莲花直播

Everyone loves a little burst of acceleration every now and then, but it鈥檚 increasingly difficult to get an everyday car that offers puerile thrills without the accompanying childish suite of bulges, vents and splashes of red.

So what car do you buy聽if you fancy the聽subtle look but still enjoy humiliating the teenager聽in his be-winged hatchback in a traffic light Grand Prix?

Try one of these聽10聽grown-up speed machines for size. Not only are they quick without necessarily looking it, but some of them are 鈥� wait for it 鈥� diesels. So you can be quick and frugal!

Mini聽Paceman JCW

It鈥檚 almost the last thing in the world that anyone would ever expect to be a performance car, but the John Cooper Works version of Mini鈥檚聽weird Paceman hatchback/coupe crossover packs something of a punch.

Allying a 215hp version of the Mini鈥檚聽1.6-litre turbocharged engine to the 鈥楢LL4鈥� four wheel drive system, the Paceman JCW will spring off the line and hit 60mph in a barely believable 6.8 seconds. The ungainly shape may be something of a limitation when it comes to top speed though.

BMW 335d

A second offering from the BMW group, this time something more traditional when it comes to undercover performance cars.

While those who are after outright on-paper acceleration will look for something like an M3 or M4, M cars are no longer the subtle iron fist/velvet glove combination they were 20 years ago. Look a little further down the range and you鈥檒l find some astonishing performance in more mundane packaging and the 335d exemplifies this.

It sports a聽three-litre diesel engine pumping out 309hp and 464lb ft of torque, mated to the xDrive four wheel drive 鈥撀燼nd this helps it leap to 60mph in under five seconds. That鈥檚 faster than any of the first three generations of BMW鈥檚 M3, but in a 50mpg diesel.聽And internet folklore聽has it that there鈥檚 nothing faster on UK roads than a remapped BMW 335d. We鈥檒l leave that one there.

Skoda Octavia vRS

Unless you鈥檙e a pretty hardcore Skoda geek, the only external sign to the world that you鈥檙e in a performance model is a small red and green badge. Other than that, it鈥檚 the epitome of the sleeper 鈥� a high output engine wrapped in a plain-Jane bodyshell.

Better still, you can have the vRS powertrain stuffed into the estate body if you like, with the same 217hp output and the same 6.9-second 0-60mph sprint time, but聽with over 600聽litres of storage space. Dogs like acceleration too. If you want to keep an eye on economy then you can get a still-amusing 2.0-litre diesel Octavia vRS.

We give it a year or two before the UK鈥檚 traffic police start using these as undercover patrol cars 鈥� you鈥檝e been warned!

Skoda Superb V6

One thing the Octavia is missing though is a big V-engine soundtrack. That鈥檚 where the Superb comes in, sporting a monster 3.6-litre V6 that drives all four wheels. This is exactly the same setup as the previous generation Volkswagen Passat鈥檚 flagship 鈥淩36鈥� model, and when VW is happy to slap an 鈥淩鈥� badge on it you know it鈥檚 quick.

Kicking out 256hp, it鈥檚 not the most stressed engine in the world, but it鈥檒l move the big saloon to 60mph even faster than the Octavia vRS will do it, in 6.6 seconds. Like the Octavia you can also have it as an estate model with the same stats but a huge 633 litre boot. It鈥檚 not the most frugal car on the list though, showing only 30.4mpg combined.

It won鈥檛 cope as well聽with corners as the Octavia vRS, but you鈥檒l get a slightly plusher interior, Diplomat-friendly levels of rear legroom and a hidden umbrella in one of the rear doors. And you can tell people you own a聽Superb.

Audi A6 Avant聽BiTDI

When it comes to high performance but subtle estate cars, it鈥檚 hard to beat Audi鈥檚 A6 Avant. Stuffing a twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre diesel under the nose聽gives the Audi 316hp and with the quattro four wheel drive system and a tiptronic gearbox marshalling it all, it鈥檚 good for a 5.2-second 60mph drag 鈥� just a gnat鈥檚 unmentionable slower than the previous-generation RS4.

It鈥檚 just about outclassed in the boot-space stakes by the Skodas, but 565 litres is still plenty and the diesel engine means 45mpg is possible 鈥� at least on paper.

Volvo V60 Polestar

It鈥檚 possible to get a subtle estate to go quicker still than the Audi A6 Avant, but you need all of Sweden鈥檚 expertise to do so. The V60 Polestar is a piece of purified lunacy, with a 350hp straight six underneath it allowing for a 5.0-second dead 聽0-60mph time.

Unlike most of the cars on this list though, it鈥檚 an exclusive one 鈥� limited to just 125 examples 鈥� and though there鈥檚 no particularly obvious vents or bulges, that 鈥楻ebel Blue鈥� paint colour is a little less than covert.

Infiniti Q50 Hybrid

The Q50 Hybrid is a great example of a subtle performance car with a badge that gives you entirely the wrong impression. Everyone knows that hybrids are slow, so with the big, cheery, silver letters on the boot advertising the fact you鈥檙e in an eco-friendly聽car, absolutely no-one will expect what happens when you press the go pedal.

With a 3.5 litre V6 stapled onto the 67hp electric motors, the Q50 Hybrid has twice as much power 鈥� that鈥檚 twice as much 鈥� as any other Q50 in the range (apart from the Eau Rouge version, which may not make production) and will hurl itself to 60mph in just five seconds.聽Combined with the rarity of the car, this more than anything else here will lead to frequent questions聽of 鈥淲hat was that?鈥�

Peugeot 308 GT

Hot hatches have got gaudy over the last 10 years, with acidic paint jobs, huge arch extensions (to house huge wheels, themselves housing huge brakes), stickers, wings and occasionally plastic windows and a roll cage. It鈥檚 nice to encounter a performance hatchback which doesn鈥檛 bother with any of that.

While it 鈥榦nly鈥� packs 202hp, which 鈥榦nly鈥� allows for a seven-second 0-60mph time, the 308 GT is an exercise in subtlety that still manages to be quicker than most other traffic on the roads. If you can wait, there鈥檚 a slightly less subtle but significantly more potent 308 GTI coming next year, using the same 266hp engine as the Peugeot RCZ R鈥�

Volkswagen Golf R

Still, when it comes to subtlety, nothing can hold a candle to the Volkswagen Golf. It鈥檚 so understated these days as to be actively boring to look at 鈥� and while even the Golf GTI has a red stripe to say 鈥渓ook at me鈥�, the Golf R has nothing.

This is good news for people who like the engine to do the talking, as a 296hp聽turbocharged 2.0-litre engine lurks beneath the bonnet, with 4MOTION four-wheel-drive to prevent that from making a mess of your front tyres. Hitting 60mph in just 5.3 seconds, the Golf R is really alarmingly fast 鈥� it may be boring to look at, but you have to get close enough to see it first鈥�

Tesla Model S

The very last thing in the world that anyone would expect to be a performance car is a milk float, even one as curvy as the Tesla. The low hum the聽Tesla makes will not make anyone shy away and the body hints at nothing sprightly hiding underneath.

That鈥檚 a pity, because the Model S packs roughly enough electricity to throw 380hp onto the road and, with electric motors providing peak torque instantly, that鈥檚 enough for a 5.4-second 0-60mph time.

If that鈥檚 not going to be enough for you, there鈥檚 a four wheel drive model coming next year with 221hp of motors driving the front wheels and 470hp doing the rear. Yes, that鈥檚 691hp of electricity and the 3.2s 0-60mph time is enough to shame just about anything.

Fancy wearing your horsepower on your sleeve?

Take a look at the shortlist for the 2014 carwow awards performance car category 鈥� you should find something suitably shouty and incredible to drive.