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Unless you're a track day regular there's not much point having a car with a massive top speed.
Scintillating acceleration is where it's at and just like many Autocar readers, we've been spending the last few weeks trawling the classifieds to see what we could buy if only we had the cash.
We've been tracking down the cars we could buy for less than £15,000, that can get from a standing start to 62mph (or 60mph) in five seconds or less, and it's amazing what's within reach. Just bear in mind that we've used our own images, not the actual cars advertised. The cars that you could actually buy for £15k are bound to look a bit more worn…
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Jaguar XJR (X350)
0-62mph: 5.3 seconds
£11,290
1998, 86,000 miles
The Jaguar XJR can't manage 0-62mph in five seconds but it can do 0-60mph in that time, and that's good enough for us. Besides, you can pick one up for 10 grand, which leaves you plenty of cash to fiddle with things to up the standard 400bhp creating an even faster Q car in the process. With its spacious aluminium bodyshell the XJR is fast, comfy and agile – and already very sought after.
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Porsche Cayenne Turbo S
0-62mph: 5.2 seconds
£13,000
2006, 88,000 miles
If there's one car that you don't want to be buying on a tight budget it's a 4.8-litre twin-turbo V8 Porsche Cayenne, but if common sense was universal this car wouldn't exist in the first place. It's another car that can't get to 62mph in five seconds, but it can get to 60mph in that time – and by the time you've got there the fuel tank will already be a couple of gallons lighter. On that note the 500bhp full-size SUV averages 18mpg, but you just know that in the real world it'll be more like 12-14mpg…
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Audi S8
0-62mph: 5.1 seconds
£10,995
2007, 103,000 miles
We found a handful of S8s within our budget; there was one for just £6499 but it had 128,000 miles on the clock and a misfiring engine which can only mean big bills round the corner. A 56k-mile S8 was listed for £12000, which is a huge amount of car, complete with an engine related to a Lamborghini V10, for less than 13 big ones. And yes, we know it doesn't quite get inside five seconds with its 0-62mph time, but it can comfortably get to 60.
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BMW Z4M
0-62mph: 5.0 seconds
£14,250
2006, 96,000 miles
Whereas the BMW Z3M Roadster looked rather soft (0-62 in 5.3 seconds by the way), its successor just looked awkward. But the new car was far better than the old to drive, better built and quicker too. Low-mileage examples still fetch around £20k but cars that have covered over 100,000 miles are within reach – or if you're lucky you might find a lower-mileage Z4M Roadster as we did. Z4M coupés are more sought after and hence more valuable, but they are also within reach with a £15k budget – just about.
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Chevrolet Corvette C5
0-62mph: 5.0 seconds
£15,000
1998, 74,000 miles
The Corvette is hardly the last word in sophistication, but if you want a fabulous soundtrack and plenty of muscle for your money you could do a lot worse than buy one of these. The C5 that we found was one of few available with prices starting just south of £15,000 and the lack of sophistication means not only is maintenance cheap, but reliability tends to be very good too.
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Maserati Coupé
0-62mph: 5.0 seconds
£12,500
2006, 61,000 miles
You can't buy a GranTurismo for under £15k yet, but that day isn't far away. In the meantime, you'll have to console yourself with an example of the GranTurismo's predecessor, the Coupé. Just £12,000 secures a 70,000-mile example with a manual gearbox, or if you prefer the wind in your hair, how about a Spyder instead? although you need to be ready to fork out more. We found a 2002 auto-gearbox Spyder that had covered just 35,000 miles, for £19,995.
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Porsche Boxster S
0-62mph: 5.0 seconds
£10,995
2005, 78,000 miles
If you want your Boxster S 987 to get to 62mph in five seconds it has to have the Launch Control option and PDK transmission as these knock off 0.2 and 0.1 seconds respectively. Finding an automatic Boxster S is easy enough, but people are so hopeless at describing what they're selling that it's pure luck whether or not you land a car with Launch Control.
But then we'd stick with a manual 'box anyway because when you've got a chassis as good as this, there are plenty of other delights to enjoy on every drive, than mere blistering acceleration.
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Vauxhall 6.0 VXR8
0-62mph: 5.0 seconds
Fancy something less obvious than an AMG-fettled E-Class or an M5? Then how about a Vauxhall VXR8? Don't let the Griffin badge put you off as this is a great old-school muscle car with its throbbing 414bhp 6.0-litre V8. Within a year of its arrival in 2007 the VXR8's V8 was upgraded to 6.2 litres and 425bhp to shave a tenth of a second off the 0-62mph time, but realistically your £15k budget will secure only one of those early five-second cars.
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Audi RS4 cabriolet
0-62mph: 4.9 seconds
£14,750
2006, 106,000 miles
The B7 Audi RS4 was nothing less than an epic car with its naturally aspirated 4.2-litre V8, and for our £15,000 budget, there are saloon, estate and cabriolet editions within reach. Which bodystyle suits you best is a personal decision, but just because we could we've opted for some fresh-air motoring for the summer – and all for under 12 large ones.
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Bentley Continental GT
0-62mph 4.8 seconds
£14,995
2004, 101,000 miles
If ever there was a car that you shouldn't buy on a tight budget, it's one that originally cost over £100,000 and can almost top 200mph. You just know that the first major service will probably bankrupt you. Every time you explore the redline with the 6.0-litre W12 you'll feel the pounds draining from your wallet. But hey – you can't take it with you…
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BMW M3 (E92)
0-62mph: 4.8 seconds
£13,990
2008, 96,000 miles
We're big fans of the M3 for so many reasons, such as the brilliant steering and handling, the chassis balance, the sweetness of the 4.0-litre V8, the build quality, the ergonomics – this really is the car that has it all. But like all costly cars the M3 depreciates and the E92 is now easily within reach, leaving plenty of cash left over for the inevitable hefty fuel and maintenance bills.
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Mercedes CL55 AMG
0-62mph: 4.8 seconds
£12,995
2005, 114,000 miles
Mercedes launched the C215 generation of CL in 1999, with V8 or V12 engines. They were sophisticated and luxurious but none of them could crack the five-second barrier, but when the CL was facelifted in 2002 both the CL55 AMG and the CL600 could despatch the 0-62mph sprint in just 4.8 seconds (previously 6.0 and 6.3 seconds respectively). Now you can buy a CL55 or a CL600 for under £10k, although these facelifted models are unusual. They're worth seeking out though as they're superlative grand tourers – but repair bills can be horrendous.
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Subaru Impreza WR1
0-62mph: 4.8 seconds
£12,000
2004, 92,000 miles
There's no shortage of regular Subaru Impreza Turbos on the market, but most of the standard cars within our budget don't get to 62mph in under five seconds. An exception is the WR1, just 500 of which were sold in 2004 to celebrate Subaru's success in the World Rally Championship.
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Mercedes SLK55 AMG
0-62mph: 4.8 seconds
£14,500
2007, 55,600 miles
The original hot SLK was the supercharged SLK32 AMG (0-62mph in 5.2 seconds), with its 349bhp supercharged 3.2-litre straight-six. Now a bona fide classic and pretty rare in right-hand drive form, you can pick one up for under £12k – or you could plump for its successor, which is more readily available, much better to drive and even more exhilarating to drive with its fabulous 5.5-litre V8 that pumps out 355bhp with the soundtrack to match.
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Subaru Forester STi
0-62mph: 4.8 seconds
£13,500
2004, 100,000 miles
You don't have to buy an Impreza if you want a seriously fast Subaru – the Forester STi is less obvious, more practical and just as fast. But the raised ride height means it doesn't handle as well and the Forester's rarity means you'll have less choice. The Forester STi was never officially brought to the UK so you'll have to buy a grey import but they are about – with cars becoming scarce, we found very few within our price range.
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Audi RS6
0-62mph: 4.7 seconds
£13,995
2003, 83,155 miles
We've opted for the cheapest RS6 that we could find, to illustrate a point – that mentally fast cars are available for stupidly small sums of money. A £11k budget bags an RS6 with closer to 100,000 miles on the clock, but either way we suspect that the chances of notching up many sub-five second runs before something very expensive goes bang, would be very remote. This example we've found has just 83,155 miles.
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BMW M5 (E60)
0-62mph: 4.7 seconds
£14,695
2006, 123,000 miles
Anyone who buys an E60 M5 on a tight budget is going to regret it, because it's impossible to run one of these cars on a shoestring. They need lots of fuel and maintenance and reliability can be an issue. But with 123,000 miles on the clock the 2005 M5 that we found for just short of £15k looked to be something of a bargain – and a lot of fun with that incredible 500bhp V10 in the nose.
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Caterham Seven 1.8 Supersport
0-62mph: 4.7 seconds
There aren't any Caterhams in budget right now, but that might change soon. After all, this isn't just a car with sensational acceleration; the thrills it can deliver are far more wide-ranging than that. Most Caterhams have been used mainly as track day cars by doting owners. Snap up either and you'll enjoy the closest thing you'll get to depreciation-free fun – and lots of it.
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Mitsubishi Evo X FQ-300
0-62mph: 4.7 seconds
£14,995
2008, 84,000 miles
Although we found an Evo X FQ-360 for sale for just £9750, it had 143,000 miles on the clock and the chances are many of those were very hard-driven miles. So for an extra three grand we're picking one of the slower FQ-300 editions instead (4.7 seconds vs 4.1), which should have plenty of trouble-free miles left to give.
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Vauxhall VX220 Turbo
0-62mph: 4.7 seconds
£14,995
2003, 43,000 miles
Values for Vauxhall's Lotus Elise clone have been steadily climbing over the past couple of years, with buyers no longer put off by the badge on the bonnet. And why would you be when this is a car that's searingly fast, sensational to drive and rarer than the Elise? The problem is that the VX220 is a bit too rare, so you might have to bide your time for the right car to turn up.
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Audi TT RS
0-62mph: 4.6 seconds
£14,194
2009, 93,000 miles
The TT might not be the most engaging sports car to drive, but with its quattro transmission you can deploy its 335bhp all-year round. Plus it's eminently practical with its hatchback configuration, or there's a roadster edition available too (0-62mph in 4.7 seconds). Sharply styled and beautifully built, what's not to like?
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BMW M6
0-62mph: 4.6 seconds
£14,995
2005, 85,574 miles
It's uglier, less practical and more expensive than the M5 with which it shares its 500bhp V10 engine, but the BMW M6 still represents something of a bargain when it comes to bangs per buck. But while the M6 is a relative bargain to buy, running costs can be crippling – but what a way to blow your savings.
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Mercedes CL63 AMG
0-62mph: 4.6 seconds
£13,494
2007, 157,000 miles
Yes we know we're busting our budget a tiny bit here, but it's worth it. When it was launched, the CL63 AMG featured the world's most powerful naturally aspirated V8. The 6208cc motor was rated at 518bhp along with 464lb ft of torque, which was enough to catapult the huge four-seater coupé to 62mph in just 4.6 seconds. Ludicrously fast yet eminently discreet, the most bonkers thing of all is that you can now buy a CL63 AMG for well within our £15k budget.
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TVR 400 SE
0-62mph: 4.1 seconds
£13,000
1992, 68,000 miles
The TVR Wedges dropped to rock bottom a few years ago and have climbed back up since, although you're still not going to have to dig too deeply to buy something that's seriously quick while still being reliable. The 400 SE is a case in point; it's one of the fastest of the breed yet something really superb is well within our budget, although at any one time there aren't many on the market to choose from.
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