We're in a golden era of speed. Even though we considered all of our 21st-century tests for this list, just one car from 2000–2010 made the grade, that being the quad-turbo, Ferdinand Piëch–special Bugatti Veyron. Every single car on this list bursts from zero to 60 mph before the second hand ticks three times. It’s hard to imagine that cars will continue to get quicker and quicker at the same pace we’ve witnessed over the decades, but we’re eagerly awaiting the first car that breaks the mile-a-minute barrier in less than two seconds. You know it’s coming.
Be sure to also take a spin through the quickest cars we tested in the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s.
10. 2014 Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet — 2.8 seconds (tie)
March 2015
Our old mental image of the Porsche 911 as that expensive but attainable little sports car for people willing to stretch just a bit from a Corvette has been outdated for several years now. First off, the 911 is no longer little, being half an inch longer than the hardly-small C7 Corvette. And its attainability, if it ever existed, seems a distant memory. Although you can order a stripper Carrera for $85,295, thanks to Porsche’s thick catalog of available options, it seems ages since we’ve seen one for less than $100K. And here we have the top-dog 911, the Turbo S Cabriolet, with a stunning price of $210,620, a figure that moves the 911 beyond its traditional phylum in the near-exotic and fully into the realm of boutique bolide. READ MORE >>
9. 2011 Porsche 911 Turbo S — 2.8 seconds (tie)
June 2012
A Turbo S has no clutch pedal. The carbon-ceramic brakes make crunchy-granola sounds when applied at walking speeds. The rear seat is a tad tight. Except for these foibles, this 530-hp buggy is within spitting distance of perfection. READ MORE >>
8. 2014 McLaren P1 — 2.7 seconds (tie)
August 2014
Here is a rough transcript of what I uttered when I first unleashed the full 903 horsepower of the McLaren P1: “[Cackle, cackle] Holy [bleep]! That’s . . . [cackle]. I, uh . . . wow. [cackle].” READ MORE >>
Tested by Autocar but published in C/D.
7. 2011 Porsche 911 Turbo S — 2.7 seconds (tie)
November 2011
If this face doesn’t look familiar, you haven’t been paying attention. The basic envelope has been evolving since 1965, and turbocharging has been a 911 powertrain option since 1976 in the U.S. READ MORE >>
6. 2014 Porsche 911 Turbo S — 2.6 seconds
May 2014
Have you ever peeked through the window of a sports car to see what transmission it has? Did you scoff and silently judge the owner for saddling his or her sports car with an automatic? We’ve done that, too. But if you spot a new 911 Turbo on the street, don’t bother peering through the glass; this one only comes with a dual-clutch automatic. READ MORE >>
5. 2015 Ferrari LaFerrari — 2.5 seconds (tie)
April 2015
To test the Ferrari LaFerrari, we traveled to Italy to the storied marque’s personal track, Fiorano. Ferrari’s offer was this: We could either test there—or not at all. We chose to test. READ MORE >>
4. 2015 Lamborghini Huracán LP610-4 — 2.5 seconds (tie)
September 2014
You may know the Nardò Ring as the 7.8-mile asphalt track where the world’s automakers take their top-speed vacations. A traffic-free circular autobahn in the heel of Italy’s boot, the Porsche-owned test track is banked such that you can take your hands off any car’s steering wheel at 149 mph in the outer lane. It’s one of the few places on the planet where Lamborghini’s new 10-cylinder wedge, the Huracán, could prove to us how aerodynamically sound it is approaching its claimed top speed of 202 mph. READ MORE >>
3. 2014 Porsche 911 Turbo S — 2.5 seconds (tie)
April 2014
It’s easy to get into a fast rhythm here. The car feels nimble and tossable. From inside, the flat-six snarls and barks as 911s have since 1965. From outside, though, it’s a different story. On boost, the Turbo S sounds like so much escaping air, like the devil’s own blowtorch. READ MORE >>
2. 2008 Bugatti Veyron — 2.5 seconds (tie)
December 2008
Driving a Bugatti Veyron is like carrying a 14.6-foot-long open wallet that is spewing 50-dollar bills. Drivers rush up from behind, tailgating before swerving into either of the Veyron’s rear-three-quarter blind spots, where they hang ape-like out of windows to snap photos with their cell phones. They won’t leave, either, because they know the Bugatti, averaging 11 mpg, can’t go far without refueling and that its driver will soon need to take a minute to compose himself. And when you open the Veyron’s door to exit—a gymnastic feat that requires grabbing one of your own ankles to drag it across that huge, hot sill—you will be greeted by 5 to 15 persons wielding cameras and asking questions. If you’re wearing shorts or a skirt, here’s a tip: Wear underwear. READ MORE >>
1. 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder — 2.2 seconds
August 2014
Flush as we are with nutty performance cars at the moment, we should remember that automobiles as quick as the Porsche 918 don’t come along too often. In 2008, the quickest (and fastest) production car we had ever tested was the Bugatti Veyron 16.4. It could hit 60 mph in 2.5 seconds and burn the quarter-mile in 10.1 ticks. The Porsche 918 crushes the original million-dollar car with a 2.2-second sprint to 60 mph and a 9.8-second quarter-mile time. To put that in perspective, 0.3 second is about how long it takes you to blink. As acceleration times shrink, their deltas become increasingly larger percentage gains, so the 918’s third-of-a-second edge over the Veyron represents an astounding achievement. READ MORE >>
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