The past couple of years have seen some serious high-performance variants leaving the production lines of major manufacturers, with the Focus RS and the Megane R26.R being among these.

Both cars are excellent examples of just how hot a road car can be when it gets souped up. But to take an already popular car and introduce a high-performance version is nothing new, with the most famous example arguably being the Golf GTI when it was released in 1976.

Of course, there are high-performance variants of sports cars and supercars, but we thought we'd take a look at the best efforts at the lower end of the market. So we've picked out some of the best examples of cars that give you more bang for your buck, and, as an extra treat, we've also thrown in a few of the “granddaddies” of the high-performance car scene.