Nine of the finest six-cylinder performance cars on sale right now

The 400bhp Emira is a major swansong for Lotus since it’s the last combustion-powered car it’ll ever make. Opt for the heartier 3.5-litre six-cylinder supplied by Toyota - shared with the old Evora and Exige models - and you’ll snap to 62mph in 4.3s and on to a top speed of 180mph.

It lags slightly behind in acceleration, top speed, and torque compared to the AMG four-pot-powered Turbo SE, but the gains include a punchier soundtrack and the option of a six-speed manual.

Many had their reservations about the 296 GTB’s hybrid V6 when it launched: could it still excite like mid-engined Ferraris of old? Yes, the world quickly discovered. Ferrari called it a ‘piccolo’ V12 (or ‘little’ V12) during development, because the equal-length manifolds and symmetrical firing order combine to create a similar sound to a 12-cylinder. It also punches pretty hard for a six-pot engine, with 819bhp and 546lb ft of torque when combined with an electric motor. The 0-62mph sprint takes just 2.9s and there's a top-end of 205mph.

It’s currently the eighth-fastest car around the Fiorano test track, with the more hardcore Speciale entering the podium. That’s because it gets an extra 49bhp, 60kg less weight and 20 per cent higher downforce at peak speeds. That’ll only be sold for a limited amount of time, though.

Armed with BMW’s ‘S58’ straight-six, which sends 523bhp and 480lb ft through an eight-speed ‘box to all four wheels, the M3 Touring will haul you, your family and your petrified pooch to 62mph in just 3.6s. It won our ‘All The Car You’ll Ever Need’ Award two years ago, too.

An Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio isn't as rounded or crushingly complete as a BMW M3, if you're the sort of person who likes their infotainment pixel-sharp and snappy. If you crave 'connected services' between your car and smartphone. Whatever they are.

But if you're a human being with a soul and want a four-door saloon with gorgeous looks... you can't buy the M3. And if you want a family saloon that's bite-the-back-of-your-hand brilliant to drive, then even today, five years after the Giulia Quadrifoglio came into our lives, you probably can't do better anywhere else.

Hell of an engine, this. The Spider's hybridised 690bhp 3.0-litre V6 weighs just 160kg, 50kg less than the 4.0-litre V8 that’s powered most McLarens so far. It’s also impressively compact. Rather than a 90-degree V, the cylinders sit at a 120-degree angle, which also reduces pressure losses in the exhaust. The twin turbos sit within the ‘hot vee’ configuration, which means they can spin faster with helpful consequences for throttle response.

That's packed into a deeply impressive car that's easy to drive quickly but with extra layers that reveal themselves the more you push it.

We recently had an MC20 in our long-term fleet, and as it turns out, it does the whole ‘daily supercar’ thing quite well. It’s pretty, too, and that clean-sheet ‘Nettuno’ 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 is positioned at a 90-degree angle, dry-sumped and supported by Formula One-grade pre-chamber combustion for a more efficient burn. The result is 621bhp and 538lb ft, with 0-62mph sorted in under three seconds en route to a 202mph vmax.

The first thing you’ll note about the hot new CLE 53 is its stance: the brawny bonnet, the slowly descending roofline and those chunky hips are all reminiscent of the old V8-powered C63s. Sadly, the engine isn’t the same, though the hearty turbocharged inline-six gets 443bhp and 413lb ft - or an extra 30 torques with overboost engaged. It’s not quite as focused and tactile as some of the other bits on this list, sure, but as a mid-range performance car, it’s still really rather good.

A strange performance car, in that the automatic version might actually be better than the manual. Regardless of which you choose, the rear-drive M2 shares the M3’s S58 engine, repurposed here to spin 473bhp at the flywheel. This may also be the last purely petrol-powered M car, and should that end up being the case, it’s a wonderful - if a little too mature - swansong.

As our Ollie Kew said in his review: “No other small sporting coupe is as practical, as complete, and in many ways the M2 now asks very serious questions of the M4 itself.” Talk about annoyingly talented younger siblings.

The definitive six-cylinder performance car that's shown the way for decades. And so to the current 992.2 GT3: rear-mounted, water-cooled 4.0-litre flat-six which revs to 9,000rpm, and produces 503bhp and 332lb ft. 0-62mph is dealt with in 3.4s and, given enough room, it’ll punch its way to 193mph. This engine is the culmination of over six decades of work, and as you’d expect, it’s absolutely delicious.