Japan dominates the affordable sports car market, both used and new. – TopSpeed

We’re going to be a little O.G. with our list. Meaning: We think that manual transmissions are more fun. Sure, in some cases (Porsche’s PDK comes to mind), you’ll be faster on a racetrack without a third pedal. But this is a story about relatively affordable Japanese sports cars. Our logic is that if you’re lucky enough to have lots of track days, this probably isn’t where you do your bargain shopping.

Further, we’ve chosen winners and runners-up by thinking about the ROI of power-per-buck, but also, a looser formula of cars we’ve enjoyed on track days and press events in the distant and recent past. We happen to know all these sports cars, warts, heroics, and all. We’re also realists. Miatas? They’re smile machines. But they’re not fun in the rain. WRXs? They’re more pragmatic, if now more expensive. Your filter on the ultimate cheap Japanese sports car will differ from ours. Which is why this exercise is so much fun!

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10

2025 Acura Integra A-Spec: $37,400

0-60 MPH: 7.0 seconds

You get the same turbocharged, 1.5-liter-liter four as the Honda Civic Si that’s also on this list. The Acura is a little more luxurious than the Honda and is also super fun. One reason: weight. The Acura is about 300 pounds lighter than the Subaru WRX on our list and feels livelier as a result. FYI: It also gets better brakes, better seats, and 18-inch wheels vs. the 17s that come with its Honda sibling.

Performance Specifications

Both the Honda and Acura are front-wheel drivers, which is one reason they fall a little farther down the ladder, since rear-wheel drive yields a more instinctive handling experience. Still, Acura does a very good job taming torque steer, and crushes it with this gearbox, which is peerless against all rivals, save the identical six-speed in the Honda.

Pros

• Lighter weight by nearly 300 pounds vs. the WRX
• Torque bites early in the rev range
• Gets Acura’s more basic infotainment, which is less distracting

Cons

• Acura charges three grand more to get the manual version of this car.
• Front-wheel drive is okay, but not ideal.
• You’re getting 200 horsepower when you could spend less and get a 306-horsepower Civic Type R.

9

2025 Mazda Miata Sport: $29,330

0-60 MPH: 5.5 seconds

The Miata has remarkably never been ruined. Mazda prized the car’s basic goodness, only making methodical improvements; the suspension and steering of the 2024-25 are now even sharper. Three decades later, the Miata is still lightweight, with superb steering, and a quick-shifting gearbox. And, there’s just enough power—but not too much—to make every twist in the road a delight.

Performance Specifications

So if the 2025 Miata is so swell, why is it in ninth place? Because a used RF version of this car can be had for significantly less money. And, gloriously, used Miatas wear like iron.

Pros

• Mazda upgraded the steering
• Mazda also revised the suspension, for even more precision
• Nearly 50:50 weight distribution

Cons

• You have to dig deeper into the rev range to extract acceleration
• Taller drivers have to stuff themselves inside
• You can bring home the groceries—but not also your dog and your significant other

8

2015 Nissan 370Z: $16,655

0-60 MPH: 4.9 seconds

We’ve had the luck of testing the newest Z against the outgoing 370Z. When compared back to back, the older car feels heavy. But in isolation, the 370Z is still very fast, remarkably agile, and a blast. Plus, just try to find something as capable for so few bucks. We’re waiting.

Performance Specifications

Like owning a Miata, there’s not much room for anything more than you, even with a tiny shelf aft of the passengers. But the point of the Z was never pragmatism, it was to rival Porsches at a fraction of the price.

Pros

• High horsepower-per-dollar
• Rear-wheel drive is still more fun than alternatives
• It looks like a purpose-built sports car

Cons

• It’s not pragmatic
• This era of Z looks somewhat dated
• A bit thirsty for fuel

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7

2013 Infiniti G37 Convertible: $11,393

0-60 MPH: 5.0 seconds

It’s just goofy that Nissan so ably deployed the same V-6 in an Infiniti with four seats and a folding hard top that came with the Z sports car. No, you’re never going to feel the same verve in the Infiniti that the Z delivers, because it’s a bigger, heavier car. But if you can find a clean G37 convertible for this price, it’s a pretty fun, very quick, and very capable car.

Performance Specifications

Sure: That back seat will barely fit full-sized humans. But you knew that, right? The advantage over the 370Z is carrying more luggage for a sunny weekend escape. And if it rains, so what? Whereas the 370Z convertible always looked awkward with the lid deployed.

Pros

• Cheap sunny day sports car? Check.
• It has plenty of muscle to be highway fast
• Gs had a firm, but not punishing rides

Cons

• Dated cockpit from an awkward era of early digitization
• Some of the colors also look dated
• It’s never going to be a classic

6

2025 Honda Civic Si: $31,400

0-60 MPH: 6.6 seconds

What’s the definition of a “sports car” anyway? If you went back a few generations, you’d say it must have two doors, two seats, and maybe a cloth top. And this Honda Civic, with enough room for buying lumber at the big box store, your tyke in the second row, and a gross of diapers from Costco, you could still outgun that old 1970s Alfa to 60 MPH and around every corner. And it will be more comfortable and reliable, too. That’s a pretty good argument for the Civic Si.

Performance Specifications

If we’re being picky, the Civic Si isn’t that fast relative to a few other cars on this list, and in being pragmatic it loses some points for not looking like a sports car. Hence, the ranking. But it aces safety scoring bouts, and if you care less about that stuff, man, it’s a really superb car.

Pros

• Sportier suspension than the stock Civic
• Not the full cost commitment of the Type R
• Flies under cop-bait radar

Cons

• It could be faster
• Peppy four needs a little more tending than something with a larger displacement
• Is it sexy? Nope.

5

2023 Acura Integra A-Spec: $28,315

0-60 MPH: 7.0 seconds

Acuras, like Hondas, wear well. If you can’t afford the 2025 A-Spec Integra, going for one just off lease gets you essentially the same car for a nine-grand discount.

Performance Specifications

For all the reasons we like the 2025 Integra, we like the two-year-old one. It’s practical, with enough rear-seat legroom for real adults, and the hatchback configuration means you’ve got more trunk room than a four-door sedan. The steering feel of the Acura is excellent, and even if you’re not turning heads like you’re in a rival exotic, you’ll be just as happy with a free-revving, turbocharged powerplant that remains constantly entertaining. The Integra is the definition of a sleeper.

Pros

• Great marriage of powertrain and gearbox
• Forgiving suspension firms up when pushed
• The value equation is excellent

Cons

• A used Civic Si is yet cheaper
• Interior isn’t as slick as Euro rivals
• More muscular alternatives may be more tempting

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4

2025 Subaru WRX: $35,750

0-60 MPH: 5.4 seconds

It’s the only all-wheel-drive option on this list, and even if we’re not talking about Japanese cars, there aren’t many rival AWD sports cars you can get for this price, let alone with this kind of output. Subaru has that mix pretty much to itself. Oh, and that includes a six-speed manual gearbox, which is hardly a given from rivals.

Performance Specifications

Would we like a more bare-bones WRX that cuts back below the $30,000 rung? Yes. Please. STAT. But the WRX delivers, as it always has, with a rugged, all-day-drivable chassis that’s also happy to be flogged without wearing through anything but calipers and tires. The added flexibility of Subaru’s latest boxer engine, which is a lot less finicky about staying in the power band, is really the biggest win of the latest WRX because it makes it that much more livable.

Pros

• This is the only one-quiver, all-weather car on this list
• Faster than ever, and yet, also more comfortable
• A sports car for human-sized humans!

Cons

• It’s still Subaru basic inside.
• It’s got a face that only Subaru fanboys will love.
• Subaru is deleting hard switchgear for most climate functions.

3

2019 MX-5 Miata RF: $23,483

0-60 MPH: 6.0 seconds

The “sell” of used Miatas is that they’re very reliable. Find yourself a not-too-old one, like the RF, and you’re still getting a great six-speed and 181 horsepower—up from the prior generation’s 155. That makes a world of difference on longer highway journeys because it means you’re doing less rowing, and hunting for power.

Performance Specifications

What the RF gives you is both quiet and security. An open soft top looks cooler, but parked, that car’s more susceptible to break-ins. The Mazda RF Miata isn’t exactly quiet with the top down, barging through a thunderstorm, but on a sunny afternoon with the top down there’s less wind noise, so it’s easier to carry on a conversation with your seatmate.

Pros

• It’s cheaper than new and still looks great.
• The folding hard top looks better closed than the cloth-top Miatas.
• Lightweight, short wheelbase, and rear-wheel drive. Win. Win. Win.

Cons

• Compared to used rivals here, it’s still not cheap.
• Bigger people struggle to fit aboard Miatas.
• Ideally, it’s your second car, not your daily driver.

2

2018 Honda Civic Type R: $27,858

0-60 MPH: 4.9 seconds

You could easily argue for the Honda over the winning Subaru BRZ. For less money, you’re getting a faster car with a superb gearbox and a trick setup that quells almost all torque steer. But…it’s still front-wheel drive. And no matter how rewarding this car is—and it is, exceptionally so—the easier cornering rotation you can get out of the BRZ edges it ahead, just slightly, for the checkered. Would we frown on anyone who flipped the script? Heck no!

Performance Specifications

If you’ve had the good luck of tracking the Type R, you already know it’s rewarding to a fault. You have to stay in the gas longer than feels natural, then just go deeper after the apex. Plus, this Honda is forgiving of such manhandling, and it sure helps that the brakes (13.8-inch rotors front, 12-inch rear) hold fast and securely.

Pros

• Excellent powertrain, that’s also calm for city driving
• Perfectly comfortable, non-confining cockpit
• Looks the part

Cons

• Not everyone loves the styling
• Exhaust note is polarizing
• Sport seats aren’t as adjustable as conventional perches

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1

2025 Subaru BRZ: $31,210

0-60 MPH: 5.5 seconds

Back in 2016, Car & Driver ran a story about the BRZ with the subhead: “Just Turbocharge it Already.” Belatedly, the Subaru BRZ/Toyota GR86 now has more power. And the cure isn’t turbocharging. It’s displacement. The new 2.4-liter mill jumps horsepower from 205 to 228, but what you really feel—torque—shot from 156 pound-feet to 184. Plus, that torque hits at a mere toe-flex into the throttle. The result: This car’s not only faster overall, it’s quicker out of every single shift, and that makes a sports car that always felt just a little sleepy, alive, quick, and muscular.

Performance Specifications

The BRZ isn’t quite as refined as the Integra, and it’s certainly not as tidily buttoned-up and purely entertaining as the MX-5 Miata. It’s not supposed to be. It has higher limits, and vs. the Miata, it’s more practical. Against the Acura, it’s quicker—and brasher. Everything works well in this car, too, with a no-nonsense aesthetic that’s all geared around the driver.

Pros

• As entertaining as a WRX can be, the BRZ is a more lively companion at 6/10ths
• Steering feedback is exceptional
• Fuel economy is pretty frugal for a sports car

Cons

• Utilitarian cabin is… utilitarian
• Got snow? Then this isn’t the obvious choice
• There are prettier peers