The Best Performance Cars of 2016 Under $30,000

(Credit: © Nissan)

4. Nissan 370Z

Sure, the 370Z is about as dated a sports car as you can get in 2016, but it remains under our $30k mark at $29,990 and delivers tons of smiles. Its 3.7-liter V-6 is ancient, but still plenty potent at 332 horsepower and 270 pound-feet of twist. To meet our pricing requirements, you can only go with the standard six-cog manual with SynchroRev Match. With this setup, the Z is plenty quick at 5.3 seconds to 60 mph and it is still one of the best handlers in its price range.

The downside to the 370Z is that this will put you in the base of all base models with no cash for options. In a base sports car that hasn’t seen many tech advancements in the past few years, you may find yourself searching for your too-small Ed Hardy jeans to feel in tune with its circa-2010 features.