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Compare the best fast family cars

High quality family sports cars from rated and reviewed dealers

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Rated 4.6/5 from 49,181 reviews
blue volkswagen golf r driving

Fastest family cars of 2024

Have your kids got strong stomachs? They’ll need them, as the performance of these fast family cars can turn their stomachs inside-out. It’s not so hard to find the UK’s best family sports cars that mix practicality with punch, it’s more that it’s hard on your family’s nausea levels…

BMW M3

1. BMW M3

9/10
BMW M3 review
It might be ugly on the outside (although it’s somehow more handsome than the M4 Coupe) but the mighty M3 has beautiful performance that’s more than skin-deep. 510hp punch (with or without four-wheel drive) makes this one of the quickest saloons point-to-point, and you still get a decent 495-litre boot. Better yet, there’s a practical M3 Touring estate coming…
Porsche Taycan

2. Porsche Taycan

9/10
Porsche Taycan review
Battery range up to 273 miles
The Taycan’s party trick is two-fold — it can accelerate to 62mph faster than most people can think (2.8secs for the 751hp Turbo S) but can also charge its battery almost as quickly, adding 170 miles of range in just 17 minutes from a rapid charger. The rear seats are a little bit small, but there’s the option of the more practical Sport Turismo and Cross Turismo estate versions.
Mercedes AMG E63 S Estate

3. Mercedes-AMG E63 Estate

9/10
Mercedes AMG E63 S Estate review
The E63 AMG mixes proper estate car practicality (640-litre boot, enough space for a wardrobe if you fold the back seats down), and family-friendly comfort with a proper Moon-rocket powerplant. It uses the same 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 as the AMG GT sports car, which offers a whopping 612hp in E63 S form. Effectively a race car you can move house with.
Audi RS6 Avant

4. Audi RS6

9/10
Audi RS6 Avant review
The powerhouse RS6 gets the same front styling as the A7 coupe, so it’s arguably the best-looking Audi A6 model. More importantly, it also gets a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 that’s shared with Porsche, Bentley, and Lamborghini and can hurl you, your kids, and your ‘big shop’ to 62mph in just 3.6secs. In the wet, thanks to quattro four-wheel drive, pretty much nothing is faster and safer at the same time.
Audi RS3

5. Audi RS3

9/10
Audi RS3 review
Want to give your family the full 1980s Audi rally experience on the way home from school? Well, assuming there’s a gravel road running to the door, you can with the RS3. Its 400hp five-cylinder 2.5-litre engine sounds just like the original Audi Quattro rally car’s, so you can pretend to be Michelle Mouton on the way to the shops. Pick from four-door saloon or five-door hatchback bodies.
Mercedes AMG A45

6. Mercedes-AMG A45 S

9/10
Mercedes AMG A45 review
If the Audi RS3 is a little bit crazy, then the AMG A45 S is utterly nutty — Merc has squeezed 415hp from a 2.0-litre turbo engine, and it’ll propel the big-winged A45 S to 62mph in just 3.9secs. Make sure you pack your shopping carefully…
Volkswagen Golf R

7. Volkswagen Golf R

9/10
Volkswagen Golf R review
Not the powerhouse it once was, the latest Golf R still deploys 320hp and feels faster and more biddable than the rather-too-gentle current Golf GTI. Blue paintwork is practically mandatory, and you should definitely get it with both the useful estate body and the clever active rear diff, which gives you a naughty drift mode…
BMW M5
2024
Most Anticipated New Car
Highly Commended

8. BMW M5

8/10
BMW M5 review
Long since the high priest of performance saloons, the M5 is still a furious race car trapped in an executive suit. Standard ‘Competition’ version is packing 625hp and selectable four-wheel drive (you can switch it into rear-drive if you’re feeling lucky) but the one to have is the M5 CS, which comes with more carbon-fibre, less weight, a better chassis setup, and evocative yellow headlights. The best M5 ever? Maybe…
Audi e-tron GT

9. Audi e-tron GT

8/10
Audi e-tron GT review
Battery range up to 305 miles
Basically a Porsche in an Audi suit, the e-tron GT is arguably better looking than its cousin from Stuttgart. Uses the same electric motors and battery, so you should get 250 miles out of a charge. Hot RS version get 650hp and staggering acceleration, but why is there no Avant estate model?
Audi SQ7

10. Audi SQ7

6/10
Audi SQ7 review
Here’s how to move seven people with maximum drama. Take the big and hefty Audi Q7, and mix in the 4.0-litre turbo V8 from the RS6. It may be down-tuned to ‘only’ 500hp, but that’s still good enough for a 4.1sec 0-62mph time, all with a thrilling V8 soundtrack. Just watch the fuel economy, is all…

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Advice about fast family cars

Fast family cars FAQs

If you’re really looking to save some pennies, but still want a fun family car, try a Suzuki Swift Sport. It only has 129hp, but then again it only costs £22,570 and it’s really enjoyable (if not especially refined) to drive. Want something pokier, and more practical? Look no further than the Skoda Octavia vRS Estate — loads of space, a 245hp turbo petrol engine, and agile handling all for £34,860.

It’s debatable as to whether the Porsche Panamera Turbo S is truly a family car — what family is going to spend £138,000 on a car? — but with four seats and a decent boot, it pretty much counts. And it’ll do 196mph flat-out.

Step forward the BMW M5 CS. Thanks to a combination of 625hp and four-wheel drive, the CS will get the whole family to 62mph in just 2.9secs, almost as fast as the more powerful, electric, Porsche Taycan Turbo S.

Almost all of the cars in our top ten are four-wheel drive. The standard BMW M3 does come with rear-wheel drive, but there is the option of fitting it with xDrive four-wheel drive if you fancy a bit more all-weather ability. The BMW M5 also has switchable four-wheel drive, so you can lock it into rear-wheel drive mode if you’re feeling really brave. As electric cars take over, four-wheel drive is going to become pretty much standard for high-performance cars, as the easiest way to add more power is to bolt in another electric motor…

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