Market Watch: Buy These Brilliant Value Performance Cars In Singapore Today

Recent announcements for us drivers did not make for pleasant reading - red light cameras that double as speed traps should ensure safer roads for all, but we can’t help but assume that this will exponentially increase anxiety levels, too. The new On-Board Unit / OBU has started installation phases, and it’s yet to be seen how well we can tune to this additional hardware in an age where one screen in the car does, literally, everything.

Cat A COE rules were more lenient before 2013

Although it seemed like the tide has only recently turned to favour cars engineered for the sole duty of transportation, we were faced with a similar situation in 2012, where cars with more than 130hp were squeezed out of the more “affordable” Category A COE bracket. That meant brands were nudged to bring in more family-friendly compacts, pushing performance down priority lists in place of more comfort, space and gadgets.

We won’t see these cars made the way they were again - not only due to the electric revolution or stricter safety regulations, but they were gradually priced out of the local market, till a price point where it made purchasing larger, more luxurious cars more logical, pound for pound. These cars have been through one full cycle of COE, alongside fellow newer Cat A-eligible cars with much less power. Grab them while we still can, before the pendulum swings again.

Larger capacity cars had room to thrive, too

Engine downsizing was a norm that took the world by storm - even full-blooded AMGs are not spared. Today, a car propelled by an engine takes a different beat. Is it powerful enough for the amount of road tax I’m paying? My neighbour's EV is lightning fast, for a fraction of my car’s cost - should I make the switch? There was no such comparison in the late noughties - cars had breathing space to be powered by big capacity motors - a hatchback with a 3.2-litre powerplant sat alongside watered-down versions of bestselling Golfs. No thanks to revised ARF tax rates, these cars became less attainable by the hour. That’s if dealers were even brave enough to bring them in!

2008 Mazda RX-8

Depreciation: S$13,000 - S$15,000 per year

If there is a local car term to describe the hammerblow effect, that will be the Mazda RX-8’s precarious COE positioning when the new Cat A ruling was implemented in 2012. A 1.3-litre rotary engine that can muster more than 200hp in stock form was an anomaly - its uniqueness found homes of many here in Singapore despite its thirst for fuel. Production of the RX-8 ceased in mid 2012, which meant facelifted models could have been classified out of the Cat A bracket. Only a handful remain on local shores, but if you want your sports cars to sing way beyond 8,000rpm, this is pretty much the only route to venture. Unless you’re willing to fork out up to twice the depreciation for a Type R…

2008 BMW 335i (E90)

Depreciation: S$14,500 per year

A 16 year old BMW proposal sounds like buying a first class ticket down the rabbit hole, but the intrigue of a Beemer powered by a twin turbo straight six means that it’s still etched right on our shopping cart. Cue the E90-generation BMW 335i - a bonafide iron fist in a velvet glove. With 300hp and monumental levels of torque driving the rear wheels, it doesn't take much effort to uncork its potential. Buyers of these cars now will not look at brand new 3ers, and we reckon a Mitsubishi Evo 10 of similar age is spot on the desirability scale. But that comes in at twice the depreciation!

2010 Ford Focus RS

Depreciation: S$15,000 per year

One can argue that the late noughties was peak hot hatch territory. This Fast Ford had to fend off competition from the likes of Renault’s Megane RS, Mk5 Golf R32, R56 MINI Cooper JCW - the list goes on. Subaru’s WRX STI transition from sedan to hatch did not make the pocket rocket tussle less competitive. If you’re into the pinnacle of front-wheel drive performance engineering, not many can come close to the 300hp Focus RS, unless you’re willing to go JDM and swallow twice the depreciation…

---

Browse Carousell Certified used cars here or if you need help with any part of the car-buying process, check out Carousell’s Car Buying Personal Assistant!