru BRZ and the Toyota GR86 (which has now been renamed three times and changed brands twice since it started life as the Scion FR-S) are virtually identical cars, sharing the same chassis, the same 228-232-hp Subaru "boxer" engine, the same six-speed manual transmission, and everything else. Both cars offer a “back seat” that’s great for luggage, small pets, or people you hate, and both are known for providing enough cargo space to fit a spare set of wheels and tires for track days.
The power boost in the current-generation car is fantastic. The one knock against the previous model was a lack of power, but bringing a 10-percent increase to the party is all it took to make the engine feel perfectly suited to the chassis. And that chassis was improved, with better handling, turn-in, and braking performance, too.
Pricing for the Subaru exceeds the Toyota, which starts at exactly $30,000 for the 2025 model year. However, used models in the sub-$30,000 segment are plentiful, and prices will continue to decline (until they become classics, but that’s still well in the future).
Whatever you do, buy yourself a set of steel wheels and winter tires if you live where it snows. These cars are a hoot in bad weather.
2022 Subaru WRX
Best for: Maximum grip and the occasional, controllable, oversteer
The current-generation WRX was all-new for 2022. It’s still hilariously fun to drive, but it’s also more grown-up than it used to be. And it’s more pleasant when you’re not wringing the daylights out of it. The only issue here is pricing has steadily climbed north of $30,000 in the past three years (due in part to Subaru dropping the base model), but used examples can be found within our budget constraints.
The early internet feedback on the new design had plenty of haters, and we’ll admit to not liking it in the photos, either. In person, though, it’s a great-looking sports sedan, and you can choose colors that either accentuate or minimize the effect of the black cladding.
Power is only up a tick, to 271 horsepower from the turbocharged boxer four-cylinder, and you do need to keep the revs up to get the most out of it. Standard Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive (AWD) is a key point, especially if you’re only going to buy ONE sports car and you live where it snows half the winter.
2022 Volkswagen Golf GTI
Best for: Hot hatchback die-hards
The Volkswagen Golf GTI is a bit of a stretch as a "sports car." It's not a coupe or a roadster, and with 245 horsepower and over 3,100 pounds, it's not exactly a performance car. But it is the car that invented an entire segment, and it's outlived the very nameplate it was based on. If you want a new Golf, you have to buy either a GTI or a Golf R.
Like the Subaru WRX, the Volkswagen Golf GTI finally passed the $30,000 mark for the 2023 model year, so you'll need to focus on the used market. That'll be preferable for some, as the 2023 GTI was the last available with a six-speed manual transmission. Inside, you'll find the best seats in any compact sporty car, upholstered in plaid that's a nod to the seats in the original GTI that arrived in 1976.
Beyond that, it's a useful automobile, with a hatch that's big enough to fit a small bureau and four doors that can almost convince you that for practicality purposes, this is a "family car."
