Bhp bargains: cars with the most power per £

Raw, throbbing power; to some motorists it means nothing, to others it’s the key thing they look for when choosing a new car. Big power can mean big performance, scorching top speeds and 0-60mph acceleration that’s over in the blink of an eye. It can also, of course, mean inflated prices, bulky fuel bills and stomach-churning insurance premiums. 

So, generally speaking, a healthy dose of power is nice to have in your car, as long as it doesn’t come with the kind of epic bills that’ll have you living out of the back seat within a few months. Cheap horsepower is the optimum and that got us thinking. Which cars deliver the most bhp for your Pound?

Bargain bhp is the name of the game here. With the help for the data experts at CAP we’ve assembled a list of the best 20 new cars on sale for bhp per £. The results contain some stone cold performance bargains but they also show that the cheapest horsepower in today’s car marketplace can often be found in cheapest cars.

The top 20 cars with the most power per £:

Yes, the cheapest bhp you’ll find on the UK car market comes in the cheapest car you’ll find on the UK car market. In fact, with the Dacia Sandero, MG3 and Perodua Myvi taking up the top three places, it’s cheap cars that dominate the top three places, offering each bhp for under £80.

You can’t beat a super-low list price when it comes to bargain bhp but progress down the list and we start to get into cars that take a more performance-focused approach.

The hot hatches are ably represented by the ST versions of Ford’s Fiesta and Focus with the larger Focus in 7th place, it’s 250 horsepower costing a reasonable £86.60 each. Peugeot’s 208 GTi, the Skoda Fabia vRS and the Renaultsport Clio also creep into the reckoning towards the tail end of our top 20.

If you’re after something more potent, the Nissan 370Z coupe confirms its status as a bit of a performance car bargain in 5th place with its 328bhp V6. Vauxhall’s Insignia 2.0T SRi is a surprise inclusion in 9th, and a list of affordable performance cars wouldn’t be complete without the all-wheel-drive Subaru Impreza WRX STI down in 16th at £93.60 per bhp.

The first of the really big hitters is the Chevrolet Camaro. Powered into 4th place by its 432bhp 6.2-litre V8, the Chevy is a genuine bhp bargain capable of a 5.2s 0-60mph sprint but it’s outperformed by the monstrous 576bhp Vauxhall VXR8 down in 13th which will see 62mph a full second quicker. 

As for the most expensive bhp on the market, Lamborghini asks £505 for each of its Aventador LP720-4’s 720bhp - or how about the Rolls-Royce Phantom at £780 for each of its 459bhp? They both look positively cheap, however, next to the Pagani Huayra that offers 720bhp at a sobering £1,429 each.