There are different types of car owners in the world. Some like to be bold and showy and flaunt the hard-earned fruits of their labor by driving cars that grab the attention of others, such as two-door sports cars.
Other car owners prefer to be cautious and drive inconspicuous cars that look like typical everyday cars that blend in with the traffic, like a chameleon. But once the road opens, some might actually drive past a sports car like you’ve never seen before, and we call them sleeper cars. It’s all about fun performance cars that don’t look like them, and here’s a rundown of the best.
10 New sleeper: Toyota Camry V6
Via motor1.com
Toyota’s midsize Camry sedan has been a popular choice as a daily driver and executive carrier because of its luxurious features and good fuel economy. For some, the car is a step closer to Lexus territory, bridging the gap between the Corolla compact sedan and the full-size Lexus GS.
Via carscoops.com
That being said, there’s the XSE variant of the Camry, which looks very similar to the four-cylinder turbo models, but has a 3.5-liter V6 engine with 301 horsepower that offers bubbly acceleration and speeds from 0 to 60 mph in a quick 5.8 seconds.
9 Classic sleeper: Mazdaspeed 6
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The Mazda 6 competes in the Japanese mid-size sedan segment with the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. And judging by its appearance, nothing can be called spectacular or even sporty.
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Therefore, when the Mazdaspeed 6 was introduced in 2005, nobody thought that this car would have all-wheel drive, a 274 hp in-line four-cylinder turbo engine and only a manual six-speed version. It’s shockingly fast considering how boring it looks. Only the Impreza STi and Lancer Evo come to mind when it comes to sedans that boast more than 270 horsepower, all-wheel drive and turbo-charged four-bangers.
8th New sleeper: Audi S8
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You may be wondering why Frank Martin, Jason Statham’s character in The Transporter, preferred full size sedans to get his job done, and that’s because it’s the perfect disguise for secret criminal work. If you drive the Audi S8 in a suit, you won’t be mistaken for something illegal because of the looks of the executive sedan.
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Of course, we’re not encouraging you to do anything criminal, we just want to say that the S8 is a brilliant sleeper. It has a 560 horsepower 4.0 liter twin turbo V8 engine that allows you to go from 0 to 62 mph in luxury in just 3.8 seconds and a top speed limited to 155 mph. In other words, this is a luxury executive type freeway cruiser.
7th Classic sleeper: Audi RS2 Avant
netcarshow.com
The Audi RS2, introduced in 1994, brought the genre for performance-oriented haulers to life. This is the result of the collaboration between Audi and Porsche, a 2.2-liter five-cylinder all-wheel drive station wagon with a turbo charger and 315 hp.
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Its design elements were a nod to the 911, such as the clubsport-style wheels, 993-style exterior mirrors and front bumper, as well as the strip of light that wraps around the rear end of the RS2 Avant.
6th New sleeper: Volvo S60 Polestar
Via carpixel.net
Volvo vehicles are considered to be one of the safest vehicles in the world. They are pioneering the use of seat belts, which they openly patented so that other automakers can follow suit, and are saving so many lives.
Via carpixel.net
The S60 Polestar looks just like any other S60 on the road. The difference is that the Polestar, with its 2.0-liter, four-cylinder, turbocharged engine at the front and a small electric motor at the rear, has 400 hp and the car can sprint from standstill to 62 MPH in just 4.4 seconds. It’s a premium sedan with a very cool party trick.
5 Classic sleeping car: Volvo V70 R.
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Volvo’s V70R provided extra speed without the necessary attention, as the all-wheel-drive station wagon packed a 2.5-liter five-cylinder with a turbocharger and 300 hp and two intercoolers.
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The Swedish sports car, which was manufactured from 2004 to 2007, flew under the radar as it should be. And there are only 3,407 examples of it, so it’s difficult to find flawless examples of it these days.
4th New sleeper: Volkswagen Golf R.
Via: Volkswagen
Pair the Volkswagen Golf R with the hot hatch Honda Civic Type R and let a person who doesn’t like a car decide whether the former can keep up with the racy Japanese hatchback. Chances are, that person probably doesn’t think this car could. But it can.
Via: YouTube
With 315 hp from its 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with turbocharger and all-wheel drive, the Volkswagen Golf R is the most powerful Golf model. Additionally, the Civic Type R gets better if you go for the performance package, which includes a drift mode that allows the stern to slide, which the Japanese hot front-wheel drive hatch can’t.
3 Classic sleeper: Mercedes-Benz 500E AMG
Via: CarScoops
In the early 1990s, Mercedes-Benz had a crazy idea. They wanted to install the 5.0-liter V8 engine from the SL-Class in an E-Class sedan. Given the differences in size of these cars, Mercedes had to enlist the help of Porsche to find a way to make this possible.
Via pinterest.com
The result was the Mercedes-Benz 500E. From an untrained look you can’t really tell the difference between the regular E-Class and this beast, only the widened fenders would indicate that it is now a medium-sized sedan car with 320 hp.
2 New sleeper: Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk
Via: Motor1
Remove all Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk badges and park along with a number of standard Grand Cherokees. You cannot then tell which one is the Hellcat-powered one. That’s how sleepy the Trackhawk is.
Via: Motor1
Calling this car a wolf in sheep’s clothing is an understatement, as it comes on tap with 707 horsepower and powers the 2.4 ton vehicle for a quarter mile of 11 seconds and could reach a top speed of 180 mph. Basically, this is a car that can compete with the Lamborghini Urus and cost more than half the price of the Italian super SUV.
1 Classic sleeper: Subaru Forester 2.5 XT
via: bring a trailer
Basically, when the forester came out, he was an Impreza on stilts. It had the same engine, the same all-wheel drive system and the same substructures, was about 20 cm higher and had an additional D-pillar.
via pinterest
Sharing the platform with its rally-bred brother meant there was also some sort of STi version that had the same 2.5-liter turbo, quadruple EJ25 engine, albeit a 227 horsepower.
About the author
Jan Lacuna
(45 articles published)
Jan Lacuna is an engineer, car enthusiast, sim racer and racing driver from the Philippines and now works as a writer for HotCars.com. He writes about racing, new sports cars and the latest developments in the automotive industry.
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