For better or worse, the automotive industry as it stands right now is all about numbers and specs. How fast is a car? How much does it weigh? What sort of 0-60 times can it do? What has the most interior space? What gets the best gas mileage?
We can’t cover all of that in one reasonably sized slideshow, so we have decided to concentrate on the most fun spec: 0-60. We are going to be laying out what cars can get from a dead-stop to that magical 60 mph in the least amount of time.
As you may expect, just about every car on this list is an aggressively expensive hypercar or one of the most powerful electric vehicles in the world. In a few cases, it’s both. Ten out of the 15 vehicles on this list are either regular electric vehicles or have some sort of plug-in hybrid component to their drivetrain, and six of them are just straight-up EVs. What this tells us is if you want some seriously fast acceleration, you’re going to have to add a couple of electric motors.
Anyway, that’s enough yapping outa me. What do you say we take a quick look at some of the fastest accelerating vehicles in the world?
15. Bugatti Chiron – 2.4 Seconds
Motor: 8.0-liter quad-turbo W16
Power: 1,500 horsepower & 1180 lb-ft of torque
I remember thinking as a kid that the Bugatti Veyron, and by extension, the Chiron, were the fastest and quickest vehicles that would ever be made. Now, it doesn’t even get close to the top 10 of our list. Bonkers.
14. Porsche Taycan Turbo S – 2.4 Seconds
Motor: EV
Power: 938 horsepower (using launch control) & 818 lb-ft of torque
The Taycan Turbo S is mighty fast as a sedan, but if you don’t mind losing a few tenths of a second off your 0-60 time, you can get the fastest wagon in the world: The Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo. That’ll do 0-60 in 2.7 seconds, which is nothing to sneeze at.
13. Tesla Model X Plaid – 2.3 Seconds
Motor: EV
Power: 1,020 horsepower & 1,151 lb-ft of torque
It’s very impressive that the biggest car on our list can do 0-60 that quickly. It’s truly a feet of engineering on Tesla’s part, which isn’t something you’ll hear me say very often.
12. Ferrari 296 GTB – 2.3 Seconds
Motor: 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V6 PHEV
Power: 819 horsepower & 546 lb-ft of torque
It’s pretty wild to think that the 296 GTB is on the lower end of Ferrari’s performance scale, but that’s the world we live in now.
11. Tesla Model S P100D – 2.28 Seconds
Motor: EV
Power: 780 horsepower & 920 lb-ft of torque
Before we had Plaid, we had P100D. Tesla was pulling off these silly acceleration times nearly six years ago. No wonder it shocked the world.
10. Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ – 2.2 Seconds
Motor: 8.0-liter quad-turbo W16
Power: 1,600 horsepower & 1,189 lb-ft of torque
It is exceedingly rare for a car capable of doing 0-60 in 2.2 seconds that isn’t actually famous for that statistic. No, sir. The Chiron Super Sport 300+ is famous for being able to hit, in theory, 304 mph. Hence, “300+.”
9. Lamborghini Huracán Performante – 2.2 Seconds
Motor: 5.2-liter NA V10
Power: 631 horsepower & 443 lb-ft of torque
The Huracán Performante is the only naturally aspirated vehicle on this list, making Lamborghini’s achievement with this car all the more impressive.
8. Porsche 911 Turbo S (992) – 2.1 Seconds
Motor: 3.7-liter twin-turbocharged H6
Power: 640 horsepower & 590 lb-ft of torque
What’s really cool about the 911 Turbo S is that it can hit 0-60 in 2.1 seconds over and over and over again to your heart’s desire.
7. Porsche 918 Spyder – 2.1 Seconds
Motor: 4.6-liter V8 PHEV
Power: 887 horsepower & 944 lb-ft of torque
Ya know, I think now that we’re a few years away from the Holy Trinity plug-in hypercars, I can say the 918 Spyder was the best one. Sure, the LaFerrari and McLaren P1 were cool, but this was better to me.
6. Ferrari SF90 Stradale – 2.0 Seconds
Motor: 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 PHEV
Power: 986 horsepower & 590 lb-ft of torque
Think about how many rich and awful Ferrari owners are crashing these things into trees and ditches. I’m surprised there are any left.
5. Tesla Model S Plaid – 1.98 Seconds
Motor: EV
Power: 1,020 horsepower & 1,050 lb-ft of torque
Shockingly, the Model S Plaid is actually the cheapest vehicle on this list, and one of the only cars you can actually get for under $US100,000 since prices start at $US89,630 (the Model X Plaid starts at $US94,630).
4. Koenigsegg Gemera – 1.9 Seconds
Motor: 5.0-liter twin-turbo V8 PHEV
Power: 2,300 horsepower & 2,028 lb-ft of torque
Koenigsegg is a company full of wild and amazing people. Of course, they’d make their quickest vehicle ever a four-seater. Why wouldn’t they?
3. Lucid Air Sapphire – 1.89 Seconds
Motor: EV
Power: 1,234 horsepower & 1,430 lb-ft of torque
Having driven the Air Sapphire, I can confidently say this car is every bit as fast as advertised. No vehicle has rearranged my innards like this thing at full power. Sure, it costs a quarter million bucks, but you can take yourself and four friends on a journey into hyperspace.
2. Rimac Nevera – 1.74 Seconds
Motor: EV
Power: 1,888 horsepower & 1,731 lb-ft of torque
From everything I’ve heard, the Rimac Nevera is absolutely batshit insane and should not be in the hands of mere mortals like us. I mean, it nearly killed Richard Hammond a few years ago, so you know it’s serious. Still, who the hell cares? This thing is awesome and I desperately want to drive one.
1. Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 – 1.66 Seconds
Motor: 6.2-liter supercharged V8
Power: 1,028 horsepower & 945 lb-ft of torque
THAT’S RIGHT. USA BABY. WE’RE NUMBER ONE. WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? I AM!