As the new year gets well and truly underway, gearheads are spoiled for choice in a market awash with premium luxury coupes, which is best is a tough choice that often comes down to personal choice. First up, narrowing the list down, coupes by definition are sporty in appearance, two-door, 2+2 seater affairs with sloping rooflines hinting at performance. That excludes a lot of German luxury sedans, Mercedes and BMW both misleading buyers with "four-door coupes".
The luxury part is easier, price and premium badging is a good indicator, but you only have to climb into a luxuriously well trimmed cabin to spot the wannabes from the real deal. Now for some bad news, putting luxury & coupe in the same sentence rules out most, if not all US-built machinery, but then luxury is something Europeans do way better. Check out the best 2022 luxury coupes.
10 Bentley Continental GT Speed
Big, bold and reassuringly expensive in both design and luxury, Bentley's latest incarnation of their Continental GT oozes enough class and style to put even the most lavish of mansions to shame. It's an intoxicating hedonistic mix supercar masquerading as a luxury limo.
What the Speed GT updates brings to the Continental party is a minor 24 hp power gain, so its 6-liter twin-turbocharged W12 now produces 650 hp while top speed remains at 208 mph with sixty coming up in 3.5-seconds. The big changes are best experienced on a track, rear wheel steering and a new limited slip differential bestow the Speed GT with athletic prowess that belies its 6,000 lbs bulk.
9 Jaguar F-Type
Jaguar's plan for fully electric production has us worried, a huge part of the F-Type's desirability is the insanely loud soundtrack you only get with a big supercharged engine. Thankfully, someone back at Jag HQ realized this and rolled out a revised model for 2021/22, streamlining the range with a choice of two engines, both supercharged V8s.
Admittedly, the Jag isn't going to be everyone's liking, those four enormous exhausts, bang, pop, and crackle no matter how gently you squeeze the throttle. However, you buy an F-Type for its image, gorgeously styled with a leather trimmed cockpit it's a genuinely nice place to be when you're unleashing the full 575 hp V8 engine under the hood.
8 Ferrari Roma
Ferrari's coupe models haven't enjoyed the best of success, as if somehow adding a pair of occasional rear-seats is akin to giving the Mona Lisa a mustache and beard. The recent lunch of the Roma looks to change that. Forget the clunky stretched look of past Ferrari coupes, designed in house, the Roma is a thoroughbred GT.
Under the hood boasting 612 hp thanks to a 3.9-liter twin-turbocharged V8, for which Ferrari claims a top speed of 199 mph, still very much a supercar, then. On the inside, things are more restrained, sure you get all the goodies from a full-blown supercar, only with a little more leather and comfort.
7 BMW 840i xDrive Coupe
When is a coupe not a coupe? In BMW speak, literally anything with four-doors qualifies across the 8-Series range, the Gran Coupe more of a fast sedan than a two-door sporty coupe. Looking elsewhere, BMW does produce a stunning two-door version that is way cooler.
The range diversity doesn't stop at a confusing door count, like all BMWs, gearheads get to chose between the merely quick and insanely fast. For our money, the 840i xDrive is plenty quick enough, equipped with a 3-liter straight-six turbo unit punching out 335 hp. While lucrative M-branding adds more power, the gains come at the expense of the ride, all for the sake of two-tenths.
6 Mercedes-AMG C43
Including Mercedes-AMG C43 is a no-brainer, buyers get the full luxury leather trimmed packaged on the inside, with AMG's sporty undertones externally for as little at $61k. Like all coupes, the AMG C63s sloping roofline is going to prove tiresome for taller rear-seat passengers, but at least you get two proper seats.
AMG's single V6 engine choice is everything you'll ever need, 3-liters in displacement boasting twin turbochargers producing 385 hp with all-wheel drive across the C43 range, resulting in a drag to sixty in 4-seconds dead.
5 Lexus RC-F
Lexus, in a similar vein to its German rivals, offers RC-F in two different trims. Those craving the ultimate track version can specify the RC-F Fuji speedway pack, boasting performance upgrades and a huge not-so-subtle rear wing. Disappointingly, cosmetic add-ons aside, there is little to choose between the two, even sharing a 5-liter V8 engine pumping out 472 hp.
The standard RC-F represents better value for money too, coming in some $40,000 cheaper than the track special, and is every bit as quick, both recording a 4-second sprint to 60 mph. Lexus biggest selling point has long been its approach to creature comforts, the RC-F ships with "simulated" leather trim, and a wide array of standard kit for free.
4 Audi RS5 Coupe
Audi's approach of leaving all that works well alone is a good one, the RS5 Coupe is as near perfect balance between stonking performance coupe and luxury GT as you're likely to get. As a result, 2022 models are little changed, save for a handful of option pack updates.
Good news for RS5 fans, Audi's 2.9-liter V6 TFSi series engine retains its 444 hp turbocharged character delivering scorching acceleration, 60 mph coming up in 3.6-seconds, ticking the Dynamic Plus option raising the top end to 174 mph. Switching back to normal road speeds and the RS5's luxury trimmed high-tech cabin does a fantastic job of hiding its sportier traits.
3 Infiniti Q60
Nissan's turn at upmarketing itself, Infiniti despite building great cars slips quietly under the radar, it's almost as if the spin-off brand wants to be both luxurious and a little mysterious.
Which brings us to the Q60, on the face of it one of the best looking and specified cars on the market, and a bargain considering even the top of the range Red Sport 400 kicks off at $60,000. More impressive, even the lowliest models get a twin-turbocharged V6 300 hp motor.
2 Polestar 1
Volvo luxury spin-off Polestar has only been with us since 1996, in that short time adding its expertise to dozens of mainstream production cars. In 2017 that all changed, Polestar now a separate entity set about building some of the finest hybrid/EV coupes on the market.
Finding space for both internal combustion and a hybrid power train does rob occupants of some interior space, but what Polestar have achieved is nothing short of breathtaking, think high-end Volvo and then some. Under the hood, three-electric motors in parallel with a turbocharged 2-liter inline four deliver 619 hp.
1 Aston Martin DBS
Forget for a moment the DBS isn't the most spacious of 2+2 coupes, instead focus on the acres of sumptuous hand stitched leather, racing seats and evocative instruments laid out before you, Aston Martin ownership is undoubtedly a once in a lifetime experience.
There are better sports cars, GTS and luxury cruisers on the market, but none that comes with quite such an adrenalin rush of power. Equipped with a twin-turbocharged 5.2-liter V12 rated at 715 hp, the DBS is staggeringly quick, Aston claims 0-60 mph in 3.2-seconds, flat out capable of 211 mph.