Top 10 Most Electrifying New Cars Under £30k

With the Detroit motor show and Autosport International still at the forefront of our minds, we've noticed a trend among new cars: there's some seriously tempting metal about for £30k and under. With that in mind, we've rounded up 10 performance cars that offer great value for money:

Zenos E10

When we last reported on the Zenos E10 sports car, all we had was a sketch of the exterior and a CGI image of the chassis. It's now been unveiled in the metal, however, and as you can see from the image above, it looks pretty damn promising. Zenos - a joint venture between two former Caterham heads - is being pretty realistic, too. The E10 has a 197bhp 2.0-litre engine from Ford, and uses recycled carbonfibre to keep both the weight and costs down. As it tips the scales at just 650kg, this road-legal, track-biased sports car will do 0-60mph in 4.5 seconds, and costs a very reasonable £24,999.

2015 Ford Mustang

We're maybe jumping the gun a bit here as official UK 2015 Mustang prices haven't been announced yet, but the first right-hand drive 'Stang in over 40 years is expected to cost around £30k on these shores. The 305bhp 2.3-litre Ecoboost version will be fast and frugal, and for a little more than £30k, the 420bhp 5.0-litre V8 should be absolutely stonking.

Toyota GT86

The GT86 has been with us a while now, but its position as a great-value sports car hasn't changed. We're utterly besotted with our GT86 longtermer (video coming soon), and it'll be a sad day indeed when we have to hand the keys back. Why? Its 197bhp may only be enough to send the Toyota/Subaru joint-venture vehicle from 0-60mph in a relatively leisurely 7.6 seconds, but the GT86 proves you don't need mega power to have fun behind the wheel, and for that, we love it. The two companies have gone to great lengths to make the GT86 and BRZ proper drivers cars, with enough power to excite, but not so much as to intimidate. At £24,995 for the '86, it's incredibly tempting.

BMW M135i

There's no doubt about it, we're hugely excited by the upcoming M235i coupe, but you shouldn't ignore the M135i. Unlike the 2-series coupe, the 1-series hatch is available now, and while the M235i will set you back £34,250, the more practical M135i starts at £30,835, just over our theoretical budget. For that, you get a delectable turbocharged 3.0-litre straight-six that develops a whopping 320bhp. It'll do 0-60mph in just 5.1 seconds, and has a rear-drive chassis to die for. Who said BMW didn't do value for money?

Seat Leon Cupra

If you want a lot of hot hatch bang for your buck, look no further than the new Seat Leon. It costs about the same as a VW Golf GTi, but has enough punch to worry a Golf R when you go for the top-of-the-range 276bhp model, and comes with a very clever diff to help channel all those 276 horses through the front wheels. Prices start at £25,690 for the less powerful base model, and climb to £28,525 for the range-topping Cupra 280 with a DSG gearbox.

Subaru WRX STI

That's right, the WRX STI is coming back to the UK. Not only that, it'll cost just £28,995, which, for what you're getting, is an utter bargain. The 2.5-litre boxer-four will churn out 305hp and 290lb/ft of torque, and like all the best Subarus, it'll have a grippy four-wheel drive chassis and a giant boot spoiler. It'll be available this summer, and we're struggling to think of a better way to drop £29k on a new car.

Ford Fiesta ST

At £16,995 the Fiesta ST is by far the cheapest car here, but it entirely deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the other motors on this list. It's that good. When we drove it we fell in love, and that's not surprising. The Fiesta ST is incredible to drive, has punchy performance courtesy of its 179bhp turbocharged 1.6-litre four-pot, looks great and is well screwed together. All for £16,995? That's nothing short of a bargain.

Skoda Octavia vRS

Want discreet performance on a budget? Look no further than the Octavia vRS. It's yet another car from the VW group that makes its own Golf GTi seem too expensive, being on the same platform and using the same engine, yet costing a few grand less at £23,310. Its 2.0-litre TSI engine is good for 217bhp, sending the Octavia from 0-60mph in 6.8 seconds and on to a top speed of 154mph. Frugally minded? Spec the diesel version; it's still reasonably quick with 181bhp, yet can manage over 60mpg.

Caterham Seven 160

Like the Toyota GT86, Caterham's Seven 160 goes by the low power but big fun concept, although the approach is very different. The 160 uses a piddly 660cc, three-cylinder Suzuki engine. It does have a turbo, but only a little one, giving a minuscule power output of 80bhp. In a lightweight Seven though, that's enough for a 0-60mph time of a respectable 6.5 seconds. It's also much closer to the ethos of the original Lotus Seven, which sported just 40bhp. There's something very pure about it, especially when you compare it to the positively nuts and possibly OTT 310bhp 620R Seven. Its simplicity also has a dramatic effect on price: the Seven 160 is available for just £14,995 in kit form, or £17,995 fully-built.

Vauxhall Insignia VXR Supersport

If you can cope with having a Vauxhall griffin on your car rather than something with a little more prestige, then the Insignia VXR makes the likes of the Audi S4 look ridiculously expensive. It's just over our £30k budget at £30,020 (but come on, what's £20 between friends?) and undercuts the S4 by over £9000 despite offering similar performance. Of course, Vauxhall has visited the low-cost sports saloon idea before with the tearaway front-wheel drive Vectra VXR, but the four-wheel drive Insignia has heaps more polish. The turbocharged 2.8-litre V6 is good for 321bhp, which will propel the Insignia from 0-60mph in 5.6 seconds. With the absence of the 155mph limiter many of its rivals use it'll do 170mph, making it the fastest new car in this price bracket.