10 Practical Cars That Are Secretly Sports Cars

Sports cars can rocket from 0-60 mph in under four seconds and hit top speeds well over 150 mph while also looking like they rolled off a racetrack with their aggressive styling and purposeful stance. They were designed to deliver pure driving thrills and turn heads at every stoplight. The thing is, they often cost as much as luxury SUVs, if not more, and aren’t exactly family-friendly vehicles for everyday use.

Sure, some enthusiasts daily drive their Porsche 911 or Corvette, but most people need something more versatile than a two-seater. Even if you could justify the expense, that shiny new BMW M4 wouldn’t be the most practical choice for real life. There’s barely any cargo space for groceries, the back seats (if they exist) are more like storage cubbies, and good luck getting a car seat installed properly. You can hit every apex on your commute, but where do you put the kids’ soccer gear?

Sports cars also aren’t the most comfortable for long trips, plus they’re easily defeated by parking garage ramps and winter weather. There are, however, cars with sports car-level performance wrapped in a more user-friendly package. These aren’t necessarily sleeper cars, which are boring-looking vehicles that pack serious punch, but rather practical performance machines that look like regular family haulers while hiding genuine sports car credentials. The following models are ranked by top speed from the slowest to the fastest and include a range of used and new options that can embarrass dedicated sports cars while still handling school pickup duty.

12

2016 Lexus GS-F

Top Speed: 168 mph

Lexus

If an undercover supercar is what you seek, look no further than the 2016 Lexus GS-F. The GS was a four-door mid-size performance model that wasn’t particularly sporty-looking, especially the first-gen 300s. It got a little more style as it went along, but was never anything more than a pricey family sedan. Then, in 2015 Lexus gave it an “F” and a V-8.

Feature Highlights

• High-back sports seats
• Vented fenders
• Brembo brakes
• Quad exhaust
• Torque-vectoring differential
• 12.3-inch instrument cluster

Power, Performance, and Price

The GS-F was a single model year high-performance version of the GS. It still didn’t look like a dragster or drift car, but it certainly had the power to do either of those things. A Car and Driver test drive prompted this observation: “Squeal the tires around every cloverleaf, hit 7300 rpm racing down every on-ramp, and terrorize every backwoods holler in a 100-mile radius.”

11

2006 Dodge Magnum SRT8

Top Speed: 170 mph

Dodge

The Dodge Magnum, introduced in 2005, almost seemed like the result of a lost bet among the company’s designers. It was a station wagon with a chip on its shoulder, but it’s hard to be intimidating with a traditional family vehicle design. Dodge did have the good sense to pack these cars with plenty of power, including a competent standard V-6 and a Hemi V-8 option.

Feature Highlights

• Power-adjustable sports seats
• Power adjustable pedals
• 20-inch wheels
• Rear-wheel drive

Power, Performance, and Price

In 2006, the Magnum SRT8 came out and had a massive 6.1-liter Hemi and performance upgrades from the suspension to the brakes. Suddenly this weird wagon was transformed into a genuine five-door muscle car and street terror. Unfortunately, the street-racing soccer mom demographic was virtually nonexistent, and it wasn’t a big seller for Dodge.

10

2017 Audi RS3

Top Speed: 178 mph

Audi

The Audi RS3 is another performance sedan like the Lexus GS-F that suffers from “sameness syndrome,” looking very similar to a dozen other cars. While the Dodge Magnum got goofy with five doors, the 2017 RS3 went weird with five cylinders. Those five cylinders however were turbocharged and made this otherwise bland-looking compact sedan a secret supercar.

Feature Highlights

• RS Sport Suspension
• 12.3-inch Audi Virtual Cockpit
• 19-inch alloy wheels
• MMI Navigation and MMI Touch Controller with 10GB HD
• Wi-Fi Hotspot

Power, Performance, and Price

The RS3 made muscle car quickness times but was electronically limited to a top speed of 155 mph. In easily one of the biggest rip-off options of all time, the Dynamic Plus package could be purchased for $1,450 to remove the restrictor and let the car soar to 174 mph. This is almost as bad as if they charged extra if you wanted all five cylinders to fire up.

9

2024 Audi RS7

Top Speed: 190 MPH

Audi

First unveiled at the 2019 Frankfurt Auto Show, the current, second-generation of the Audi RS7 is sportier and faster than ever. As the largest sports sedan that Audi offers, the RS7 has a lot to live up to, and excels in blending luxury and performance in a very attractive package. Featuring some of the best tech Audi has to offer, the standard offering of features is impressive.

Feature Highlights

• Heated and ventilated front seats
• Leather upholstery
• 10.1-inch infotainment system
• 8.1-inch digital climate control screen
• Audi digital cockpit (instrument cluster)
• Wireless Apple CarPlay
• Sport Adaptive Air Suspension
• 21-inch Sport Wheels

Power, Performance, And Price

The other major highlight here is the Audi RS7’s twin-turbo V-8 that delivers a punchy 621 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque. Channeled through an eight-speed automatic transmission to all four wheels, the RS7 can sprint to 60 mph in just 3.3 seconds and will top out at 190 mph if you’re brave enough to push it that hard…on the track…of course. The RS7 doesn’t come cheap, though, and carries a $127,800 starting price as of October 2023 – a figure that makes it more than $40,000 more expensive than the Audi S7.

8

2023 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio

Top Speed: 191 mph

Alfa Romeo

The Alfa Romeo Giulia has a little more style than the other cars on this list so far but still doesn’t look like a potential land speed record breaker. It does have a front fascia that looks a bit like an angry grimace which may be a hint to the sheer aggression it can unleash. The 2023 Giulia Quadrifoglio, which means “four-leaf clover” is definitely the meanest of the bunch.

Feature Highlights

• Navigation system
• Heated front seats
• 15-speaker Harman Kardon audio system
• Adaptive cruise control
• Race-oriented front seats (Recaro bucket seats available)
• Apple CarPlay and Andriod Auto

Power, Performance, and Price

With a 500-horsepower twin-turbo engine and lightweight composite components, the Quadrifoglio has an amazing power-to-weight ratio, which in practical terms means it’s scary fast. The 2023 Quadrifoglio is one of Car and Driver’s top sports-sedan picks because of, “its blistering performance, adroit handling, and drop-dead-gorgeous styling.”

7

2021 Porsche Panamera Turbo S

Top Speed: 196 mph

Porsche

For those who want to flirt with the sound barrier in an unassuming six-figure car, Porsche has something for you. The Panamera is the perfect ride for taking the brood out to Panera Bread for dinner and getting home in time to catch Family Feud. While it may not have supercar styling, it does have supercar-like performance, and definitely supercar pricing.

Feature Highlights

• 12.3-inch infotainment system
• Wi-Fi hotspot
• Digital instrument cluster
• Nice suite of driver assistance systems

Power, Performance, and Price

There are a variety of trim and performance packages, including a hybrid, available on the 2021 Panamera, but the Turbo S is the way to go for maximum speed and a maximum price. MotorTrend tested a well-equipped one that cost $200,000. For that kind of money, you could almost buy the first four cars on this list.

6

2020 Cadillac CT6-V

Top Speed: 200 mph

Cadillac

The “CT” in a Cadillac CT6 stands for “Cadillac Touring” because it’s a full-size luxury sedan meant for cruising in style. Because they could, the American luxury automaker added a “V” which could stand for anything from “vengeance” to “violence” and created a high-performance version that is one of the sneakiest undercover supercars ever.

Feature Highlights

• Ground-effects package
• Dark design elements
• Magnaride suspension with V-specific calibration
• Brembo brakes
• Super Cruise
• Track Mode

Power, Performance, and Price

With enough room to comfortably seat five adults and the kind of style that says you appreciate the finer things in life, The Cadillac CT6-V has all the necessary power to embarrass almost everyone driving a sportscar. Car and Driver say this bad boy is governor limited to 149 mph, but MotorTrend swears it can hit a top speed of 200 mph, and who are we to question that?

5

2023 Tesla Model X Plaid

Top Speed: 200 mph

Tesla 

The Tesla Model X is allegedly a crossover SUV, but it’s not radically different from the Model S, being slightly taller and having more doors. It’s also considered a luxury vehicle, but its barren wasteland of an interior begs to differ. Even its status as being on this list as a practical car is iffy with the god-awful yoke steering and underwhelming range.

Feature Highlights

• Up to 22-inch wheels
• Seating for up to seven
• Steering Yoke
• 17-inch infotainment display
• 22-speaker, 960-watt sound system
• Rear entertainment screen
• Full-self driving capable ($15,000 upgrade)

Power, Performance, and Price

The Model X Plaid however does come with Earth-shattering speed and plenty of head and legroom, so it qualifies as a supercar with a practical facade. While the rear “Falcon Wing” doors seem like something that would be on a Pagani Huayra hypercar, they serve the practical purpose of making it easier to access the back seat.

4

2024 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing

Top Speed: 200+ MPH

Cadillac

Looking almost identical to the Cadillac CT5-V, the CT5-V Blackwing carries around that typical Cadillac look with a toned-down not so aggressive appearance. That’s not to say there aren’t purpose-specific aerodynamics, because there are, you just don’t notice them right away. The interior is comparable to anything on the market that’ll set you back six figures, with the highlight being the large infotainment display, driver-centric instrument cluster, and heaps of soft-touch leather just about anywhere the eye can see. The one thing that might through you off, though, is the six-speed transmission shifter. That’s right, this is one of the few American cars you can still buy with a manual transmission.

Feature Highlights

• Super Cruise hands-free driver assistance
• Integrated performance data recorder
• AKG premium audio system
• Full suite of safety features
• Performance steering wheel
• Lightweight wheels

Power, Performance, and Price

Anyone that pulls up next to a CT5-V Blackwing and makes the mistake of thinking it’s a standard CT5-V is going to be in for quite the surprise. Where the non-Blackwing features a twin-turbo V-6 with 360 horsepower, which is admirable, the Blackwing dials that performance up by two cylinders and a supercharger. We’re talking about a 6.2-liter supercharged V-8 that puts out 668 horsepower and 659 pound-feet of torque – enough for a 3.6-second sprint to 60 mph (or 3.4-seconds if you opt for the available 10-speed automatic.) The CT5-V Blackwing can also exceed 200 mph on the racetrack, so yeah, it’s supercar fast, and the best part is that the starting price is just $93,495. That’s not a bad price for a car that’s supercar fast.

3

2021 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody

Top Speed: 203 mph

Dodge

When Dodge rebooted the Charger platform in 2006 they re-imagined the storied two-door coupe muscle car as a four-door sedan. It wasn’t as lame looking as a Chrysler K Car, but definitely not as hot as a ’68 Charger 500. Curious design choices aside, Dodge did have the impetus to equip these understated sedans with powerful engines.

Feature Highlights

• Sporty widebody design
• Premium sound system
• Wi-fi hotspot
• Leather bucket seats
• Heated, Memory seats

Power, Performance, and Price

Starting out with an optional 5.7-liter Hemi, things escalated over the years until Dodge dropped a supercharged 6.2-liter Hellcat under the hood. Even that wasn’t good enough, so they figured out how to get even more horsepower out of the Hellcat in the 2021 Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody. The best thing about this stealth supercar is that all of that freakish power came at a relatively affordable price.