Home / Auto News / News article: Top 10 Cheapest Cars with 300 Horsepower
 |  May 15, 8:43 AM 48 Comments

10. Subaru WRX STI: 305-hp $34,095

1 of 10 Last

One of the most wonderful sensations come when you command a whole handful of power just with the flexing of your right foot. Horsepower is an intoxicating element when it comes to driving, but that doesn’t mean that it’s saved for the most expensive vehicles out there.

Check out the list of the top ten most affordable vehicles with 300 (or more) horsepower. You might be surprised at the deals here, with our leader having a price-to-pony ratio of $73-per-horsepower.  Most of the vehicles here are coupes, but a trio of sedans squeezed in, proving fun can come in four-doors.

First on our list is the rally-tested Subaru WRX STI. The performance-oriented vehicle is the first of three sedans that made the top 10, and features Subaru’s symmetrical all-wheel drive and a turbocharged 2.5-liter Boxer engine, which pumps out 305-hp. The cheapest WRX STI is the four-door model, which also has the STI’s instantly recognizable rear spoiler. With a top speed of 160 mph,  the four-door also has a slightly higher top-speed than its five-door counterpart. The WRX STI can get to 60 mph from a standing start in under 5 seconds, and it’s all-wheel drive helps it gobble up the road as fast as anything else on this list. It starts at $34,095.

1 of 10 Last
Filed under: American Chevrolet Coupes Dodge Family Sedans Ford GM Hyundai Japanese Korean Nissan Sedans Sports Cars Subaru Top 10
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
More Auto News...
Top 10 Track-Ready New Cars Under $60,000
Top 10 Track-Ready New Cars Under $60,000		Top 10 Cheapest Cars Available with a V8 Engine
Top 10 Cheapest Cars Available with a V8 Engine		Ask AutoGuide No. 7 – Affordable American Performance
Ask AutoGuide No. 7 – Affordable American Performance		In Memoriam: The V8 Engine 1900-201?
In Memoriam: The V8 Engine 1900-201?
  • http://twitter.com/chaddyd Chad Lewine

    where’s the Mazdaspeed3? lol i loved that car. 

  • Colum Wood

    It makes “only” 263 hp.

  • SAMwrxNEAL

    uhhh both the Camaro and Mustang V6 models have 300 hp and are cheaper than their V8 counterparts…

  • T. Roll

    There’s so much domestic junk on this list.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mark-Golden/503497645 Mark Golden

    this list sounds like a joke……370z at 9th & the chevy impala at 4th…. am i missing something?

  • Tom Donohue

    Are these prices American??

  • http://www.carlmontpharmacy.com/ Cheap Viagra

    The 
    Subaru WRX STI is definitely the best choice among all these. 

  • Hottie

     Are you mad? WRX better than the ZL1? Lol.

  • Cannuck

     You bet. In Canada the ZL1 will probably cost $100K.

  • http://www.heromotocorp.com/ Hero Motorcycles

    The pricing would differ big time

  • Guest096

    It is based on a rally car and not a giant 2 door boat…..

  • T. Roll

     Whatever. ZL1 ran a 7:41 Nurburgring time. The best I’ve seen for a WRX is 7:55.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000540932411 Rick Nice

    I agree mark! the 370Z is far superior to the impala in performance and reliability.

  • Carl Synnett

    How the hell Mustang is cheap? -.-

  • http://www.facebook.com/doggie504 Shawn Merrill

    Can you guys read? Its goes by descending price. Anyway, on topic, Ford yet again trumps another “Top List”

  • Bob

    Wow, a little american pride could do you some good.

  • Jason

    it is the CHEAPEST cars with over 300HP..370Z is 25k while the mustang is 23K

  • Theggman

    Yes, you are.  As the
    list number ascends to number one, it is reflective of a DECENDING price.  Were you also confused by the presence of two
    Camaros and two Mustangs?  I can explain
    that too.

  • Howie Johnson

    every one of you complaining about the car at the top of this story are morons…

  • Peter

    What your missing is that the list has nothing to do with which car is better but has everything to do with which car is cheeper. Didn’t you notice that as you approach the number 1 car in this list that the price keeps on dropping?

  • guest

    the wrx sti is the only one that could go fast around a corner

  • Driver

    300hp means nothing when the rest of the car is a heavy mess of total garbage with a plastic interior and zero ability to take corners. Why exactly was this list even made?

  • Matthias

    There is so much Korean shit and Japanese junk on this list.  

  • Stevedave

    So they show a picture of challenger RT and give specs and price for an SE V6, but don’t even list the RT like the Mustang and Camaro, and where’s the Evo GSR? cheaper than the WRX STI, list just seems poorly researched in regards to pricing structure.

  • http://activecomputing.ca/ Calgary Computer Repair

    The reason most of these are cheap is because they’re domestic. There are only 2 cars on this list that are worth anything IMO. Numbers 9 and 10.

  • Bobbyforget

    cheap is$15,000. , not $35,000. and up

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/UKFKCAPOEX322VMIAYLCKUXFRQ The

    Your article does nothing but perpetuate the FALLACY of ‘horsepower’ to ignorant American drivers.

    MOST Americans will never run their engine RPMs up to where their car has it’s ‘rated’ horsepower.

    -Acceleration- is about TORQUE.  That’s why a 6-speed turbo diesel can do 0-60 in 6.1 seconds.

    It’s why you see a Dodge Cummins turbo-diesel truck blowing away a Mustang at the drag-strip.

    Horsepower is what enables you to maintain speed against aerodynamic drag… in a gas vehicle, the maximum torque is typically in the same RPM range as the maximum horsepower.  e.g. 4500-6500.

    That’s why my old 1987 Porsche 951 (4 cylinder 2.5 liter Turbo) can beat a shiny new V-8 Corvette… the ‘Vette’ driver is afraid to take his car up to the RPM range where GM says his engine was rated.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000504836769 Raven Schmidt

    My husband and I test drove both the Nissan 370 and The Camero Back to back.  I’d have to say that the order here is wrong. The 370 is much more manuverable, stays on the road better on uneven surfaces and has considerablly better visability.

    Not saying that the camero was a bad car or anything….just not as good as the 370.

  • Guest

    Since you have to say Americans Im assuming you dont live here and therefor have no idea what you’re talking about. I run the piss out of my challenger and destroy bitches. Im sure your porsche would kick my ass but dont say Americans cant drive because of some dipshits you watched on youtube.

  • Guest

    These things can get the fuck up for 305 horsepower. I raced one in my rt challenger with K&N CAI and borla catback exhuast and he kept right up with me.

  • Guest

    If you pay 25k for any impala you’re retarded

  • Guest

    SS Camaro would whoop that things assssssss

  • Guest

    You know you can buy an ss and send it to hennessy for $18,000 and they will super and turbo charge it for like 650+ hp right? Even stock it would fuck up a wrx sti, easily.

  • Guest

    Nooooo RTs are 34k my friend

  • T. Roll

     Yes, but Hennessy is a crook.

  • http://www.snoozerpetbeds.com/ Lemuel

    Most of the vehicles here are coupes, but a trio of sedans squeezed in, proving fun can come in four-doors.

  • Barry

    the impalas have been around forever, they are inexpensive to operate and very reliable

  • Odogg

    Saying that the American muscle is floaty in its handling , you didn’t do your homework buddy.The SS Camaro comes stock with magnetic shocks , the same that are put on a 2013 Ferrari .

  • damen

    This cars like good

  • Williamsteadham

    well i do give props to the sti beeing 1st but the 370z it should be right there toooooo

  • Larry Reeves

    Its a same they’re all so goddamn porky.  If they weren’t, 300hp would actually be something!  

  • Mensch

    It’s going based on the price.. Impala is cheaper so it ranks higher than the 370z

  • Flip_sm

    for me
    1 370z nismo (that what i will buy soon)
    2 STI  (good chose Ihad a WRX very fun and now a 2.5RS winter car and for family car)
    3 Evolution (where is it)
    4 Genesis…cheap interior
    5 all scrap american they have no handling just power

  • Guest

    Another Muscle Guy thinking his cheap american made is the equivalent to an italian sports car. LOL 

  • Rae67

    American cars..all scrap no handling..really?? Although I agree that many..maybe most American sports cars don’t handle as well as Euro or Japanese cars, that generalization is a huge overreach. The example of this is the Corvette. Ok, well..as I struggle try to find another example your point is I guess made.. But the snotty way you put it rubbed me the wrong way.. Even the Mustang with its lack of an independent rear suspension isn’t scrap. In fact as a whole the selection of cars made and sold in America blows away the selection offered in any other country in terms of affordable quality. For example..Italy is home to some of the finest vehicles in the world but all of the affordable Italian cars suck..horribly. That’s pretty much the same story across the globe. Another great example of American quality..Jaguar was really dragging the bottom when Ford bought them and brilliantly kept the integrity of the brand and reinstalled the quality Jag was known for but had lost..

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1492864720 Jamie Reusche

    yup any thing that isnt 100hp to 1000lbs is a waste. cars keep getting fatter in the name of “safety”

  • dude

    All of you are retards. The title says top 10 cheapest. All these cars are cheap. Obviously the mustang is the best priced 300 hp car in the list. And to clarify this. You cannot compare many of these cars. Most of them are in different classes anyway.

  • pracefan

    What is really
    despicable here, and so common in automobile forums, is the lack of intelligent remarks and most of you young people can’t even spell. Most of you can’t even afford the lowest price vehicle listed here let alone full coverage insurance. Pull your heads out and get educated before society leaves you behind. I own 3 poor man’s sport cars, a muscle car, a high power turbo Asian car and a luxury high performance sedan. I visit several automobile forums, and it is the poor man’s sport cars forums that are so full of idiotic punks slamming
    each other because you think you have some fantastic knowledge of an automobile
    when all you have really is some really cool verbiage you picked up from your
    little buddies and the forums you try to read. Just a sad example of where our
    society is headed. You should all be very proud of the incredible leaps in
    quality our American auto makers have made on the last 10 years. Yes they have
    had to step up their game and they have done an exceptional job. All power, no
    handling? Prove your point! What type of suspension are you criticizing? Do you
    really know what you are talking about?