Following on yesterday’s post on the Top Gear challenge from 2010, we take a look at 3 sports saloons that you can still buy for £5,000 or less. In the series 15 episode, the gang brought a Mercedes 190E 2.3 16v Cosworth, an E36 M3 4-door, and a Sierra Sapphire Cosworth – All of which have since become much more collectible and would be questionable if found in the £5,000 price bracket today.

Our Picks

All of our picks are for sale today, with links to the adverts provided. Let us know in the comments what your pick would be and which you think would come out the most dangerous from the ADAC test!

2006 Mazda6 MPS 2.3

Price: £2,995
Power: 256 bhp
Top Speed: 149 mph
Average Economy: 27.7 mpg
Advert Link: https://goo.gl/STfZim

Probably the most sensible of our picks, and coincidentally probably the best car to emerge from the joint Ford-Mazda venture of the 90s into early 2000s – we have a special soft spot here at Infernal Co for the Mazda6 MPS so we just had to include it.

2004 Audi S4 4.2 Quattro

Price: £3,800
Power: 344 bhp
Top Speed: 155 mph
Average Economy: 21.0 mpg
Advert Link: https://goo.gl/UnqZMm

Finding an Audi super saloon in this bracket was a tough one, and yes we know it’s catagorised, but the thought of passing up all that V8 goodness for less than £4k is too much. Sure, the £1,200 you save can go towards your huge timing chain replacement bill!

1996 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV

Price: £4,495
Power: 276 bhp
Top Speed: 148 mph
Average Economy: N/A, we reckon about 20 mpg
Advert Link: https://goo.gl/UpGfJp

We know what you’re thinking, ‘An Evo? for £5k?!’ – Yes, they do exist, and yes, this one does have the chocolate bottom end, but it wouldn’t be a Top Gear -esque challenge without a breakdown or two.

We would guess that the Mazda6 MPS would come out on top if we repeated the test with our picks, purely because it’s bound to be the the most reliable of the three. Whether it’s the best sports saloon you can buy for your money, well that’s a different story, what can you come up with for £5,000?