If you’re looking for a serious driving tool then the Porsche 718 Cayman is impossible to overlook. Okay, so it’s not a cheap car, but the fact that it’s better to drive than models costing twice as much (and more) means it really does offer excellent value if you want a serious driving machine.

Like an F1 car, the Cayman is mid-engined, which gives it superb balance in corners. It’ll grip hard as you go into bends and has excellent traction when you power out of them. Meanwhile, the suspension delivers the perfect balance of everyday comfort and sports car agility. To get the full Porsche experience, you’ll want to choose either the GTS or GT4 versions, which have a magical flat-six engine note that the punchy four-cylinder models can’t match.

Whichever version you go for, the Porsche feels beautifully built inside and is surprisingly practical, boasting both a front- and a rear boot.

The Mazda MX-5 offers you more bang-for-buck than any other car on this list, with examples of the current model starting from around £10,000.

That buys you a pretty little sports car with a choice of rorty, free-revving petrol engines. Its steering is quick, the gear shift is slick and the Mazda’s rear-wheel-drive setup means you can nudge the back end out on slow corners. In a word, it’s fun. Lots and lots of fun.

Yet it's also surprisingly practical (within the constraints of being a two-seater sports car, anyway). Its boot will happily swallow a large soft bag, it’s manual soft-top roof works a treat (and is one less thing to break), it doesn’t cost the earth to run and it’ll be reliable. We like it a lot.

Hot hatches mix the everyday practicality of a family hatchback with the performance of a sports car and the Ford Fiesta ST is one of the best examples there is.

Its 200PS 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine delivers serious punch in combination with an exhaust note that has more crackles and pops than a giant’s bowl of Rice Krispies. The Fiesta’s steering is pin-sharp and body control is excellent. Go for the optional Performance Pack and you also get a limited-slip differential that lets the ST power out of corners like the front tyres have sprouted claws.

When it’s all said and done, though, this is still a Fiesta. So it’s relatively frugal on fuel, has space for four adults and a boot that’ll swallow a couple of suitcases.

If you’re talking about cars that are fun to drive then you can’t not talk about the Volkswagen Golf GTI. No other car gets the blend of fun and usability quite so right. 

The recipe is simple: take a standard Golf, give it sportier looks inside and out, fit it with stiffer suspension, bigger brakes and, a more powerful (245PS) engine and, eh voila, you have a Golf GTI. For the MK7 model, Volkswagen focussed less on straight-line performance and more on making the GTI fun-to-drive in corners.

This being a Golf, the GTI looks calm and understated on the outside, is practical and feels beautifully built on the inside. The MK7 Golf GTI is arguably just as good as the latest MK8 version, yet costs considerably less on the used car market

Where hot hatches like the Ford Fiesta ST and Volkswagen Golf GTI are essentially bog-standard hatchbacks with more power and a slightly stiffer suspension, the Toyota GR Yaris is different. This is a car engineered from the ground up to be a rally car, and a small number of production versions are sold to the public in order to comply with racing homologation rules. That means you're getting genuine motorsport engineering and pedigree, but for a knock-down price. It might look vaguely like a regular Yaris, but it couldn't be more different.

And that becomes instantly apparent the very second you pull away in the GR Yaris. The urgency and accuracy with which it goes, turns and stops has to be felt to be believed, and whether you're taking it easy or driving like your hair is on fire, the car is an incredible amount of fun.

Honda's Type R badge has been worn by some fairly game-changing machinery over the years, none of them more game-changing than the latest version. Trust us, this car is simply wonderful.

As well it should be given that it has a pricetag that's frankly ludicrous for a mid-size Honda (it's pricey enough to make BMW buyers wince), but that's forgotten the very second the wheels start turning. The sensational turbocharged engine throws out huge power and a soul-stirring soundtrack, while corners are devoured with electrifyingly fast responses and the sort of precision that'd make a Swiss watchmaker feel inadequate.

And when you've finished being an idiot for the day, simply switch the car to Comfort mode and enjoy a nice relaxing ride home. Throw in a roomy and practical cabin with a plush finish and lots of standard kit, and that price starts to feel even more justified.

Cars that are fun to drive don’t need to be silly sports cars: you could go for a silly estate instead. And they don’t come much sillier than the Mercedes-AMG E 63 S 4Matic+ Estate, to give it its full name. 

Like any other E-Class Estate of this vintage, the E 63 has loads of passenger space for four and a truly enormous boot. Unlike any other E-Class, though, it also has a 612PS, twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 that can catapult the car from 0-62mph in just 3.5 seconds. That’s nearly a second quicker than a Porsche 911 sports car. Factor in a four-wheel-drive system that can revert to two-wheel drive when you’re in the mood to be stoopid, and the Mercedes can teach anyone a thing or two about having fun.

It’s the Mercedes' adjustability that gives it real depth, though: you can transform it from a NASCAR-like super-estate to a cosseting cruiser with a few adjustments of the car’s drive selector.

If you love cars there’s a good chance you love (or at least try to love) Alfa Romeos. That's often not easy because the Italian firm has produced some right rotters over the past years, unbefitting of Alfa’s inaugural Grand Prix-winning heritage. 

Thankfully, the Giulia Quadrifoglio is not one of them. Alfa’s taken the stunning Giulia, added visual muscle and plopped a Ferrari-derived twin-turbocharged 510PS V6 into the engine bay. The results are stunning. The car gets from 0-62mph in 3.9 seconds and maxes out at an unbelievable 191mph. Perhaps more surprising, given Afla’s shaky recent reputation, the Giulia is also great fun in corners, with pin-sharp steering and excellent body control. 

But you get all this in a practical Giulia body. So, it has room for four people, a big boot and a sporty cabin that mirrors the stylish exterior.

Fun cars don’t need to be expensive and the Up GTI is a perfect example of this.

It only has a 115PS 1.0-litre petrol engine, but in a car that weighs less than 1000kgs, that’s enough to give the Up decent acceleration (0-62mph in 8.8 seconds) and a sound akin to a baby Porsche 911 demanding a nappy change. It’s brilliant for squirting through town, but can also gobble up bendy country roads ravenously. And it’ll do all this while returning excellent fuel economy.

It looks the business thanks to its smart alloy wheels, GTI badges and red exterior trim, while inside you get trademark tartan GTI seats and a flat-bottomed steering wheel. All this is in addition to the standard Up’s ability to offer excellent build quality and a surprising amount of interior space for a car this tiny.

A mammoth SUV on a list of the best cars that are fun to drive? Something must be wrong…

You’d think that, but one of the Porsche Cayenne’s best qualities is its ability to surprise. You see, this hulking great SUV has an unerring ability to shrink around you in corners, like a jumbo-sized hot hatch. Its steering is quick and accurate, it doesn’t lean much in corners, it has boatloads of grip and even the 340PS basic model is quick.

When it comes to practicality, not much will beat a Cayenne. It has acres of room for four people, the boot is massive and you get a posh interior that (if you venture onto the pricey options list) is laden with tech. SUVs can be fun to drive and the Cayenne is proof of this.