4 Door Sports Cars: The Best of the Best

Just because you want a car capable of a little fun shouldn’t lock you into the two-door crowd.

Whether it’s for fitting the occasional child seat or having friends along for the ride, a four-door car is just more practical, more of the time. Thankfully, many automakers are speaking the same language, with a variety of sedans imbued with engaging dynamics and serious straight-line speed.

Best of all, there’s an option in nearly every price and size segment, so you’re spoiled for choices. Here are the 10 best four-door sports cars* on the market.

* – While Nissan created this term for the original Maxima, that big-boned sedan doesn’t fit in this list. It’s still one of the most affordable ways into 300 horsepower.

Honda recently refreshed the Civic, and that of course meant a new Si. New for 2022, the current model drops the coupe shape, coming exclusively as a four-door sedan. Speaking of exclusivity, you’re still looking at a sweet-shifting six-speed manual as the only transmission choice. A torquey turbocharged 1.5-liter sends its 200 hp and 192 lb-ft to the front wheels. Upgrades include rev-matching plucked from the outgoing Civic Type R, and the same great high-quality interior found in all 10th-gen Civics. All this can be yours for just $28,315 ($34,850 CAD), including destination.

You say you want a little more four-season fun than the front-drive Civic? How about the Subaru WRX? Like the Honda, the Subaru saw a complete changeover for 2022, adopting a new platform with a vastly improved interior. Under the hood scoop lies a 2.4-liter Boxer-four turbo engine, now producing 271 hp. You’ve got the option of either a six-speed manual, or a—for the first time—a continuously variable transmission. Subaru’s iconic all-wheel drive system is of course standard. Pricing isn’t available at the time of writing, but we expect the WRX to kick off around $30,000 ($35,000 CAD) before destination.

Nissan might have abandoned the 4 Door Sports Car recipe, but Toyota is out here following the instructions. Take your everyday sedan, drop in a powerful V6 (301 horsepower), add stiffer suspension and cool wheels, then whisk until redline. The Camry is the last of the mid-sized V6-powered mainstream sedans, deceptively quick in a straight line, and surprisingly fun down your nearest backroad. It’s also a bit of a performance bargain, coming in at $33,385 ($38,590 CAD).

With the Honda Civic Type R between generations, we look to Hyundai for a wild front-driver at a reasonable price. The Elantra N packs a muscular 2.0-liter turbocharged engine behind its blacked-out front bumper, pumping out 276 horsepower and 290 lb-ft of torque. A six-speed manual is standard, but buyers also have the choice of an eight-speed dual-clutch setup. With grip for days and a playful handling balance, the Elantra N feels right at home on the race track—we know, because that’s where we first drove it.

Some would argue the BMW 3 Series was the paragon of luxury compact sport sedanness for decades. We’re inclined to agree—and the Genesis G70 refined the formula. The G70 takes a sweet-steering, rear-drive chassis and pair of powerful turbocharged engines, and wraps it all in a stylish suit. The slow-selling manual transmission option was dropped as part of the 2022 redesign, but don’t worry: the eight-speed auto is a good one. AWD is also available, if you live in an area that sees the white stuff on the ground for much of the year. Inside, the G70 is well-equipped, with excellent quilted leather seats that are comfortable and supportive.

Genesis might have built a better 3 Series, but only BMW can produce an M3. The newest car might have a, er, challenging front-end design, but there’s no arguing with the hardware. A 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-six remains on duty, producing 473 hp, or 503 if you check the Competition box. Speccing the latter balloons the torque figure from 406 to 479 lb-ft too, and opens up the option of AWD—a first for the M3 and M4. Stick to the base engine and you’ve got access to a six-speed manual transmission, too. Personally, we’d go for the sedan over the coupe, not just for practical considerations: it looks better. Prices start around $75,000 ($90,000 CAD).

Okay, you like the size of the M3, but you want something a little more playful. A little more sensual. You want something Italian. Well, Alfa Romeo has just the ticket in its Giulia Quadrifoglio. Knee-wobblingly pretty, the Giulia features a Ferrari-built 2.9-liter V6, producing 505 horsepower and a sound you want to bottle and sell. There’s no manual transmission on offer here, but the cool aluminum shifter paddles are tactile delights, and auto ‘box whips through shifts as fast as you can pull the right-side one. This is the sedan with the heart—and soul—of a supercar.

We’re getting up into the heavyweights now. No other internal combustion sedan comes bigger or hits harder than the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing. With the 6.2-liter supercharged V8 out of the last Corvette Z06, this Caddy bruiser puts down a huge 668 hp and 659 lb-ft of torque. No AWD safety net here, though you do get the option of a 10-speed auto or six-speed manual. Even with all that power, the Blackwing is an approachable sport sedan, with the necessary sharp reflexes to make the most of that prodigious power. If you want one, you’ll want to act quick, as Cadillac has confirmed these will be the last purely gas-powered V models. Prices start from $84,990 ($89,898 CAD).

Who says four-doors need to have giant engines? Maybe you’d rather them have giant batteries instead? We’re big fans of Porsche’s all-electric Taycan here at AutoGuide. The lithe four-door ranges from reasonably quick to searingly so. The EPA quotes its single-charge range around the 200 mile mark, but we’ve regularly extended that on every one of our drives. Inside, you’ll find that traditional Porsche driving position, with a curved glass digital instrument panel instead of analog dials. Best of all, Porsche now offers the Taycan in a long-roof Cross Turismo and Sport Turismo form, for when you want more storage space. The basic rear-drive Taycan starts from $84,050 and stretches to well over double that for a Turbo S.

If you want to believe the Mercedes marketing team, the GT 4-Door Coupe is AMG’s delicious GT coupe with an extra set of doors. It isn’t: this is yet another permutation of the E-Class, like the CLS before it. That’s okay though: the E-Class is one of the best mid-size sedans out there, and the GT4DC wraps it in a stylish notchback shape. Powerplants include variations of the smooth turbocharged inline-six in GT 43 and GT 53 guises. Later in 2022, AMG will unleash a plug-in hybrid version dubbed—deep breath—Mercedes-AMG GT 73 E Performance. With the rip-snorting turbo V8 and plug-in power, this top-trim GT will produce a bahn-storming 805 hp. Hold on tight!