Every enthusiast wants to own a performance car. Sports Cars and supercars have always been tempting choices for anyone who wants something that's got the best performance a road car can offer. But, they're far from perfect. Even sports sedans can have their drawbacks! Why is that? Well, we'll explain. Having A Performance Car Usually Comes With Compromises PorscheIf you want a car with a lot of performance, you're more than likely going to have to put up with some compromises. High-performance cars can be difficult to drive. They can also be woefully impractical. That could be a real problem if you've only got space on your driveway for one car, or your budget can only stretch to one car that has to do everything you ask of it. There might be some days where you've got to bring two or more passengers out with you. You might have to pick up something that's a bit bulky from the furniture store. You may even live in an area where having all-wheel drive is practically a necessity, rendering a lot of high-performance cars completely useless during the winter months. If that's the case, typical high-performance cars really won't work for you.Thankfully, there is at least one car out there on the market that ticks all the performance car boxes without compromising on being sensible. It's the latest iteration of a car that's beloved the world over for its combination of speed and sensibility. It's also got real prestige appeal, and could be cheaper than you might think! The Current-Generation BMW M3 Is The Perfect Balance Between Speed And Sanity BMWThe BMW M3 has been a benchmark for combining performance with usability ever since the first iteration of it appeared. It's not surprising, then, that the latest version of it is the perfect balance between a car that's got genuinely great performance and something that's easy and practical to drive. All versions of the 2026 G80 BMW M3 have a 3-liter twin-turbocharged inline-6, producing 473 hp in the regular M3 and between 503-523 hp in the M3 Competition. That gives it a 0-60 mph of as little as 3.4 seconds in the M3 Competition, with a top speed of up to 180 mph if you go for the optional M Driver's Package. All that comes in a compact sedan package, giving it enough practicality for you to use it as a daily driver! You Can Have It With All-Wheel Drive BMWThe 2026 BMW M3 would be easy and practical enough to drive if it was rear-wheel drive only. But, if you go for the M3 Competition, you can also have it in all-wheel drive xDrive form! This is the fastest version of the M3 as well as the most secure in its traction and handling - the M3 Competition xDrive has the full 523 hp, as opposed to the 503 hp the rear-wheel drive M3 Competition gets. That no doubt helps explain some of the reason why the rear-wheel drive M3 Competition is nearly half a second slower to 60 mph than the M3 Competition xDrive. It's Available As A Station Wagon As Well As A Sedan Via: BMWThe BMW M3 would be practical enough in sedan form. Clearly, BMW realized that some owners would want something that can carry even more. It'll also sell you the M3 in station wagon form! This is known as the M3 Touring, or the G81 if you go by factory codes. It has all the same variants as the sedan model. That includes the 523 hp M3 Competition xDrive, giving you what's potentially one of the best performance wagons ever. The G82/G83 BMW M4 Uses The Same Platform BMWDo you like the perfect blend of speed and sanity that the BMW M3 offers, but don't want a sedan or a station wagon? Well, the current version of the BMW M4 uses exactly the same platform and has the same variants! It's got all the blistering performance and ease of use as the M3, but in a coupe or convertible body style instead. It's Cheaper Than You Might Think On The Used Market BMWIf you buy a G80 or G81 BMW M3 brand new, you are going to be paying quite a lot of money. But, if you take a look at the used market, these cars are cheaper than you might have thought. Across all variants, the average used value for the G80 M3 is $77,668. Examples of the base model are also starting to sell for under $60,000 or even under $50,000. While that's still quite a lot of money for the average enthusiast, that's still a fair bit less than the $79,575-$87,700 you could be expecting to pay for a brand new one. That's not even getting into how expensive some of the optional extras can be, either! Other Cars That Perfectly Balance Performance with UsabilityBMWThe current version of the BMW M3 might be the best option out there if you want a car that balances performance with usability. But, it's not the only option out there that expertly blends lots of speed with lots of sense. There are a couple of other cars out there that fulfill that near-impossible brief really well. Perhaps unsurprisingly, one of them also comes from BMW! BMW M5 (G90/G99) BMWLike its little M3 sibling, the latest version of the BMW M5 is a car that offers a great blend of speed and sensibility. It's much more powerful than even the M3 Competition xDrive, with 717 hp and 738 lb-ft of torque. That's thanks to a plug-in hybrid system based around BMW's 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged S68 V8. That super-powerful hybrid powertrain can also take you up to speeds as high as 190 mph if you opt for the M Driver's Package. Like the M3, it also comes in a Touring station wagon variant. That variant is possibly one of the best fast estates on the market! Audi RS6 Avant (C8) Via: AudiA direct rival to the BMW M5 Touring we briefly mentioned earlier, the Audi RS6 Avant is an altogether more old-school approach to creating a full-sized performance wagon. There's no hybrid system here, with power exclusively coming from a 4-liter twin-turbocharged V8. That doesn't mean it's massively down on power compared to the M5 Touring, though. It's also slightly faster to 60 mph, and can reach the same 190 mph top speed if you choose the Dynamic Plus package. That more old-school fast wagon approach might have contributed to why demand for it has risen sharply recently.Sources: Audi, BMW, Classic.com