Top 10 best used performance cars to buy under 30 grand!

   Hello! I am Isa Baig! Just so you guys know, this article is more of sort of my opinions of what I think you should buy whether it has a lot of power, whether it's fast, and practical. Or whether it has decent fuel economy. So yeah, these are just my ideas if you guys want to follow. And yeah that's right, you can get these performance cars for the same price or less as any average modern sedan like a 2024 Toyota Corolla. Hope you enjoy!

The Corvette C5 z06 is a bargain believe it or not. This was also that last car to ever have pop up headlights like the Lotus Esprit in the 2000s. It is one of the really special corvettes making 405 horsepower with a real wheel drivetrain with a 5.7 Liter V8. This car would do 0-60 in 4 seconds, and it ran a quarter mile in the 12 second range. This is one of the best cars because it is suprisingly light. The best thing of all is that you can pick one of these for around 20-30 grand. That is the same price as a new Honda Civic. So if you are someone that doesn't want to shell out another 40 to 50 grand of money for the C8, and who just doesn't want the extra comfort in the C8, then yeah this is the best car for you. The only drawback is that the interior is really cheap looking.  But  if your someone who really doesn't care then this is your thing. The benefit of this care is that it is very practical. Believe it or not it is so practical that you can fit an entire TV in the trunk!

C5 Corvette z06s for sale: https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/t-Used-Chevrolet-Corvette-Z06-Hardtop-Coupe-RWD-t302

Secondly, we have got the 2005 BMW M5. If you want a car with a 10 cylinder engine from a lamborghini gallardo from 2005, then this is also another option. The reason you should buy this car is because it has 507 horsepower from a 5 liter V10 making 384 Ib ft of torque which yeah is not a lot of torque. But this car is still insane because it has much power as a Lamborghini Gallardo from 2005. The mpg of this car it a bit horrendous because it does 11 in the city and 17 on the highway. This car does 0-60 in 4.4 seconds, and it could run a quarter mile in the 12 second range just like the C5 corvette. This car is a very cool car to own and buy, but I personally would not recommend this. The reason for this is because this car has rod bearing issues. In the website, carparts.com, it says, "a damaged or worn-out connecting rod bearing may result in excessive rod knock, which is a rapping noise produced by the engine. This means that the clearance between the connecting rod and crankshaft has changed, hence the knocking sound"(https://www.facebook.com/carpartscom).  So yeah that really is a bad thing having rod bearing issues and also having to replace the engine for the car. But hey, if you want a sporty looking sedan from BMW with the V10 engine, then yeah this is another option.

BMW M5 E60/E61s for sale: https://www.carfax.com/Used-2006-BMW-M5_z21120

Thrid, if you are looking for another american V8 sports car with an engine, like the Corvette C5 z06, then here is another option. This is a 2014 ford mustang, and yes you can get it with a 5 liter V8 engine, or 3.7 liter V6. This is a pretty decent car for the money. If you want this car, I would get it in a V6 personally. This is because you are saving about 3 to 4 gallons of mpg when you are buying these with V6 engines. Yeah sure they don't have a lot of horsepower, and torque as the V8s. But it still does a good and decent 305 horsepower when it has a 6 cylinder engine, and 284 Ib-ft of torque. Or if you guys want this car in a V8 engine, the Ford Mustang Gt V8 engine, let show you what specs it has compared to the V6 engine. The Mustang GT makes 420 horsepower compared to the base mustang with a V6 making 305 horsepower. Also the Mustang GT has 390 Ib-ft of torque compared to the base mustang with a 6 cylinder engine, making 284 Ib-ft of torque. So i would personally go for the V6 mustang,  because it has good mpg, but again it is all up to you for what you want.

13-14 Ford Mustang V6-V8s for sale: https://www.carfax.com/Used-2013-Ford-Mustang_z3058

Now you can get another car that you can get for super cheap, and also saves you fuel economy. This is the Dodge Neon SRT-4, it has turbocharged 2.4 liter 4 cylinder engine making 220-230 horsepower, and 250 Ib-ft of torque. And yeah from what you are seeing, this car doesn't have a lot of horsepower and torque, but back in the day this was insane. The fact of why you should buy this car is because it was a very fast, and cheap car to get. You also have a lot of mpg. The mpg for this car is 22 city and 30 on the highway. And that meant, you could put a lot of mods on it, and it would go fast. The best part is if you put a lot of mods, you wouldn't even have to drain a lt of gas, because you got a small engine.

Dodge Neon SRT-4 for sale: https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/l-Used-Dodge-Neon-SRT-4-d658

You also have one another cool looking american sports car. And yes just like the 2013 faclifted mustang, you can get this car in any engine with different trims. You can get this chevrolet camaro with a V6 or a V8. This car is a little bit better than the 2013 facelifted mustang, because this car has a built in navigation system, and it has a bit more horsepower than a 2014 Ford Mustang, depending on the engine that you choose. But this car still has the exact same mpg as the 2013 mustang, but it has a bit more horsepower, and technology in the interior. This is also a decent car for the money like the 2013 mustang. I would get it in a V6 personally. Again, this is because you are saving about 3 to 4 gallons of mpg when you are buying these with V6 engines. Yeah sure they don't have a lot of horsepower, and torque as the V8s. But it still does a good and decent 323 horsepower when it has a 6 cylinder engine. Or if you guys want this car in a V8 engine, the Chevy Camaro SS V8 engine, let show you what specs it has compared to the V6 engine. The Camaro SS makes 400-426 horsepower compared to the base version with a V6 making 323 horsepower. Also the Camaro SS has 400-426 Ib-ft of torque compared to the base camaro with a 6 cylinder engine, making 278 Ib-ft of torque. So again, like the mustang on this list, I would personally go for the V6 camaro, but again, it is all up to you for what you want.

14-15 Chevy Camaro V6-V8s for sale: https://www.carfax.com/Used-2014-Chevrolet-Camaro_z3447

Now I know that most of these cars on this list are american, and indeed they are. But this is a faclifted Dodge Challenger SRT-8 before the new facelift in 2015. But this car another car you should buy, because it has 470 horsepower, and 470 Ib-ft of torque from a 6.4 liter V8. This car could do 0-60 in 4 seconds which is insane. This has to be a lot of car for the money. This is because you can find this SRT-8 somewhere for around $20,000 if you are buying it with higher miles, and with a manual transmission. Although the downside of this car is the fuel economy. It gets 14 in the city / 23 in the highway. Which yes that is pretty decent, but still not the good. But honestly, other than that this is actually a pretty decent reliable car. This isn't like any German car like Porsches, and BMWs of where they are really expensive to maintain. This is instead a car of where you can combine parts easily, and easily fix parts of the car. So, this is another car I would suggest getting, because it has some pretty cool specifications.

2008-2014 Dodge Challenger SRT-8 392: https://www.edmunds.com/dodge/challenger/2012/srt8-392/

Now we have another cool looking BMW. This is the BMW M3, which is the E92 generation. This is one of the most cool looking, and reliable BMWs to buy than the E60 M5. This is because the M5 on this list is a gas guzzling machine, meaning it would drink a lot of gas faster than the E92 M3. This BMW M3 gets an mpg of 14 city / 20 highway. That is still not good, because that is just only 2 miles per gallon better than the E60 M5. But despite all the cons of having this car, this is another cool BMW to buy. This is because this car makes 414 horsepower from a 4 liter V8, which is a bit low horsepower for a car. But this is a bang for your buck because practicality is good, because you have good leg room inside the car. You also have decent amount of trunk space.

BMW M3 E90/E92 for sale: https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/l-Used-BMW-M3-d390

Now we have a car that has a suttle look to it, like any luxury coupe. This is the Audi S5 coupe that has 354 horsepower from a 4.2 liter V8, making 325 Ib-ft of torque at 7,000 RPM red line. You might think this is not a lot of power for a 2008-2011 Audi S5. But to me 354 horsepower is still way more insane than what you can imagine like from a V6. But it still has a good mpg, and you can get it in a auto or manual gearbox. This car gets 16 city / 24 highway, which is still pretty decent compared to the E92 M3 which is another German car. I am pretty sure if you found this car in clean and good condition for under a 100K miles, it is a bang for your buck.

2008-2011 Audi S5 coupe for sale: https://www.edmunds.com/audi/s5/2008/

If you want something a bit more cooler, you have a Porsche Cayman S/Base from 06-08. This car has a really cool fastback coupe look to it. The base version of this car has 245 horsepower, and 201 lb-ft of torque with a 2.7 liter 6 cylinder engine. While the Cayman S has 295 horsepower, and 251 Ib-ft of torque with a 3.4 liter 6 cylinder engine. The Porsche Cayman S does 0-60 in 5.1 seconds, while the base version does it in 5.8 seconds. As you can see, the Cayman S has a lot more power, and torque compared to the base version, so I would suggest you guys getting the Cayman S. This Porsche Cayman is kind of rare to get now despite if it is slow, but these are just fun cars. This is because you getting that good sound of the H6 engine. 

2006-2008 Porsche Cayman S for sale: https://www.edmunds.com/porsche/cayman-s/2006/

2006-2008 Porsche Cayman base version for sale(if you scroll done furthur and you see them): https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/l-Used-2006-Porsche-Cayman-c8277

If you are looking for a fun car with decent powerand fuel economy. Which is better than the E60 M5 or E92 M3, here is the next best thing. This is a 2011 BMW Z4, and you can get it in a 3 liter V6 engine. Of course you can get it in a 4 cylinder engine, but that is a bit slower. So you can get the BMW Z4 in 2 versions with a 6 cylinder engine. There is the Z4 sDrive35i with 300 horsepower, but the Z4 sDrive30i has 255 horsepower. So yeah, if you can see the Z4 sDrive35i is a lot more faster than the Z4 sDrive30i. But the Z4 sDrive30i has more decent fuel efficiency than the sDrive35i. This is because the sDrive30i has an mpg of 18 city / 28 highway while the sDrive35i has 17 city / 23 highway. So yeah, it is all up to what you want!

2011 BMW Z4 sDrive35i/30i for sale: https://www.carfax.com/Used-BMW-Z4_w59

2011 BMW Z4 sDrive35i/30i for sale: https://www.edmunds.com/inventory/srp.htmlmake=bmw&model=z4&year=2011&inventorytype=used%2Ccpo