The best coupés for 2025
Coupés are the do-anything performance cars. They have sporty two-door looks that tell everyone else the need for practicality unburdens you, but they often have four roomy seats and a boot big enough for holidays. And they strike a similar balance in terms of driving – comfy enough for the everyday, sporty enough to be fun on bendy roads and fast enough to see off the young pretender in their hot hatch. There have been some excellent new coupés to hit the market, so let's get to it – these are the best coupés to buy in 2025.
Aston Martin Vanquish
Aston Martin's on a roll at the moment. Lawrence Stroll's investment has breathed new life into the company with a flurry of new models and plenty more on the way. By all accounts, the new Vanquish is one of the best Astons ever built, with new looks, a superb interior and more power. No one said the 725PS (533kW) DBS Superleggera was a ditherer, but with 835PS (614kW) on tap – courtesy of its British-built twin-turbocharged V12 – the Vanquish is in another league.
Performance has never been an Aston Martin problem, but dynamically, they were often found wanting, unable to match cars half the price, let alone the same-price competition. But this is no longer a problem for the Vanquish, which can be a comfortable cruiser or, at the flick of a few, an unhinged performance machine.
BMW M2
The new BMW M2 is like a metaphor for all of the latest performance BMWs – it looks garish and is heavy on paper, but somehow the chassis hides the heft so well you'll be willing to overlook the odd gap-toothed grille design. More than ever, the M2 is a scaled-down M3 with exotic suspension parts, differentials, brakes and stability programs – and many other bits you won't know about – that take this car several rungs above the standard 2 Series on the specialness ladder.
Even the engine has been nicked from the M3, meaning it's a slightly detuned turbocharged straight-six barking out 480PS (353kW) for 0-62mph in 4.2 seconds and 155mph flat out. And, as the M3 is only available with all-wheel drive and an automatic gearbox, the manual, rear-wheel drive M2 can carve itself a niche as the performance BMW for purists.
Aston Martin Vantage
Now the Vanquish has arrived, the Vantage makes a lot more sense. The Vanquish playing the role of a multi-personality GT car leaves the way clear for the Vantage to be a more sporting GT with an agile short wheelbase and a lockdown, hard-riding chassis. The Vantage has all the things we're rapidly coming to expect of a new Aston Martin. Its interior is a beautiful mixture of excellent materials and glassy, slick infotainment screens but with just the right number of conventional buttons (this is something many cars could learn from), while the exterior is a fabulously judged mixture of beauty and aggression.
It will look even better if you're mechanically minded because the new Vantage that can take on the likes of Porsche without fear or favour. Sure, it might not have the incisiveness of the 911, but it gets pretty close, and we'd wager you'll think the front-engine setup is a price worth paying once you've sampled the performance of this 656PS (482kW) super coupé.
Mercedes CLE
When Mercedes set about replacing its C and E-Class coupés, it asked its customers exactly what they wanted from the new models. And the answer was… don't build either. C-Class owners found their two doors too cramped on the inside, while those with an E-Class wanted a car that was nimbler and easier to park, which is how we end up here looking at the Frankenstein CLE – which splits the two in terms of size.
But that's about where the Frankenstein analogies end because the CLE is a pretty-looking machine. Those owners knew what they were talking about because the Merc has perfect dimensions for a four-seater. That gets the practical stuff out of the way because everything else is just sheer luxury, from its beautiful interior touches to its pillow-soft air suspension and lusty six-cylinder engine. It's the kind of car you sling your luggage in and head to Monaco on a whim in style, which is what big plush coupé should be all about.
BMW M4 Series
The moment we saw the latest BMW M4 in the flesh, we all forgot about our protestations about its nose, because it looks fine. Then we drove it and realised it was a pretty trifling issue considering how good the car itself it. With lots of power on tap and a rear-wheel-drive version available the new M4 can be as fun as you want it to be.
There's an adjustable traction control system with ten (count them) different settings so you can configure how lairy the car is pretty much to your hearts content.
Ford Mustang
While European coupés trade on an air of sophistication, their American equivalents offer earthier charms. Over here the agility and practicality of a hot hatch suits our roads and tastes, but Stateside drivers have the room to appreciate the option of V8 Camaro or Mustang for Golf GTI money.
Half a century, on Ford has taken the plunge and decided the Mustang is big enough for a larger stage and it’s now got the handling, tech and manners to appeal to a global audience. It’s still got that essential big-hearted, all-American charm though and, if not quite the bargain it is back home, offers huge bang for buck, especially in V8 GT form.
Lexus LC
Back when motor shows were a thing, there was always a sleek coupé concept on the Lexus stand boasting style notably absent in the products you could actually buy. Finally, the production LC coupé realised that dream. After decades of deference to American or European tastes, the LC is among a new wave of cars confidently expressing Japanese design culture – in Lexus’s case, finally making good on the trail blazed by the gorgeous LFA supercar.
The hybrid version of the LC is more faithful to parent company Toyota’s engineering mindset but there’s also a ‘pure’ V8 for a hint of the LFA magic. Such is the quality of execution you could tell people it cost double what it does and they wouldn’t bat an eyelid.
Nissan GT-R
Much as Lexus has with the LC, the Nissan GT-R proudly expresses Japanese design and technical expertise, albeit in a very different way. Melding cultural influences from sci-fi Manga cartoons and videogames with proud motorsport pedigree, the Nissan GT-R is a suitably formidable cocktail of brutal performance and unapologetic looks.
A traditional coupé in proportions and layout, it otherwise defies expectation with performance to trouble supercars costing two or three times as much, even after a decade-plus on sale. Part muscle car, part sportscar, the GT-R is a complicated coupé full of contradictions but deserving of its towering reputation.
Bentley Continental GT
Under Volkswagen ownership, Bentley has had the freedom to reinvent itself from crusty and eccentric builder of upper-class muscle cars into a sophisticated, modern luxury brand. Wisely, a whiff of those traditions has been maintained throughout, explaining how, for all the traditional leather’n’walnut trappings, Bentleys are still popular with what snobbier types might consider ‘the wrong sort’ of buyer.
If that means they appeal to a younger audience of upwardly mobile, cash-rich buyers then who’s to fault Bentley for catering to their needs. And, while the first Continental GT perhaps lacked a little elegance, this one smooths off the rough edges and strikes a perfect balance between class and swagger.
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