The unicorn performance cars facing extinction
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Humdrum to heroic
© MG RoverA lot of the cars on this list remain a familiar sight on Britain’s roads, but each one has a performance variant in danger of extinction. These engines turned the humdrum into the heroic, assuming you were able to live with the thirst and likely high cost of tax and insurance. Nothing here is too old – we don’t want to stray into Retro Motor territory – but a few of these cars might tempt you into trawling the classifieds.
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Skoda Superb 3.6 V6
© SkodaThe Superb: large, spacious, practical, safe, dependable and comfortable. These are all adjectives you’d associate with Skoda’s flagship executive car. But not ‘quick’ or ‘exciting’. Not unless you opted for the 3.6-litre V6 at least, which was essentially a detuned version of the engine found in the Volkswagen Passat R36. This was a proper sleeper, especially if you chose the hatchback-saloon oddity over the estate version.
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Vauxhall Signum 2.8 Turbo
© VauxhallRemember the Vauxhall Signum? This unloved family hatchback had the face of an Insignia and the posterior of a… well, nothing else, really. It was essentially a hatchback-estate crossover, designed to allow four people to travel in comfort, with a fifth seat for occasional use. Nobody was convinced, so sales were as sluggish as the diesel versions, but there was a go-faster alternative. It used the 2.8-litre turbocharged V6 engine from the Vectra VXR, giving a 0-60mph time of sub-7.0 seconds. Perfect for back-seat drivers in a hurry.
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Volvo XC90 V8
© VolvoThe original XC90 was Volvo’s first SUV and it sold in huge numbers from 2002 until 2014. However, Volvo knew it needed a V8 to compete with the likes of Land Rover, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, especially in the US. Without such an engine at its disposal, Volvo teamed up with Yamaha to build a 4.4-litre eight-pot producing 311hp. They’re rare in the UK – we could find only one when preparing this list – but you can also find the same engine in the S80 luxury saloon.
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Volkswagen Passat W8
© VWWe haven’t got enough space to delve into the backstory of the Volkswagen Passat W8. The brainchild of Ferdinand Piëch, the eight-cylinder engine was designed to push the Passat upmarket while the world waited (w8ted?) for the luxurious Phaeton. There was a problem: the Passat with a 4.0-litre W8 engine wasn’t significantly quicker than the 2.8-litre V6, and it was horrendously difficult to work on. Still, at least you could brag about having ‘half a Veryon engine’ – albeit without the turbochargers.
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Rover 75 V8
© MG RoverJust when we were getting over the shock of the V8-powered MG ZT 260, MG Rover followed it up with the Rover 75 V8. This was the automotive equivalent of a Werther’s Original filled with Red Bull. Or possibly a pair of M&S slippers with roller-skate wheels. It featured the same Ford-sourced V8 as the MG, but with a four-speed automatic rather than a five-speed manual gearbox. It could hit 60mph in 6.8 seconds before maxing out at 151mph. Oh, and it was rear-wheel drive. This was a mad era for MG Rover.
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Toyota Previa Supercharged
© ToyotaThe Toyota Previa was the world’s first mid-engined MPV. So it’s like a people-carrying version of the Toyota MR2, right? Not exactly, but the 2.4-litre 16-valve twin-cam engine was canted on its side, mounted at a 75-degree angle, and positioned under the floor behind the front axle. Great for weight distribution and creating a flat floor. Sadly, the supercharged version wasn’t sold in the UK.
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Renault Safrane 2.5
© RenaultWhat’s the first car that springs to mind when you think about five-cylinder engines? The Audi Quattro? Fiat Coupe Turbo? Volvo 850 T-5R? Maybe the Ford Focus ST? What if we told you that the Renault Safrane had a five-pot? Volvo and Renault signed an alliance in 1990, with the Safrane getting 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine and a 2.5-litre five-pot from the Swedish giant as part of the 1996 facelift.
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Seat Exeo 2.0 TSI Sport
© SeatLaunched at the 2008 Paris Motor Show, the Seat Exeo was essentially a reheated Audi A4, specifically the B7 model, which was being replaced by the new B8 series A4. You don’t need to squint too hard to notice the Exeo’s origins, but that was no bad thing. Besides, the interior, sourced from the A4 Cabriolet, was a class above any other car in the Seat range. And with the 2.0-litre turbocharged engine under the bonnet, it was like a four-door Golf GTI. Well, almost.
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Mercedes-Benz R63 AMG
© Mercedes-BenzAccording to DVLA figures, there are just six Mercedes-Benz R63 AMGs roaming the streets of Britain, with a further four listed as SORN. That’s a pretty good survival rate, given that Mercedes-Benz sold just 12 UK-spec cars in the brief time it was on sale. This makes it one of the rarest AMG models in the world, yet it still has a thunderous 6.2-litre V8 producing 510hp at 6,800rpm. The coolest MPV of them all? Possibly.
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Audi S6 V10
© AudiWe’re not sure any car with a V10 engine is in danger of extinction, but you could easily pass an Audi S6 without realising that there’s a Lamborghini engine under the bonnet. It might not be the most extravagant Lambo, but the Gallardo is a million miles away from Audi’s large executive car. Get one in a muted hue, say silver or black, and people will think you’re driving an A6 diesel – until you plant your right foot.
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Volkswagen Sharan VR6
© VWWhen you think of Volkswagen’s VR6 engine, the first cars that spring to mind are likely to be the Corrado and Mk3 Golf. So, it might surprise you to discover that the Passat was the first car to use VW’s six-pot motor. Amazingly, it was also an option on the Sharan MPV, which also means you can get a Seat Alhambra or Ford Galaxy with a 2.8-litre VR6 engine. What were we saying about the coolest MPV of them all?
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Mazda 6 MPS
© MazdaThe Mazda 6 MPS is the sort of performance car everyone forgets about until someone mentions it during a chat about Q-cars. This results in a lot of knowing nods, before somebody turns to their smartphone to see if there are any for sale. It was never hugely popular, but its credentials are compelling: a 2.3-litre turbocharged four-pot engine producing 260hp, four-wheel drive, 0-60mph in 6.6 seconds and a top speed of 150mph. There are around 200 left on the road.
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Audi Q7 V12 TDI
© AudiThe Audi R10 TDI was the first diesel-powered car to win the Le Mans 24 Hours race. There were plans to shoehorn the engine into the R8 supercar, but when this became a packaging nightmare, Audi turned to the Q7 SUV. The result was brilliantly bonkers: a family holdall with a 6.0-litre TDI engine producing 493hp at 3,750rpm and 738lb ft of torque at just 1,750rpm. There are 18 prowling the streets of Britain.
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Toyota Corolla Compressor
© ToyotaToyota has built more than 53 million Corollas since 1966, making it the world’s best-selling vehicle nameplate. The vast majority of them have been mundane runabouts, and that’s fine, because that’s what most people want, but there have been a few exceptions. One of them was the Corolla Compressor, which used the same 1.8-litre engine as the Celica 190 and Lotus Elise 111R, albeit with the bonus of a supercharger. The result was a stealth-like hot hatch that could hit 62mph in 6.9 seconds. Only 250 UK cars were built.
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Renaultsport Megane 175 dCi
© RenaultTo some, the idea of a Renaultsport hot hatch with a diesel engine might be an oxymoron; a car not fit to wear the badge, or something. But the Megane dCi 175 was a cracker and, cosmetically at least, virtually indistinguishable from the petrol versions. The same bold styling, twin exhaust pipes, 18-inch alloys and Cup chassis, but with 265lb ft of torque and the potential to see 43.5mpg. There are around 100 on the road.
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Seat Altea Freetrack
© SeatWe know it’s not a performance car, but the Seat Altea Freetrack was available with a 2.0-litre TFSI petrol engine, which, in the words of our Richard Aucock, made it ‘surprisingly fun’ and ‘an unlikely back-road pleaser’. Indeed, he reckoned it gave us a taste of what a Golf GTI 4Motion would be like, saying you can ‘drive it like an Impreza WRC’. Cool thing.
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BMW E60 550i
© BMWWe’d never stick an M badge on a regular BMW. In fact, we’d go the other way by attaching a 316d badge to an M3 or a 520i badge to an M5. Alternatively, you could buy a BMW 550i (the E60 version) that featured a 4.8-litre V8 producing 367hp, delivering the performance of an M car. Yet it looks like the kind of 5 Series you’d find in a motorway services car park.
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Ford S-Max 2.5T
© FordThe Ford S-Max was always the MPV for mums and dads who weren’t quite ready to fully embrace parenthood. An MPV that was genuinely good to drive, even with six passengers tucking into their Happy Meals and asking if they’re nearly there yet. Order an S-Max with a 2.5-litre 20-valve five-cylinder engine and it was like owning a Focus ST minibus.
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Jeep Commander Hemi
© JeepMost Commanders left showrooms with a Mercedes-Benz V6 diesel engine under the bonnet, but DVLA data suggests that around 170 people in the UK opted for the 5.7-litre Hemi V8. Why buy a BMW X5, Land Rover Discovery or Volvo XC90 when you can own an all-American Jeep with a V8 under the hood? That’s a rhetorical question, because the 17.8mpg fuel consumption might play a part in the decision process. We tip our baseball caps to anyone who took the plunge.
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Vauxhall Meriva VXR
© VauxhallYes, Vauxhall really did offer a VXR version of the Meriva. And, yes, around 250 people bought one. We also want one, although we’re not entirely sure why. Mind you, at the time of writing, there are seemingly none available for sale, despite 99 examples being taxed and tested. A case of Meriva VXR owners knowing a good thing when they’ve got it?
