10 Awesome Performance Cars That Women Just Love to Drive

Without getting too political, women are getting closer and closer to achieving equality, taking smaller or bigger steps in different industries. While cars are for everyone (in most of the world, at least), there are some brands and models the members of the fair sex prefer.

For this, we decided to take a look at what the all-female judged Women’s World Car of the Year has chosen for the past editions, most specifically, the Performance Cars segment.

If you've never heard about the awards, Sandy Myhre from New Zealand created them in 2009, going for an all-female judge system. The voting criteria take into consideration all the same principles as any guide for choosing a car, such as safety, quality, price, design, ease of driving, environmental footprint, and other aspects.

#1 Ford Mustang

Arguably one of the most recognizable cars in the world, the pony car Ford Mustang ranks highly on women’s lists, too.

The Mustang received the title in 2016, after 17 judges from 14 countries decided the car women wanted and admired most. Ford introduced the Mustang in 1964, spreading over six generations at the time of press. In 2022, at the Detroit Auto Show, FoMoCo announced the seventh generation, starting 2024.

The electrified Mach-E wasn't bypassed either, as it scored the best Large Car of the Year in 2022.

#2 Audi RS 3

Ford Mustang might've been a winner in 2016, but in our present day, the judges chose the Audi RS 3 as the Best Performance Car at the 2023 Women's World Car of the Year.

Spreading over three generations, the current Audi RS 3 boasts a 2.8-liter five-cylinder engine, with 395 horsepower (400 ps), a torque of 369 lb-ft (500 Nm), good for an acceleration zero to 62 mph (100 kph) in 3.8 seconds and a top speed of 155 mph (249 kph).

Besides the RS 3, which bagged the Performance Car award, this year, 63 motoring journalists across 43 countries voted Kia Niro as the World's Best Car.

#3 Ferrari F8 Spider

The successor of the 488 lineup, the F8, is certainly one of the best performance cars out there. That's how it found itself on the Women's World Car of the Year list in 2021.

A convertible is always something that most of us dream of driving, and the F8 Spider brings the looks and the performance, which comes thanks to a 3.9-liter twin-turbo V8, good for 710 horsepower (720 ps) and 568 lb-ft (770 Nm), taking it to 62 mph (100 kph) in just 2.9 seconds and all the way to 211 mph (340 kph).

The same year, the Supreme Winner Award didn't go to the same Ferrari but to the Land Rover Defender.

#4 Porsche 911

The Porsche 911 line is one of the most beloved, admired, and recognized sports cars of all time, so, it would've been a shame to be ignored at the Women World's Car of the Year awards.

Luckily, in 2020, it won the Best Performance Car. The two-door high-performance rear-engine sports car was introduced in 1964 and has been dominating the scene ever since. It offers four different body styles, coupe, convertible, Targa top, and speedster.

The same year, another Porsche won big at the World Car Awards, too. It wasn't the Porsche 911, although it was nominated, but the Porsche Taycan, scoring both World Performance Car and World Luxury Car awards.

#5 Mercedes-AMG GT

In 2015, the Best Performance Car award went to the Mercedes-AMG GT, available in a coupe and roadster body styles, but also as a four-door coupe.

After undergoing its second facelift in 2020, the AMG GT still boasts a 4.0-liter V8 engine, good for 523 horsepower (530 ps) and 494 lb-ft (760 Nm) of torque, good for an acceleration zero to 62 mph (100 kph) in 3.8 seconds and a top speed of 193 mph (314 kph).

The same year, the judges decided that the Mercedes-Benz S-Class was the best luxury car. That came just a year after the same model won the Supreme Winner award.

#6 Audi e-Tron GT

In 2022, Women Car of the Year included several electric and electrified cars. Besides the Ford Mach-E previously mentioned, the fully electric BMW iX took the Best Large SUV, and the Best 4x4 went to the Jeep Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid.

The Best Performance Car award also followed the same theme, going to the Audi e-Tron GT, launched in 2020.

Advertised as delivering "exhilarating performance without sacrificing progressive design or innovative technology," the Audi e-tron GT has up to 522 horsepower (529 ps) with boost engaged, racing to 60 mph (97 kph) in 3.9 seconds, with a range that allows driving as far as 236 mi (380 km) before needing to be charged.

The Best Urban Car last year was not an EV, with the votes going for the Peugeot 308.

#7 Aston Martin Rapide

In early 2010, Aston Martin introduced its new high-performance sports sedan, the Rapide. In 2011, it won the Best Performance Car.

The Rapide, available between 2010 and 2013, was a four-door, four-seater saloon, and its power drew from a 5.9-liter V12 engine, rated at 470 horsepower (477 ps) and 443 lb-ft (600 Nm) of torque, taking it to 62 mph (100 kph) in just 5.2 seconds and all the way to 188 mph (303 kph).

The model included the Rapide S, Rapid E, and Rapide AMR variants.

#8 Honda Civic Type R

Honda introduced the high-performance hatchback in 1997. The one based on the sixth-generation Civic was unveiled in 2022.

Under the hood, the current-gen Civic Type R for the current generation has a 2.0-liter L4 engine, good for 311 horsepower (315 ps) and 310 lb-ft (420 Nm) of torque.

That is slightly more than the generation that won the award in 2014. That one, boasting 222 horsepower (225 ps) stayed on the market between 2007 and 2011.

#9 Porsche 718 Boxter S

Porsche introduced the first generation of the Boxter in 1996 and it spread over four generations.

The Boxster S variant arrived in 2000, with a 3.2-liter engine, receiving an upgrade to a 3.3-liter in 2007 for the model's second generation. The current model now features a 2.5-liter flat-four turbocharged engine, good for 350 horsepower (355 ps) and 309 lb-ft (419 Nm) of torque.

The Porsche Boxter S was the Best Performance Car at the Women's World Car of the Year in 2013.

#10 Audi S3

It looks like Audi seems a very reliable, preferable choice for women because, in the last 10 editions, the German premium brand managed to win the Performance Car award for three of its models. Besides the RS 3 and the e-Tron GT, the Audi S3 won the award in 2014.

German car manufacturer Audi introduced the S3 in 1999 as a three-door hatchback, giving it constant upgrades over the last two decades. The marque introduced its latest generation S3 in 2020.

Long before that, in 2014, women wanted it most when it came to performance cars. In 2014, the model was in the midst of its third generation, marked as the fastest four-cylinder Audi ever built at that time. That meant a 2.0-liter TFSI engine, boasting 296 horsepower (300 ps) and 280 lb-ft (380 Nm) of torque.