Coupes under $50k

  1. Home /
  2. Best coupes under $50k

Whether you’re just starting to drive or heading into a mid-life crisis, coupes appeal to all of us. Luckily, these days you don’t need to spend big money to enjoy the thrills of the swept-back driving experience.

While you are able to buy a Subaru BRZ or Toyota 86 for less than $40,000, choices start to expand once you’re shopping under the $50,000 so let’s start there.

Toyota 86

It is getting a little long in the tooth, but the Toyota 86/Subaru BRZ combo still offers sports car thrills for an affordable price. Available in manual or automatic with a choice of specification levels, the Toyota 86 has stood the test of time despite external pressure to fill it with extra power.

Mazda MX-5

Mazda MX-5

With the nameplate just celebrating its 30th birthday, there’s small wonder why so many flock to the Mazda MX-5 for an engaging top-down drive. Even if you’re more of a hard-top fan, Mazda now offers the RF version which includes a folding metal roof.

Hyundai i30 Fastback N

A relatively new player to the coupe game, Hyundai’s i30 N was transformed into a four-door coupe following the success of the hatchback. Sleeker styling marries with everything that made Hyundai’s first true hot hatch great

Audi A8
Reviews

First drive: Audi A8

Facelifted Audi A8 brings improvements and performance, at a price

Skoda Rapid
Reviews

First drive: Skoda Rapid

Latest Czech small car fails to hit the mark

BMW M3
Reviews

First drive: BMW M3 & M4

Highly anticipated duo will restore M division’s stellar reputation

GM posts second-biggest loss in operating history
Industry

GM posts second-biggest loss in operating history

The news does not get better from Detroit… Peter McKay reports on the latest figures and losses.

February vehicle sales down 21.9 percent
Industry

February vehicle sales down 21.9 percent

This month’s VFACTS sales figures show more short-term doom and gloom for the local market, but spirits (and sales) should rise by June.

US Mail: The casualties of crisis
Industry

US Mail: The casualties of crisis

Wheels magazine’s US correspondent John Lamm reports from the war zone.

Yaris recall is 45,000-plus cars
Industry

Yaris recall is 45,000-plus cars

Toyota Australia has confirmed that it’s recalling more than 45,000 Yaris sedans and hatchbacks to rectify a potentially dangerous seat belt pretensioner glitch.

New Safety Standards for the European Union
Industry

New Safety Standards for the European Union

EU mandates stability systems and efficient tyres from 2011.

Credit crunch
Industry

Credit crunch

The fractured – nay, broken – American car market has forced Japan’s big four to turn to its government for financial assistance.

Nissan staff 'OK to moonlight'
Industry

Nissan staff ‘OK to moonlight’

More signs of belt-tightening in Japan, with Nissan employees given the green light to moonlight while the company is quiet. Peter Nunn reports from Tokyo.

GM passes on billion dollar loan
Industry

GM passes on billion dollar loan

Cost reduction and cuts across the board allow GM to hold its debt-ridden head up high.

Penny pinching
Industry

Penny pinching

Opel dealers may top up GM’s empty piggy-bank to keep the wheels rolling.

Chery on top
Industry

Chery on top

When Ford puts the last remaining piece of the Premier Automotive Group pie up for auction, it may find Chery is the flavour of choice.

Big cuts for BMW fat cats
Industry

Big cuts for BMW fat cats

The Bavarian carmaker is feeling the economic pinch, and warn employees that job and salary cuts are on the horison.

US Mail: The consequences of GM's actions
Industry

Meltdown in Motown

It was once the engine room of America and the car-building capital of the world. Now Detroit is in danger of stalling … permanently. How did it come to this and what will become of the Big Three?

Toyota City in ruins
Industry

Toyota City in ruins

Inhabitants of Toyota’s home town struggle for work as automotive boom is replaced with economic gloom.

Toyota halves production, shuts manufacturing plants
Industry

Toyota halves production, shuts manufacturing plants

Expecting its first official operating loss in six decades, the automotive superpower has slashed production in Japan and America.

Holden has denied media reports that it is playing “double or nothing” with the Federal Government, demanding another $265 million in funding or else it will abandon local production in three years.
Industry

Holden denies holding Government to ransom

Holden has denied media reports that it is playing “double or nothing” with the Federal Government, demanding another $265 million in funding or else it will abandon local production in three years.

car, industry, slam, changes, fringe, benefits, tax, dire, Holden, Ford
Industry

Car industry slams ‘dire’ tax changes

Another nail has been hammered into the coffin of the Australian motoring industry – and it’s the Federal Government that’s swinging the hammer.

Range Rover, Evoque, Evoke, Holden, Commodore, name
Industry

‘Holden’s Evoke makes me smile,’ says Land Rover boss

Jaguar Land Rover wasn’t angered by Holden’s decision to name its entry level VF Commodore the Evoke — which sounds suspiciously like Land Rover’s hot-selling Evoque. On the contrary, in fact.

Toyota Australia recently announced that it will pour $123 million into its local manufacturing operations as it prepares to build what it says is a major facelift vehicle from 2015.
Industry

Toyota gets behind local industry

Toyota Australia recently announced that it will pour $123 million into its local manufacturing operations as it prepares to build what it says is a major facelift vehicle from 2015.

Australia’s cheapest car, the $9,990 Chery J1, is no more due to safety regulation changes.
Industry

Oz’s cheapest car axed

Australia’s cheapest car, the $9,990 Chery J1, is no more due to safety regulation changes.

Wheels magazine, Ford, Mustang, new, all-new, model, performance, muscle car, Falcon, Australia,
Industry

Report: Holden quits Oz by 2016

Today was supposed to be the day that Holden’s great export hope was launched in the US city of Palm Springs.

Wheels magazine, Ford, Mustang, new, all-new, model, performance, muscle car, Falcon, Australia,
Industry

D Day for Holden

Today is D Day for Holden with reports swirling the embattled company’s boss, Mike Devereux, is this morning appearing before the government’s Productivity Commission and could use the occasion to announce the company’s withdrawal.