Top 7 Sleeper Cars you DON'T want to Mess With 

Big thanks to Ridge for sending me this wallet and supporting the channel! Here’s the site if you want to check them out! > ridge.com/topcars

1st: Mercury Marauder 2nd: Škoda Octavia VRS 3rd: Lotus Omega

Glad to see the Xantia Activa on there - I had one a few years back, and you just never had to slow down for corners in that thing. Almost anything could overtake it in a straight line, but the moment things got twisty you'd leave almost any other car miles behind in the dust wondering how the hell you just managed to change the laws of physics.

My uncle had Xantia in estate version with hydractive II suspension. Man the comfort of driving in this was next level. The only issue was the cost of maintaining this suspension.

There was a time in the 1970s when the VW Beetle held a record for being the only car that could pull a full 1 G off a skidpad on takeoff. Problem is, it could only do it for a second or so... On another note, when i was young my grandfather gave my mom his car when he bought a new one. Grandpa worked at Buick all his life and his father was chief chassis engineer from the beginnings of the company. Grandpa had a 1971 Buick Riviera... yes, the big long boat-tailed monster. Thing was though, this Riviera was a special order car. My grandfather actually walked it down the assembly line to make sure everything was done properly. It had a stage 2 455 ci engine and something called a 'flip pitch' module that was activated by a switch on the dash to change the stall speed of the torque converter. It was also equipped with posi-traction and everything in the car was a performance mod. It was frighteningly fast and sucked gas like a fiend but I never lost a drag race with it. I even drove it from New Mexico to Phoenix once with the speedometer needle pegged into the turn signal hole. Last I saw it was sitting in a field, all beat to crap when my moms alcoholic boyfriend beat the crap out of it... what a waste.

Fun fact: Peugeot once used a fucking minivan in the 24 hours of spa

I still remember the portuguese advert for the Volvo 850 Turbo: "Volvo 850 Turbo: 250bhp, 250km/h." So simple...

The T5 engine in the Volvo, can easily be scared to above 500hp, something Volvo did in one version of the C30 (the little one).

I work for Audi, and sometimes we get some really sweet stuff to use for internal transportation, like the RS3 or the RS6 limited edition. But to be more specific I'm at the engine assembly of the E-Tron, and once the employer gave us the oppurtunity to make a test drive with what we assemble, a fully equipped E-Tron. If you have never driven an EV you don't know what you're missing out on

The Xantia's running gear is real life equivalent to rubberbanding AI

7:38 "Citroen is known for its hydropneumatic suspension" proceeds to show a Citroen that doesn't have hydropneumatic suspension.

SAAB 9-5 HOT Aero aka High Output Turbo 2.3 B235R engine they were a true sleeper. Had a few over the years would tune to near on 300bhp easily stock. Bullet proof engines too comfortable well equipped they wiped a few smiles of the boy racers back the day. You can still get them today a true modern classic.

Great video! I would add the 2010 to 2019 Ford Taurs SHO. 365hp Twin turbo v6 but can gain about 100hp with just a tune. Looks like a rental car, but I surprise people at the light unless they are enthusiasts and are familiar with the car.

yes yes yes! my xantia gets another mention for its engineering! thank you ! only big brains understand it. btw: mercury marauder, skoda ocravia vrs, lotus carlton.

Dude you are underrated

That volvo inline five is no joke. My mom got a dealer model with a high pressure turbo, and it was no joke!

I'm curious: - How many times can a Tesla do 0-100 Km/h in 2 seconds in a row? - How many miles of normal driving does each time cost?

Great video, fully agree on all those sleeper examples. Especially one i have a lot of experience with: had 2 Xantia Activa's, a 2.0i and the 3.0 V6. I made the mistake of my life to just let them go after ~10 years of daily use. Why the pity? The SC.CAR system consisted of 10 hydraulic spheres, a ton of stabilizing rods in various directions, all ECU/real time controlled. Superior to other cars with 4 shocks, springs, and some stabilizers, no matter how fancy made? Yes, Lightyears superior, because seemingly defying physics due to the vast kinetic potential of the suspension (for damping etc.) in 2 ways: Imagine straight line comfort like a flying carpet or a Rolls Royce (who actually bought from Citroen&used that for the rear suspensions for many years). Seriously. Comfort on a level that makes even today's comfort oriented base model Merc, Audi, BMW etc. ride like a cheap, harsh ride, and on par with today's very best (air suspensions etc.), just like the very best 2,5 decades ago. AND Beeing to able to beat anything on the road, of any make, model, or price - in cornering. And even probably 99% of anything today, as capable of 1,2g lateral acceleration. On normal Michelin road tires sized 205/60R15 - a size even modest and far from sporty even back in the mid 90ies. As cars with active suspensions, pure race or F1 cars are a quite rare sight on the road 😂 Please try to imagine how those Activas felt to drive, whose owners put the 1,2g capability to optimal use with better/lighter/bigger rims, and wider and more performance oriented tires, like i did. Or those who additionally lightening the car up weight wise (it had a ton of upholstery, carpets, sound insulation etc.) - to go straight to the track. Sure the 136hp and 194hp engines with their 200 and 230km/h top speed were far from stellar in a straight - but as soon as the first bend came.... it simply didn't matter if that other car had 2x/3x or 4x times more hp, or what it was. The amount of head shaking, unbelieving, and WTF! looking sportscar drivers you could witness in an Activa: countless. Not to mention normal, or normal sporty cars of that time - you could basically drive circles around them 🤣 Basically, this was an actually driveable contradiction in itself/a physics paradoxon. And all that - in an uber comfortable, tame and unexciting looking, everyday use FWD. The last the best of it all tbh. A front wheeler - with nothing, but good geometry. No torque vectoring, diff lock, or any fancy pants of nowadays. Just simply beating any FWD, RWD or AWD in cornering. Aside from the 3.0 V6, who was a wonderfully growling, revving, and good sounding marvel at any rpm. Though used to BMW's awesome engines in my current cars, god - i'd still take THAT engine today, any day. It was, in all seriousness, the best NA V6 of it's time in any regard - and definitely the very best engine PSA (Peugeot/Citroen) ever made. Yes - that all was indeed as ridiculous and eye-popping as it sounds. And what makes a true sleeper. No wonder these are the only cars i had in >30 years, which i actually, really and sincerely miss...

I remember a kid he showed up at the street races with a Mazda GT , it was all rusted and basically a piece of sh**t but he had 2.0 turbo under hood , he won every single race that night, ok he had some trouble stopping cause he only upgraded the engine but still it was pretty impressive.

Best sleeper car ever is the early 00’s Toyota Corolla Z Aerotourer. Essentially the Corolla station wagon with the 2zz and 6spd manual. Only weighed 1150kgs as well. Very easily beats up on stock gti’s, wrx’s, 350z’s etc.

Saab 9000 Aero would be a good contender. Crazy fast for its time. And very tunable.

Me: excuse me Alfred would you please smoke these fools Alfred: with pleasure sir. Me: BlOoDy HeLl

I had an R63 for 10 years. What a beast. Three kids and a Great Dane blasting up I-95. Great road trip car and traffic light sleeper.👍😄

Here in Europe we had a very different view of the 850 / V70. it was far from geography teacher, and was the thinking mans alternative to the obvious German exec barges. The 850 has always been cool af over this side of the pond. Anyway, back to the OP, just about any mundane looing VAG car with the EA888 engine, the VAQ front diff and a £500 remap. a 350+bhp Skoda superb estate, wins the Q car race every time.

Wow, Xantia on a sleeper list. Never thought I'd see that day. Thank you! W203 C class C32 AMG is a nice sleeper too. Very plain looking but AMG power

I absolutly love Sleeper cars! I would love to own like a Volvo V70R one day!

to my knowledge; most saabs were really fast for being an "ordinary car"

At the moment I'm building a turbocharged 97 Grand Marquis with 750 horsepower I bought from my grandmother. This thing still looks brand new and very old lady. White with the full tan canvas top 😎👍

As the owner of a Saab, a Volvo T-5, and previously a Citroen Xantia (1.8i)... I found this list a delight!

1. Mercury Marauder 2. Skoda Superb 3. Lotus Vauxhall Carlton

4:54 nice plot twist lmao

Holden Caprice (was sold in the US in a stripped-down, bare-bones form as the Chevy Caprice PPV) was a big luxo-barge made in Australia until 2017. But with a 6.2L Chevy LS3 V8 under the hood in the later series, 19" wheels and a sports suspension set-up this big cushy limo sitting on a long 118" wheelbase & weighing-in at 4100 lb does 0-60 mph in 4.6 seconds and has a top speed (with the limiter off) of 179 mph. Pull up next to one of these at the lights with all its ornamental chrome & bulk and you'd never suspect that it will absolutely smoke many so-called sports cars on the road.

My dad was a mechanic. He bought a used 1968 Mercury Commuter station wagon that was a sleeper. It had a Ford 390, a limited-slip differential rear, a tow package that was able to pull anything we stuck on it, and dad was very precise in balance and alignment. It also had a low first gear that he was able to pull a couple of 4WD, one a Jeep Waggoner out of the muck at Boy Scout camp. Mei g Minnesota, road salt and rust made the frame shatter when rear-ended at only 15 years old.

The first thing that came to my mind is the 918 vs nissan patrol 😂

There's also the Mazdaspeed 6, Ford Taurus SHO and the GM sedans with the 3.8L V6 with a supercharger.

6:10 Me - in every car/truck I’ve ever owned on every day there was snow. 🇨🇦

my buddy in high school had an Activa and that thing would fly. we had so much fun on the weekends with that thing surprise we still alive. good times.

9:13 the jaguar xjr575 has more hp and is a bit faster with a higher top speed

volvo and audi sleepers are my fave Hands down

yoooo shoutout to the Opel OPC mention! My dad used to have a Zafira OPC, really fun car (when it didn't spontaneously crack the engine block or had other fun issues)

Incredible what kind of information you provide! I'm from Europe but had no idea about the Saab 9-2X and the Citroën Xantia V6 - Thank you!

New Charger Redeye: I'm the fastest sedan Model S Plaid: hold my 1020hp

A 90s volvo smoked me off the line the other day. In my 350z. It was embarrassing.

I hear the British government are about to replace the Jag Xjs with Audi S8 armored cars. So much for supporting the British car industry Mr Risi Rich.

Dude i have to give it to you - your editing and memes are very on point. When i first subscribed i was like eh okay. Now im blown away. Cool facts about few cars like Citroen. Keep up awesome work man.

5 cylinder engines sound amazing

I'm kinda fond of my 2013 Taurus SHO in cop car white without the brash black/polished 20" flower wheels, but instead the silver 19" SEL wheels. It'll move traffic to the right when bombing down the Turnpike or Parkway.

The '87 regal turbo t with the standard bench seats,horizontal analog speedo and the super tiny digital tach added at the bottom of said speedo as an afterthought will always be the ultimate sleeper

The Mercedes-Benz 190e 2.3-16 and 500e are kinda a sleeper. Old Audi S and RS models specially avants can also be a sleeper

At last the Xantia Activa gets some recognition! I had a two litre petrol turbo, which was hardly any slower than the V6, and it out-cornered everything I encountered.. That annoying guy on your arse? Yeah, wait for the next sharp bend or empty roundabout! The front seats had lumbar support that actually gripped you from the sides to keep you level, otherwise you'd be thrown about, as friends of mine found until I told them which knob to turn on their seat. Get one! (if you can, they were rare when new...)

I used to own volvo v70 2000 and I say that thay are surprisingly fast and sounds like a WRC car but the best thing about that volvo was that they are practical and huge trunk space

Just imagine if Steve McQueen had a 1969 Copo Camero instead of a 1968 Ford Mustang fastback in the movie Bullitt.

Last night I had a dream where I was planning to make an E60 M5 totally look like a 520i from the outside (and a bit from the inside), with the "520i" badge and all lmao.

I'd like to mention the Volvo S60 2.5 t awd from 2009. It's kind of heavy the price of parts can be kind of well pricey, but it is fun

426 Hemi Belvedere. Back in the '80's I was in a buddies Mustang with a built 351C. We pulled up beside this little old lady at a light and he joking asked her of she wanted to race. She said "Silly, I'd just out run you." Light changed and she kept her word. We teased him mercilessly for years over that.

S8 D4 and D5 are strong, and reliable too. Even the S6 C7 sedan can be added to this list, because everyone knows the madness of Audi avant, but few know that sedans can surprise too. My cousin recently bought himself one, 2016, 4.0 V8 twin turbo (like S8). It has 450hp stock, but cousin's car has Stage 3. It’s ~700hp, and my goodness, how it rocks! When the exhaust flaps are down, it's quiet and calm, but when the flaps are up... it sounds like hell!

Owned the V70R. What a machine. Loved it.

There is also the Mazdaspeed 6, a great cheap sleeper which can embarrass expensive sports cars

The higher trim levels of the 96 Ford Escort had some suprising umph. Way more tunable than people assume as well.

My dad had an ultimate Sleeper Car. 1979 Impala. With a 305 V8. It was the Police Package. It was a high Pursuit cop car!. It looked like a normal Impala and it was Gray. Nothing out of the ordinary. But on high speed Pursuits it could be any BMW in the area. Not on take off but quarter mile

I love the way the Camaro's front wheel lift off the ground because of all that POWAAAAAAA

The presentation of audi a8 L was awesome dude ...it was so fun

5:01 Look at the license plate, it wants to be a Honda

12:18 Škoda Octavia RS mk2 facelifted btw. in the Czech Rep. (homeland of the brand) it's most popular with deisel engine. Yup, in Europe we do sports cars with deisels!

The special thing about 850r is that you could modify the hell out of it

10:05 👌😂

The old Mercedes 300 was a monster but looked tame as standard Mercedes, which were often used as Taxis. AMG made it's name tuning it's 6.3l V8. There are some really evil Opel/Vauxhauls tuned by Lotus. The Audi RS were all sleepers from the factory. Renault R5 Turbo. Looked like a standard R5 with a wider back and some air intakes like a smart. But it was a total different animal compared to a normal R5. It was a mid endgined Group B homologation car. Friend of mine bought one for his wife as a crocerery getter. He had no idea about cars, but bought his wife the most expensive R5 he could get. His wife was royaly pissed, as that car had no trunk. In fact it had next to no storage room. So she took his station wagon and he had to drive that pocket rocket.

Great vid man,you are a legend when it comes to car videos

8: Mercury Marauder 9: Skoda Octavia RS 10: Lotus Omega Actually these are giving away their true nature a bit more than regular sleepers

One of my fav kind of sleeps is the Alfa Romeo 156 2.4 JTDm. It´s a 175hp inline 5 diesel, with 385nm tourqe. There are faster cars, but still a lot of people didn´t expect that thing to be very quick. Once I had some BMW tailgateing me through the entire town. That guy wanted to overtake me, as we left the town but before he even changed the lane I just yeeted off into the distance. He had no chance. xD

My dad had a '79 VW Vanagen bus 0-60 In 14 seconds. When we were kids when we had to go over a speed bump he told us to jump up and down so we could get over it😅

Awesome video man! Happy to provide footage for ya! 🤙🏼

7:48 Well that was a surprise. I've always seen Citroen as an uncomfortable, unreliable and silly car. Mainly because of their gear boxes 😂

Entertaining video! Since a lot of these cars aren't American I hadn't seen them before, now I have some more cars for my wish list...

I saw a Mercedes R63 AMG parked outside my house but I never thought it would be that rare 0_o

I would put the Saab 9-3 Viggen on the list

Sleepers: ordinary cars but *WITH MORE POWER*

My mom had a Chevy Nova with a 350 V8. The best part? It was a 1975 model with none of the performance sucking emission controls that were introduced in 1976. Never timed it to get to a speed, but sure did cross 120 a few times easy.

I like the Volvo S80 T6. It looks a bit sleek, but it's a large car and not one that screams speed. You would never guess it has a twin turbo 2,9 liter straight 6.

12:12 *THE CROWN VICTORIA* The iconic cop car

I feel bad for whoever trying to catch a Xantia V6 in their supercar😂

Good list, my all time favourite is the Lancia Thema 8.32. In 1986 Lancia took a Ferrari 8 cylinder and put it in a family sedan.

The Peugoet 806 is even weirder, being a racing van. I love myself a good Turbo Brick. The Volvo V70R AWD is another one :)

1997 Oldsmobile LSS Supercharged. With a intercooler upgrade and an under pulley swap these things have insane potential, plus they look like something a Volvo owner would sneer at.

The car in the video picture! I had that car in the netherlands,1995 volvo T5R,And what a car! Mine came standard as an import from germany,T5R lux line,porshe designed interior,leather and suede inserts,244 horse power station wagon.The engine was the same as the BTCC,winning cars of 95 and on but detuned from the race motor,with a very mild compression ratio,compared to the race engine,So FWD with 244hp,but restricted by the ECU to 250 kmph. The original car,had 3 ECUs,so a seperate one for engine management,easy to swap a chip,So very easy to swap for 310hp,or 400hp,but i chose the 310 chip with 500nm torque,as it was fast enough,The 310 was realy all the restrictions gone and turbo boost,not restricted,the 244pk had a problem with turbo lag,delay.I raced cars in that volvo that could on paper beat me,But their cars cost 5 or ten times more than mine.My friend had bought the car for 7500 euros,and later bsold it to me for 3500,as his wife had a problem with the turbo lag.No such problem for me though once chipped a beast of a car,Off the lights one time with a porshe in the slip lane,thinking he get in front of me? ano chance i floored it and he did not want to play.Another time around a small ring road,of a small town, a ferrari dealership nearby,people test driving the cars,came up behind me,reving his engine,and kept on hanging back and then comeing up my arse again.So again,i kicked down auto box of course,And the ferrari,saw the back end of my car,only for a few seconds more.Then i was gone.Maybe both of these cars in the right hands could have beaten me.But they are so shocked that a fat arse 1700 kilo volvo 850 station wagon,Takes off like a scolded cat . And they think WTF just happened.The truth is even with FWD,volvo T5R can catch running porshe careras,As the road holding is fantastic,No torque steer.Dutch police T5R vs porche carrera,,,porshe gets away faster,police behind.But police find crashed porche carrera.

It's funny you showed a clip of a white GTI racing a blue Charger at the beginning. I just raced a blue Charger in my white GTI not too long ago. I'm only stage 1, so I lost, but I kept up better than I thought I would! For doing nothing other than a tune, I was impressed.

I absolutely love the S8 but I really wish it had the W12 from Bentley :/ I actually think the VW Phaeton was quite the sleeper too

2:25 Besides being a btcc car, if I'm not mistaken, the volvo 850 estate has also been a safety car too

Back in 2003 I had a 1996 Volvo 850 turbo and that thing would MOVE!!! It was beautiful too, but I can only imagine how the 850R must have been

Sick Video!!!Im SO happy you mention my favorite brand Citrooen!!! I drive that!!!!

The Brabus tuned G-wagon is a bit of a sleeper too.

8:28 WOW!

1. Buick with a Corvette Engine (?) 2. Skoda Octavia RS 3. Opel Omega Lotus (i think they call it Vauxhall Lotos in the UK) Great Video Dude👍

best line about a luxury sleeper 10:05 Audi S8 "Excuse me Alfred, would you please smoke these fools?"

Congratulations bro 100k 🔥🔥🔥🔥

I like how he features X Æ A-Xii in 7:02

Back in the 90's the high-end Pontiac Bonneville's had an under-the-hood supercharger that was tuneable. Seen quite a few grandpa cars blow the doors off some vettes. Super unassuming car.

I have a 1999 Volvo V70 with a turbocharged 2,5 litre straight 5, producing 193 HP. This is the first generation V70 (P80) and it is basically a 2nd gen 850. EDIT: The thing is that here in Sweden, a Volvo is one of the coolest car a person in my age (20) can own. Especially if it’s converted to an A-tractor*. *A-tractor, or ”EPA-tractor”, or just ”EPA” is a car with a limited top speed of 30 km / h. After WW2, Swedish farmers had to save money, so instead of buying tractors or any farm vehicles, they rebuilt regular cars instead, which of course was much cheaper. The word ”EPA-tractor” comes from the Swedish low price department store ”EPA”. Nowadays, EPA’s are mostly used by teenagers as you can drive them from the age of 15. They are officially registrated as tractors, but everyone knows that they are cars with a limited top speed. They look exactly like normal cars but with an orange / yellow triangle mounted on the rear side. Some of them are Volvo pickups, which looks like the Australian ”ute” cars. There is even a whole sub culture based on these with it’s own type of music. Popular artists and singers are for example Eddie Meduza, Hooja, FRÖKEN SNUSK, Rasmus Gozzi, Ringnes-Ronny and Albatraoz. There are a lot of bass in these songs and most EPA’s are fitted with a subwoofer in the trunk. Other common things are the ”p*rn lights” (regular RGB lights inside the car), stickers (often with dirty messages), straight pipes, and the legendary ”Biltema-körv” (a hot dog from the department store Biltema).

10:13 He used ryannotbrian's "Bloody hell" dialogue

That copo engine sound though 😍