10 most powerful cars you can buy for R500,000

How many kW can you get in a new car for under R500,000? The answer is “not too many”.

We discovered this when looking for the most powerful new cars you can buy in South Africa while on a healthy budget of half a million rand.

A few of the usual suspects are there – including the VW Polo GTI and Suzuki Swift Sport – but the rest are family sedans and daily-driver hatchbacks.

The list below details our findings.

It must be noted that we only selected one vehicle from each brand to avoid a small group of manufacturers dominating the list. We also left out SUVs and bakkies – focussing on “cars” only.

Click on the underlined prices to visit TopAuto Car Prices for more information.

Ford Fiesta 1.0T Titanium

• Power – 92kW
• Torque – 170Nm
• Acceleration (0-100km/h) – 9.9 seconds
• Price – R362,500

Peugeot 208 1.2T Allure Auto

• Power – 96kW
• Torque – 230Nm
• Acceleration (0-100km/h) – 8.8 seconds
• Price – R379,900

Mini Cooper Hatch

• Power – 100kW
• Torque – 220Nm
• Acceleration (0-100km/h) – 8.1 seconds
• Price – R489,654

Suzuki Swift 1.4T Sport

• Power – 103kW
• Torque – 230Nm
• Acceleration (0-100km/h) – 8.0 seconds
• Price – R349,900

Honda Civic Sedan 1.8 Comfort

• Power – 104kW
• Torque – 174Nm
• Acceleration (0-100km/h) – 10.1 seconds
• Price – R419,500

Subaru Impreza 2.0i

• Power – 115kW
• Torque – 196Nm
• Acceleration (0-100km/h) – 9.8 seconds
• Price – R422,000

Abarth 595 Turismo 1.4T

• Power – 121kW
• Torque – 206Nm
• Acceleration (0-100km/h) – 7.3 seconds
• Price – R402,569

Mazda 3 2.0 Astina

• Power – 121kW
• Torque – 213Nm
• Acceleration (0-100km/h) – 8.0 seconds
• Price – R499,700

Toyota Corolla 2.0 XR

• Power – 125kW
• Torque – 200Nm
• Acceleration (0-100km/h) – 8.0 seconds
• Price – R446,300

Alfa Romeo Giulietta 1.4T

• Power – 125kW
• Torque – 250Nm
• Acceleration (0-100km/h) – 7.7 seconds
• Price – R409,900

VW Polo GTI

• Power – 147kW
• Torque – 320Nm
• Acceleration (0-100km/h) – 6.7 seconds
• Price – R453,700