Top 5 best fun cars 2022

Think you need a sports car in order to enjoy yourself at the wheel? Well, think again. There’s fun to be found in every section of the car market, you just need to know where to look.
Of course, fun comes in many forms. Keen drivers obviously put a great emphasis on performance, be that powerful acceleration off the line or sharp handling on twisty roads, but there are many other ways a car can make you feel good. That could be the way the brand embodies your personal tastes, how nice it is to sit in or how much it impresses your friends and neighbours. Below, we’ve picked out a variety of cars that deliver on all these counts, but that are very different in terms of their size, their price, and the job they do. With any luck, one of them will fit seamlessly into your lifestyle, meaning fun times could be just around the corner. Toyota GR Yaris – the small one Jaguar I-Pace – the electric one Audi RS4 – the family friendly one Porsche 718 Boxster GTS – the open-top one McLaren 765LT – the supercar one

Toyota is best known for building reliable cars and hybrids, not fun ones. And among other superminis the Yaris has always been decent, if not the most thrilling. That’s all changed with the Toyota Gazoo Racing team’s dominance of the World Rally Championship with the rally version of the Yaris. The GR Yaris is the road-going car inspired by that, packing four-wheel drive and a feisty 261 horsepower turbocharged engine into a compact package designed to make every road feel like a rally stage. Capable of driving rings round much more expensive performance cars, it offers great value for money, too.
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New electric cars of all shapes and sizes are coming thick and fast but the one that still stands out as the best to drive is the Jaguar I-Pace, a shape-shifting blend of SUV, sports saloon and hot hatch with a lusty 400 horsepower and range enough to get you where you’re going. A Polestar 2 might be cooler, a Tesla Model 3 has more power and range (plus the trendy ‘new tech’ image) but the I-Pace channels Jaguar’s traditional sporting roots into the electric age with real style and handles the best. Newly updated onboard infotainment tech helps it keep pace with the competition on that front, too.
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There’s no such thing as a bad Audi A4 Avant and family buyers looking for a stylishly luxurious alternative to the default SUV are still well-served by classic mid-sized estates of this type. Just because you need a practical car doesn’t mean you can’t have a fun one too, as the high-performance RS4 version proves. Just ask Rory Reid, who went as far as asking if this is actually a better car than the faster and more prestigious RS6 from further up the Audi range. Understated looks that let you slip under the radar, a big boot to carry all the family kit and a 450 horsepower turbocharged engine to help you do it quickly mean it could be all the car you ever need. Quattro four-wheel drive means you get to enjoy its talents in all weathers too.
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Anyone looking to buy a small sports car is spoiled for choice, with a vast array of roadsters, coupes and hot hatches to consider. For us, though, the Porsche 718 Boxster is the daddy of them all when it comes to maximising the amount of fun you’ll have for the amount of money you’ll spend. Yes, there are plenty of cheaper options, but done delivers the dynamic polish of the Porsche. Indeed, there are many more expensive sports cars that could learn a thing or two from the Boxster’s spellbinding handling ability. They’re all good but for sheer driving pleasure the six-cylinder engine in the GTS version - as enjoyed here by Rory Reid in the Boxster’s coupe brother – is the cream of the crop, and best enjoyed with the roof down. There’s even a manual option for the real purists.
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If you’ve got the money to burn there are no bad choices, the Ferrari 812 Superfast and Lamborghini Aventador SVJ offering two very different – but equally appealing – variations on the classic Italian supercar theme. Our pick, however, is the British-built McLaren 720S. Or was, until McLaren went one better and made this already formidable carbon fibre supercar even more incredible with the uprated 765LT version. It combines the same virtues of immense performance, incredible feel through the controls and cutting-edge technology but turns it up to eleven with even more power, less weight and wilder looks. The ‘regular’ 720S would still do us fine. But if you can stretch to it…
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