Throughout the years, some truly glorious sports cars blessed us with their presence. Some of these include timeless beings like the magic Toyota MR2, which is getting a revival for 2024 that's worth waiting for, the Porsche 911, and the Chevrolet Corvette... perhaps even the new Z06 C8 Corvette will turn into one of the all-time greats albeit no longer a Ferrari killer. That said, in the sea of extraordinary vehicles, there are bound to be some underappreciated sports cars, and in the same breath, some which are severely overrated.
Let's clear up one possible misconception beforehand: Just because a car gets labeled as overrated doesn't necessarily mean it's not a brilliant piece of automotive ingenuity. The only blaring issue is it's perceived as much more than it actually is. Without further ado, let's get into the most overrated sports cars from the 2010s.
10 Nissan R35 GT-R
If we were to travel back to 2008, the year in which the Nissan R53 GT-R got released, then no, it would not deserve a spot on this list. After all, its 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6 engine (one of the best V6 engines ever) generated 485 hp. Although the GT-R's power jumped up all the way to 600 hp in 2018, it still wasn't monumentally better than the original 2008 R35 GT-R.
If we were betting men, we'd put money on the reason for the GT-R's overrated status on JDM fanatics. The original Skyline GT-Rs, like the R32, revolutionized the sports car realm, but the R35 only evolved with it, instead of advancing the world around it.
9 Subaru BRZ/Toyota GT86
Again, the Toyota GT86 and Subaru BRZ are both excellent choices for first-time drivers who crave a fun car, but the persona which gearheads make it out to be is nothing but over-exaggeration. Both of these cars' naturally-aspirated four-banger generated just under 200 hp, but still, too many fans make them out to be proper fast sports cars.
0-60 mph happens in a miserable 7.6 seconds, which is much slower than its looks would have you believe. Albeit a good, affordable driver's car, the Toyota GT86 and Subaru BRZ are nowhere near as benevolent as some claim... unless they're modified through means of adding forced induction, for example.
8 Ferrari 488 GTB
Ferrari never seizes to meet expectations, and the 488 GTB did not disappoint performance-wise, nor was it sore on the eyes. However, it had a stellar predecessor, a Ferrari which we'd argue is the best modern creation to leave Maranello, the Ferrari 458 Italia.
The Ferrari 488 broke tradition by being the first mid-engined Ferrari to feature a turbocharged engine, in turn diminishing some of the driver involvement. Although the Ferrari 488 GTB remains a stunningly fast prancing horse, it still will forever remain in the limelight of the 458, no matter how impressive the spec sheet says it is.
7 Lotus Evora
Lotus cars all embody the same overall persona; lightweight, yet firm chassis, tiny rev-happy engine, and go-kart-like handling. The Evora broke nearly every single one of those, yet it remains praised for the most part.
When released in 2012, the Evora's naturally-aspirated 3.5-liter V6 engine produced 276 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque. Despite sounding more than sufficient for a Lotus, the Evora weighed a whopping 3,214 lbs. Albeit light for sports cars, generally speaking, the Evora is one of the heaviest Lotus sports cars ever made, and its handling, unfortunately, suffers as a result.
6 Porsche Cayman GT4
Now hold your horses, we know the Porsche Cayman GT4 is one of the best track-focussed Porsche sports cars there was. But in all honesty, Porsche outclassed themselves eventually. What do we mean by this?
See, some people still refuse to recognize the Cayman GT4 RS' existence and are too narrow-minded to realize that the 911 GT3 is a much better buy than a Cayman GT4. The Cayman GT4 was great at the time but eventually became irrelevant in comparison to the rest of Porsche's lineup.
5 BMW i8
Yes, it's gorgeous. Yes, its doors go up like a supercar. But no, it's far from earning the supercar title. The BMW i8's hybrid powertrain consists of a 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine sourced from Mini and three electric motors that generate 357 hp and 420lb-ft of torque in total.
In the real world, that's enough to send the BW i8 to 60 mph from a dig in 4.4 seconds. That's longer than it takes the ultimate $35,000 sleeper car bargain, the BMW F10 M5 to do the same.
4 Hyundai Genesis Coupe
Just like the Toyota GT86 and Subaru BRZ, an affordable price tag makes you turn a blind eye to the truth. Even though the Hyundai Genesis drives surprisingly well, it's still much slower than many believe it to be.
In its most powerful trim level, the Genesis Coupe sports a 3.8-liter V6 that generates around 300 hp and 266 lb-ft of torque. While this might sound impressive on paper, the Hyundai Genesis Coupe still takes around 6 and a half seconds to do 0-60 mph...
3 BMW M4
Now this one is arguably the most controversial entry on our list today, the first-generation BMW M4. While this remains one of the world's favorite drift platforms to work on since the M4 is rear-wheel-drive, and its 3.0-liter turbocharged straight-six produces 431 hp in its stock form, it still receives too much hype from the car community.
Even though the BMW M4 is one of the most reliable BMWs ever produced also, it is still massively overhyped due to younger, uneducated fans. There is no denying that the BMW M4 is an amazing vehicle, but there are countless alternatives that are equally as, or even better than the M4 such as the V8-powered Mercedes-AMG C 63 or the more versatile Audi RS5.
2 Acura NSX
There is only one reason to call the revived Acura NSX an overhyped supercar, and that's because the shoes it had to wear were impossible to fill. The original NSX was such a massive success and remains an iconic piece of Japanese motoring history, nothing will ever be able to come close to it again.
Instead of adopting the same naturally-aspirated V6, the original NSX had, the modern rendition thereof contained a turbocharged V6 and three electric motors to put out 573 hp and 476 lb-ft of torque. Regardless of the hybrid supercar's 3.1-second 0-60 time, it did not retain the same recipe the original NSX used.
1 Nissan 370Z
Once again, the Nissan 370Z itself was not a bad car by any means, but it never did anything revolutionary. We were expecting the 307Z to be a successor to the 350Z, but instead, we received what seems to be just a minor facelift of the 350Z alongside a tad more power.
Even the 370Z Nismo was too similar to the base model 370Z. Oh, and don't even get us started on the outdated interior... In all honesty, just save your money and get a 350Z, or spend the extra cash to upgrade to the new Nissan Z.
Sources: ultimatespecs.com