A sport compact is a high-performance version of a compact car or a subcompact car. They are typically front engined, front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive coupés, sedans, or hatchbacks driven by a straight-4 gasoline engine. Performance-oriented sport compacts generally focus on improving handling and increasing performance by engine efficiency, rather than increasing engine size. Sport compacts often feature external body modifications to improve aerodynamics or house larger wheels.

Typical sport compacts include such examples as Ford Escort RS Cosworth, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, Mitsubishi Eclipse, Honda Civic Si, Chevrolet Cobalt SS, Ford Focus SVT, Opel Astra GTC, Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V, Hyundai Tiburon, Honda Prelude, Toyota Celica and Scion tC TRD. The Toyota Celica which introduced in 1971 was the first Japanese sport compacts.

The exact definition of a sport compact remains a subject of debate. Some believe that any 4-cylinder compact car falls into this category, clearly placing cars such as the Nissan 240SX, Acura Integra, and Toyota Celica in the sport compact category. However, the Lotus Esprit was offered with a 4-cylinder engine that produced greater than 100 horsepower (75 kW) per litre engine displacement—a feat achieved only by exotic sports cars at the time. Today, its performance is largely eclipsed by high-performance versions of compact cars such as the Ford Escort RS Cosworth, Ford Focus RS, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, Volkswagen R32 or the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. As with most automotive language, the category "sports compact" is not precise.