USED PERFORMANCE BARGAINS: HOW TO BAG 500BHP FOR LESS

There's a surprising number of high-powered cars on the used market. Richard Bremner works out which give you the most bang for your buck

- Richard Bremner

Jaguar XFR

We found... Power 503bhp Price £18,495 Year 2009 Mileage 36,000

Much the same money as the identically powered XKR (above) but with four doors and a more modern dash and infotainment system. Rare but very capable. This one has very low mileage and has a substantial history. Reliable and its few weak bits are inexpensive to fix.

This is about shopping for raw power. It's amazing just how many horses can gallop into your life for less than £10,000, never mind £20,000 or £50,000. And they come in a wide range of bodystyles.

Given that we're going mad for power, we aren't looking at anything with less than 500bhp under the lid. You might think that's limiting, but no: at the time of writing, Autotrader is listing 9739 cars above that mark, the most expensive of them a £1,399,000 McLaren P1. But to keep things slightly more realistic, our upper limit here is £250,000 - which still leaves 9241 cars to choose from.

We haven't always picked the cheapest examples, but the least expensive that looks as though it might be a safe used buy. In this arena, of course plenty of risk-minimising research, inspecting and testing are required.

Additionally, many of the pricier cars here will have extended manufacturer warranties and fixed-price servicing packages to reduce some of the running cost sting. These are worth seeking out.

Audi RS6 Avant

We found... Power 580bhp Price £17,989 Year 2008