5 Slow Cars That Sound Awesome

Right now, cars with any more than four cylinders under the bonnet are getting pushed to the premium end of the spectrum.

Want something with five-cylinders that belongs to the VW Group? Unless you’re stateside, it’ll have to the be the super-expensive Audi TT RS. Or how about a six-cylinder BMW 3-series? Sorry, it’ll have to be the top-of-the-range 340i if we’re talking about petrols, or the 3-series’ M3 cousin. I could go on all day, but you get the idea.

Rewind to a few years ago though, and many cylindered engines were stuffed under bonnets right up and down the pecking order, meaning you could grab yourself a sweet sounding car that actually wasn’t all that quick.

Happily, the used market is awash with these kind of cars, so if you want something cheap and awesome sounding but aren’t too worried about mega acceleration - and like the idea of slapping on a louder exhaust - there’s plenty of choice.

Seat Toledo V5

I actually used to own one of these, and other than the absurd amount of equipment you can get for a pathetically low price, the big draw was the five-cylinder engine.

The 2.3-litre unit was created by removing a cylinder from VW’s old 2.9-litre VR6 lump, so it’s not a true V engine: it’s essentially an inline-five with slightly angled and staggered cylinders, all sharing the same block.

With 170bhp to its name it’s sure as hell not fast, but as demonstrated by this video of the VW Golf V5 - which has the same engine - it sounds pretty damn sweet, especially with a louder exhaust.

£1000 will buy you either.

BMW E36 320i

It’s getting quite hard to find a cheap 328i now - many have been turn into drift bitches, and the cleaner examples are going up in value rather swiftly.

But if you’re content with the mere 150bhp offered by the 320i, which gets you from 0-62mph in a leisurely 9.8 seconds, there are some real bargains to be had.

Fiat Stilo Abarth

The Stilo really wasn’t Fiat’s finest hour, and the Abarth version was - and still is - an affront to the famous Scorpion badge with the pithy 170bhp output from its 2.4-litre inline-five.

I’d have never dreamed of recommending one a few years ago, but when you can pick one up for around £1000, suddenly they become a whole lot more tempting.

Lexus LS400

With early Lexus LS400s putting out around 250bhp and getting from 0-62mph in 8.5 seconds, these OAP-friendly barges aren’t exactly super saloon sleepers. However, mess about with the exhaust a little, and that 1UZ-FE 4.0-litre V8 belts out a delicious noise.

Of course, you also have the option of welding the diff and creating a budget drift machine. And we mean budget: you can pick up one for as little as £1000, although perhaps not for long - these big waftmobiles have future classic potential written all over them.

Mazda MX-3

A front-wheel drive coupe with about 130bhp doesn’t sound terribly appealing, but these little Mazdas have one amazing asset: teeny tiny V6 engines.

The MX-3 was available with a 1.8-litre - yes 1.8-litre - V6 engine, making a modest power output but one hell of a noise, especially with aftermarket pipework applied.

These strong, lightweight engines often find themselves transplanted into MX-5s, but if that sounds like a lot of work, why not just buy a standard MX-3? A quick classified search revealed examples starting as low as £750.

What other cheap, slow and awesome sounding rides do you think deserve our attention?