10 cars under £10k for a Road Trip

You don’t need a supercar to do a roadtrip – “a supercar would be nice” we hear you say but you can have as much fun in cars that cost much less. Below we’ve put a selection of 10 cars under £10k you could use on your next Driving Holiday.

Porsche Boxster S

Let’s kick off with convertibles, after all who wouldn’t want to be blasting through the Alps with the roof down soaking up the sun. The Porsche Boxster S is a great car for a week long Euro Trip – plenty of space for your bags, enough ‘umph’ from the 3.2 litre engine to put a huge grin on your face and sporty looks that won’t look out of place when you cruise around the French Riviera. A truly great road trip car for under £10k.

Mazda MX5 mk3

Despite being heavier and fatter that it’s predecessors the mk3 Mazda MX5 is still great fun. Like the Boxster there’s plenty of space for your bags. With a 2 litre engine under the bonnet there’s not as much urgency when you plant your right foot but there’s enough for ‘fun mode’ to be engaged – and when combined with the nimble handling this car has what’s not to like! The cabin’s a decent place to be and with it’s flare arches the exteriors not too shabby either. Fun times to be had all round with the Mazda MX5

BMW Z4 mk2

The mk1 was a great car, the mk2 takes that to new heights with a hike in quality all round. Once you get your head round that huge bonnet and the feeling that your sat in the boot when driving the Z4 you’ll realise it’s a great car. Your £10k probably wont quite stretch to the range topping Z4 35i sDrive DCT Auto so instead look at the 23i with it’s 2.5 litre engine that provides plenty of power for this to be a fun and stylish car for a roadtrip.

Mercedes CLK 55AMG

The last of our convertibles – we decided that if you’re going to have the roof down then what about having a V8 soundtrack to go with it. Yes it might not be as tight handling as the 3 suggestions above that were designed to be convertibles from the start but that means you can take it a touch easier on those mountain roads and soak up the views. Then when it comes to those bonkers tunnels our friends on the continent like to build well you’re most certainly in for a treat.

Audi S5

Whilst we’re talking about V8s how about the Audi S5 – earlier models are now within that £10k price bracket. With the S5 you get a larger cabin that anything so far, and probably a bit more luxury too, so it would be great for covering longer distances for sure. Again you have that howling V8 soundtrack to enjoy as you tackle those mountain roads, with Audi’s 4WD keeping you firmly planted on terra firma.

Subaru WRX STi

From luxury sports coupe we go to full on bat sh*t crazy saloon – the Subaru WRX STi. We don’t think there’s any explanation needed here – it does everything, fast. If you want to go for a hoon then this is your car.

VW Golf GTi ED30

Next up we head to the hot hatch sector – in all honesty we could give you too many options here so we’ve limited ourselves to just 3. First off it’s the iconic VW Golf GTi, and we’ve gone for the fine handling mk5 in the Edition 30 flavour. It’s not the fastest hot hatch of it’s generation out there but the handling this cars bring to the party means it’s going to be such good fun when the roads get twisty and after all that’s where the fun is in a European driving holiday.

Seat Ibiza Cupra

A bit of sleeper this one and it definitely gives you real bang for you bucks. Whilst you might think the bigger brother ‘Leon’ would be the choice to go for the ‘Ibiza’ is just right for 2 people taking a road trip. It’s punchy, nimble, frugal and good looking with it’s sharp styling. It’s also pretty understated and can surprise many bigger powered and more expensive machinery – believe us, we know.

Renault Meganne R26

This hot hatch was made for driving, and driving hard, so show it a twisty mountain road and you can embarrass most other cars around you. With the Renault Megane R26 you’ve got a proper weapon on your hands, plus a decent sized boot for your luggage. And with prices well under £10k for these you’ll have plenty of cash left over for a top of the range European breakdown cover 😉

BMW E46 M3

Finally we come to one of the all-time greats, the BMW E46 M3. It does pretty much everything you want from a car when looking to do a road trip. Timeless looks means it never looks out of place no matter where you are be that a glitzy city or mountain pass. The cabin’s super comfy and there’s plenty of space for your luggage. The 3.2 straight six engine pulls like a train so you’ll never be short of power on those glorious mountain roads and the sublime handling means those sweeping bends and hairpins are a joy to tackle.