Here are 10 of the best four-cylinder performance cars on sale right now

Pound-for-pound, arguably the best four-door, four-cylinder performance car on sale right now. The FL5 continues Honda’s trend of using a meaty turbo-four in the Type R, here with 324bhp/310lb ft sent through one of the finest six-speed manual boxes of recent times. It's much easier on the eye than its predecessor too, though none of this comes cheap. 

The A110 marked a return for Alpine as a fully-fledged carmaker after a two-decade-plus hiatus, and what a return it’s been. Starting out as a simple, lightweight, daily-usable two-seater for those who didn’t fancy a Cayman, the A110 has now transformed into the 345bhp ‘Ultime’, capable of lapping the Nürburgring eighteen seconds quicker than a G87 M2. We’ll miss it when it’s gone next year, that’s for sure. 

Surely someone out there must want a four-cylinder supercar, because why else would Merc repurpose the A45’s engine for a new 415bhp entry-level AMG GT? The stats aren’t half bad: 0-62 in 4.6s and a top speed of 174. The GT 43 is also around £80k cheaper than the range-topper, and whichever way you look at it, that is a substantial saving. 

Lotus’ final combustion-powered car, which isn’t at all a depressing thought. The Emira lineup recently received a shakeup which means the four-pot ‘Turbo SE’ is equal on power to the V6. Not only that, but the SE will get to 62mph quicker (4s), have a higher top speed (182mph) and start at three grand less. In fact, the only reason you might have the V6 is because of its manual gearbox option, which the SE doesn’t.

One reason why the Cayman has done so well is the sheer amount of configurability available. From the powertrains and gearboxes to the upholstery finish and materials used, you really can build the perfect two-seat sports car for you. A boggo spec will set you back just shy of £54k, and for that you’ll get a 296bhp flat-four that’ll even return a claimed 31mpg. With confirmation the next Cayman will be an EV, time’s running out if you want one with combustion power.

For over three decades now the MX-5 has been the definitive small roadster. The current fourth-gen car has been around since 2015 and received a mild update last year, bringing a limited slip differential and a bigger touchscreen (now 8.8in). Otherwise, the main choice is down to the four-pot’s power and displacement: 130bhp from 1.5 litres or 182bhp from two.

Bimmer’s entry-point to the Z4 range is the catchily titled ‘sDrive20i M Sport’. Your £46.5k investment gets you a turbo-four with 196bhp and 236lb ft, allowing 0-62 in 6.6s. You’ll also get sports suspension and bits of posh leather inside as standard, plus a 10.25in infotainment screen. There’s around 281 litres of luggage space out back too, which should be enough for a weekend away. Probably at a golf club.

You can have any number of engine choices and trim levels with your Caterham Seven, but if ‘the wilder, the better’ is your sorta motto, the 620 is the one for you. Its supercharged 310bhp Ford Duratec motor snaps the Caterham's bones to 62 in just 2.8s before maxing out at 149. And consider this: you’ll be doing said speeds in what is effectively a windscreen wiper attached to some scaffolding.

The Golf R's a proper piece of kit with a useful 328bhp in its most basic spec. A basic spec which quickly skips past £50k by the time a few options are thrown on, mind. Remember when hot Golfs were actually cheap?

Let’s just remind you of the soon-to-be-retired A45’s stats: 416bhp, 369lb ft, 0-62 in 3.9s and a top speed of 168mph. In a hatchback. Quite how Merc has managed to squeeze so much potential from a tiny 2.0-litre engine continues to shock us, but this tech-filled, all-wheel drive rocket is as close to hot hatch endgame as we’re ever likely to get with a four-pot. Utter lunacy.