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TMR Best Buy 2016 – Top 5 Performance Cars Under $50,000 – Mazda MX-5, Subaru WRX, Volkswagen Polo GTI, MINI John Cooper Works, Ford Focus ST

Sales of Performance Cars in Australia for 2015 was a tale of two markets . 'Sports’ cars under $80,000 were down 5.6 percent on 2014 and the over-$80,000 group was also down, by 3.9 percent. But buyers w


Sales of Performance Cars in Australia for 2015 was a tale of two markets .

'Sports’ cars under $80,000 were down 5.6 percent on 2014 and the over-$80,000 group was also down, by 3.9 percent.

But buyers with much deeper pockets weren’t shy in handing over their hard-earned (or easily earned) to acquire a new performance car priced above $200,000, with sales in the highest-end segment up 17.3 percent.

Further analysis shows that while Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon sales are slowing in the lead-up to their respective retirements, the eight-cylinder models (especially for Falcon) appear to have stirred buyer interest with the growing realisation, in terms of that rushing 'end point', that their days are numbered.

Then there’s the hot hatch market, sports coupes, roadsters, wagons and the rest. So here it is: the top five TMR Best Buys in the performance car category under $50,000 for 2016 in no particular order of preference.

Mazda MX-5

Price Range: $31,990 (Roadster 1.5 Manual) - $41,550 (GT 2.0 Auto)
Engines: 96kW/150Nm 1.5 petrol 4cyl, 118kW/200Nm 2.0 petrol 4cyl
Transmissions: 6sp manual, 6sp automatic

Mazda’s all-new MX-5 has once again proven that a performance car doesn’t have to be about cubic capacity first and everything else second.

Fans were worried when they learnt the new model would offer up ‘only’ 96kW from its 1.5 litre naturally-aspirated engine, but just a few miles behind the wheel of the roadster reassured them that the balance was just so.

Throw in a significant price-cut over the old MX-5, and Mazda’s cash-for-car equation for the driving enthusiast in this new model is very hard to beat.

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