Best coupes 2024/2025
We pick out the cream of the coupe crop
Sleek, stylish and steeped in desirability, a good-looking coupe is very much a personal choice – a car that you choose with your heart, but which you can also justify with your head.
The best coupes offer the performance, dynamics and looks of a sports car but with an added dose of practicality, as coupes often have more luggage space and more comfortable cabins than your super-focused sports models, as well as greater refinement and better weather protection.
The good news for coupe buyers is that there’s also a wide choice of two-door tin tops for sale on today’s market, and at various different price points. You don’t need to be festooned with cash to get a new coupe that’s dripping in style, though the bigger your cash reserves the more alluring the available choices get.
Here’s our pick of the best 10 coupes that you can buy today…
Porsche 911
- Prices from £99,800
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In many respects, the Porsche 911 is a supercar – at least in terms of the performance offered by higher spec models. It’s also a legend, with the recently revised current model sporting a bold appearance than can directly trace its lineage back to the very first 911 of 1963, it’s twin oval headlamps, curved roof and rear-engined layouts being hallmarks of the model that have been there since its inception.
Yet despite the incredible performance – even in 2WD Carrera entry-level form it’s devilishly quick – the 911 is a whole lot more practical than most of its rivals. It’s a genuine four-seater providing your rear seat passengers aren't too large, and there’s decent luggage space, both in the front boot and behind the seats.
It’s fabulous to drive, but the downside is that it doesn’t come cheap. Even with the basic car you’ll soon tip ito six figures if you venture near the options list, though few cars offer anywhere near its fusion of practicality, presence and fun.
BMW 4 Series
- Prices from £44,195
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The BMW 4 Series is a car built in a mould that’s not as popular as it once was, but that, in many ways, makes it all the more alluring. Based on the 3 Series saloon platform, the 4 Series provides both coupe and cabriolet versions of the class-leading compact exec, though it’s the hardtop model we’re looking at here.
Continuing a tradition of ‘personal coupes’ that have always been popular among German makers, the 4 is a smart, stylish and sensibly sized car with an upmarket cabin and a choice of fine engines, namely a 182bhp 2.0-litre four cylinder unit in the 420i, or a twin turbo 3.0 straight-six mild hybrid in the 272bhp 440i XDrive, which also gets four-wheel drive.
It's reasonably good value, too, but the standard specification is fairly lean and the cost of options soon adds up.
Alpine A110
- Prices from £53,055
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If ever a car was an instant classic, it was the Alpine A110. The 2017-on recreation of Alpine’s Renault legend was the first in a range of retro-inspired models to emerge from the French manufacturer and it’s as beautiful and striking as the original, even down to its iconic profile.
Those wonderful looks have a trade-off, though. The two-seater-only cabin is snug and the driving position is an acquired taste, while the touchscreen is fiddly and unresponsive. Luggage space is limited, too, with two load compartments, neither of which is especially generous. It’s absolutely fantastic to drive, though, even if the 1.8-litre turbocharged engine isn’t especially frugal.
Porsche 718 Cayman
- Prices from £53,800
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If you can’t run to a 911 but still want a rear-engined Porsche with that classic coupe profile, then the 718 Cayman has a tremendous amount going for it.
At the entry-level price point, it’s competitive with models from far less prestigious brands, yet it offers all of the classic Porsche features – a flat-floor cabin, low-slung driving position, precise steering, wonderful handling and impressive build quality.
Even the entry level 2.0-litre flat-four model has 296bhp and is rewardingly quick, but if you want a six-cylinder model in the truest of Porsche traditions it’s also offered as a 4.0 straight-six.
Four-cylinder models get Porsche’s super-fast PDK transmission, but for purists the 4.0 is offered with a traditional six-speed manual and is a true enthusiasts’ car.
BMW 2 Series
- Prices from £38,635
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One of the most accessible coupes on the market also happens to have one of the best badges, so if your budget is limited then the BMW 2 Series could well be the car for you – not least because it stacks up well on company car user-chooser lists.
The entry level 2.0-litre version is lively enough, with 182bhp, while the litre M240i M Sport XDrive comes with four-wheel-drive and a 3.0-litre twin turbo straight six, offering 272bhp. It’s a great car to drive and a stylish one, while its compact dimensions make it useful for those who live in urban areas but still want a car that’s fun on the open road.
The only downside is that it’s a bit cramped inside, with limited luggage space.
Porsche Taycan
- Prices from £86,500
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A stylish coupe is no barrier to practicality, as the Porsche Taycan proves. The German company’s luxury four-door GT is an opulent, electric super-coupé with wonderful build quality and striking, imposing styling, matched to surprisingly frugal running costs.
The entry-level car has a 79.5kWh battery and a range of around 255 miles, but splash out on the Performance Battery Plus with it's 93.5kWh unit and you’ll extend that to a Tesla-challenging 315 miles (WLTP) in the 300kW model, or 357 miles in the 320kW version.
It’s a fabulous piece of kit, but as you go up the range, prices increase quite rapidly – you can almost double the price of the basic car if you go for a higher-spec model with the bigger battery and more potent powertrain. A used model may make more sense, not least because initial depreciation can be quite fierce. All versions are amazing to drive.
Audi e-tron GT
- Prices from £107,730
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The flagship Audi e-tron GT was created to shine a halo over the rest of the electric e-tron range and has never been sold in huge volumes, the German company managing resale values by restricting supply. Imports ceased in 2024, but there are a number of models still available from stock if you want to get your hands on a new one.
If you do, you’ll be joining an exclusive club as even the entry-level car comes in at £107,730, with the uppermost trim – the GT Quattro Vorsprung RS – tipping the scales at a cool £149,000.
Unsurprisingly, what you get for your money is a very special car indeed, as well as a veritable tech fest, while the 500bhp electric motor is blisteringly fast thanks to its instant torque – 0-62mph takes a supercar baiting 2.8 seconds in the RS.
Mercedes CLE
- Prices from £46,620
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Seen by many as a classier and more elegant alternative to a BMW 4 Series, the Mercedes-Benz CLE is an extremely pretty car with some delicate design details. It’s beautifully finished, too, but is more expensive than the BMW across the range.
It’s a compact executive coupe in the traditional mould, with a gorgeous interior and decent levels of tech, while powertrain choices include mild hybrid petrol models, which offer the best value for money but can be pricey to run, or plug-in hybrids, which are particularly appealing to company car users. The entry-level four-cylinder model is lively enough for most, while AMG Line models feature some smart styling details and a sportier suspension set-up.
Ford Mustang
- Prices from £55,725
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No list of coupes would be complete without the inclusion of one of the all-time greats – and the iconic Ford Mustang is as legendary as they come.
Not to be confused with the all-electric Mustang Mach-e, the traditional V8-powered rear-wheel drive model is still offered by Ford to keep hardcore Mustang fans engaged, and what a car it is.
It’s terrific value given its packaging and performance, with a 450bhp 5.0-litre V8 under the bonnet, six-speed manual transmission and a 0-60mph time of just 4.8 seconds. Sure, it’s a dinosaur in comparison with most modern coupes, but muscle car fans wouldn’t have it any other way. Big V8-engined sports coupes are rare these days and the Mustang is one of the last of a dying breed – and it’s all the more fabulous for it.
Mercedes CLA
- Prices from £31,430
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With the most recent generation of A-Class, Mercedes attracted a new breed of buyers to the brand with pricing that rivalled several more mainstream models and a keen line in retail offers and leasing deals to grow its market share. It worked.
The CLA is a spin-off of the A-Class and that means it shares the same platform and wide range of engines, as well as some keen pricing that gives it a lot of appeal, especially to those in the market for a new car where the prestigious badge is more accessible than ever.
The trade-off is that, although the CLA is a great-looking car, it’s nothing exceptional in terms of its dynamic ability or packaging, and you have to spend your way up the range to get one with strong performance. To much of its target market, though, that doesn’t matter, for it’s a fine-looking car at a good price.
How to choose the best coupe for you
Each one of our 10 cars here has something unique about it, be it in its powertrain, pricing or packaging. But despite their multiple differences, they all have one very strong common bond – they all look sensational. That’s what buying a coupe is all about.
If you want a car that has a feel-good factor about it and you don’t need the practicality of a saloon, hatchback or SUV, then a coupe is ideal for you. It tells the world that not only do you appreciate fine design, but that you also love driving.
There will be some compromises to consider, though. As a rule, coupes aren’t especially practical, but they do offer more functionality than most sports cars and most will be happy to swallow a reasonable amount of luggage. Be aware, too, that the coupe market is small for a reason. They’re not cars that suit most mainstream buyers, and while they generally hold their value reasonably well, it may take you longer to find a buyer when you do come to sell your coupe down the line.
If all of that works for you, then the best advice is to shop around and look for the best deals, and bear in mind that models with higher specification may be more expensive, but they’ll also be worth more and be easier to sell when you’re ready to move on.
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