Top 10 Performance Cars Under $30,000

MINI Cooper S Hardtop

The peeps at MINI have proven there’s actually a market for premium small cars. But their wares are hardly just gussied up with extra features, they’re solidly built and more fun to drive than should be possible given their front-wheel-drive bones.

The high-performance S variant of the Cooper Hardtop offers quite a lot for right around $25,000 out the door. It comes standard with things like fog lamps, rain-sensing windshield wipers, sport seats and a multi-function steering wheel.

As for mechanicals the car features a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that puts out 189 hp and 207 lb-ft of torque, strong numbers in a small car but still pretty lackluster compared to what Ford and Subaru extract from the same displacement.