The vanishing £50k sports coupe
There was a time when £50k was enough to buy all manner of performance cars. Pretty much any hot hatch you would care to mention, up to super saloons and purpose-built mid-engined sports cars, were within reach. The current market situation is quite different. The affordable petrol hot hatch has all but disappeared from the market. Cheap sports cars are no more. What is left has seen its price soar to near-luxury levels, making the market feel quite exclusive and expensive.
The BMW M240 versus the Audi RS3
The standout option for that budget is BMW’s rather appealing M240. Although it is badged a junior M car, its specification sheet reads like that of a true performance product. It features a 387bhp straight six engine, four-wheel drive, and a 4.3-second 0-62mph time. The coupe punches above its weight class. BMW builds the car on the CLAR architecture and uses the familiar B58 six-cylinder engine. The latest version includes a 48-volt mild-hybrid system. This addition aids efficiency but also boosts power and torque. It helps to improve engine response, which is beneficial for a machine that weighs 1755kg. That mass is 190kg heavier than the Audi.
To challenge this, there is the Audi RS3. It costs £61,975, which is a significant £12k more than the BMW. It features the stonking five-cylinder engine and an aggressive four-wheel drive chassis. The chassis is complete with a trick torque vectoring rear diff. This makes the RS3 Audi’s most exciting hot hatch to date, even eclipsing the coupe in terms of pure driver engagement. The RS3 has real desirability.
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The choice between these two machines is rarely about raw speed alone. The RS3 offers a unique engine note and advanced traction systems that distinguish it from the crowd. The junior M car gives the novelty of a six-cylinder engine and a coupe body style. The Audi provides a more complete package, but costs significantly more. The RS3 remains the more thrilling option for those seeking high-end hot hatch performance. The coupe acts as a good car, but it cannot match the performance ceiling of the Audi.
Ethan Jupp conducted the back-to-back test. He drove both vehicles on the same piece of road to find out which is superior. “Straight comparison with the RS3 along the same piece of road reveals more about the M240s strengths and shortcomings,” Jupp noted. “You’re reminded that its platform has more inherent dynamic potential than the RS3’s family hatch genus, although the RS3’s chassis offers greater grip. But driving with RS3 levels of commitment reveals what the M240 is missing in terms of top-tier performance hardware.”
For the buyer standing in the showroom, the decision rests on how much extra money they are willing to spend for engine character and chassis hardware. The Audi provides a more complete experience with its unique engine note and advanced traction systems. The junior M car offers the novelty of a six-cylinder engine and a coupe body style at a price that is increasingly hard to justify against the Audi’s superior engineering. The divide between a junior sports car and a fully fledged performance model is closing, though the gap in price remains wide. Buyers must weigh the thrill of the five-cylinder against the versatility of the coupe.
