Out of all the production cars that have come and gone in the last decade, just 131 of them are worthy of entering the Autocar Speed Club.
“Zero-to-sixty miles-an-hour in 2.6 seconds,” – easy to say, isn’t it? Heinously difficult to actually accelerate a car from a standing start to 60mph in the time it takes to say it, though. Not to mention costly. Just ask Bugatti.
It’s widely accepted that the Veyron – the fastest production car ever tested by Autocar – will never contribute a single bean to VW Group coffers. And that’s in spite of the fact that the company has sold 450 examples of the car, combining coupes and convertibles, at between £840,000- and a cool £2mil-a-piece, raising… well, you do the adding up.
That’s what it takes to top our new Speed Club. Below you’ll find a collection of cars tested by Autocar over the last decade, all of which are born out of the single-minded pursuit of speed. These cars have, to the last line, set new standards on performance right across the car market. This – as far as we’re concerned – is the cutting edge. These are the fastest production cars in the world, as experienced by our test team.
And if you’re wondering if any of them actually matter to the motoring public at large, consider this: the aforementioned pursuit of speed in road cars has improved every new model you can buy today.
Materials and technologies first applied to performance cars – from aluminium and carbonfibre to turbochargers, direct injection and variable valve timing – are now being applied to superminis to save weight and boost efficiency. Active aerodynamics now feature on diesel hatchbacks, driving down fuel consumption. Traction and stability control systems originally conceived for the track save more lives on our roads by the day.
So the cars you’re about to read about aren’t just fast: they’re pioneers. And we salute ‘em.
Bugatti Veyron SS - 2.5 secs, 268mph
Pagani Zonda R - 2.7 secs, 217mph
Nissan GT-R Track Pack - 2.8 secs, 196mph
BAC Mono - 2.8 secs, 170mph
Lamborghini Aventador LP700 4 - 2.9 secs, 217mph
Ferrari 599XX - 2.9 secs, 196mph
Ariel Atom V8 - 3.0 secs, 170mph
James Lewis-Barned / James Mortimore / Roberto Antonio Pace
Ariel Atom 3 Mugen - 3.0 secs. 150mph
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Missing the Point
kraftwerk - - -
Yes, that's obvious. The point is: since Autocar is alleging a sampling of cars "across the market" and "cutting edge", why haven't they searched out the Z06, ZR1, Koenigsegg Agera R, AMG 45, SRT Viper, etc, to make sure they would have driven them before asembling this list? Otherwise, what value does this list have for anyone outside the Autocar staff??
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NMGOM wrote: kraftwerk - -
Where does the piece claim that these 131 cars are from 'across the market'? And who in their right mind wouldn't think that a sample of 131 of the world's fastest cars wasn't fairly representative of the market anyway? The piece describes the selection as the cutting edge of the cars Autocar staff have driven, not of the market as a whole. Were the list full of Perodua Kenaris and Fiat Ideas you might have a point. Did it never cross your mind that there is likely a more complex reason for any particular car not having appeared than simply 'Autocar didn't seek it out'?
Then again, for some people it's easier and more fun to pick holes than to just enjoy something for what it is.
No A45 AMG?
Well, Autocar's Steve Sutcliffe has driven the A45 AMG and its faster than several cars in this list. Can you please share with us the "complex reason" behind this omission?
fadyady wrote: kraftwerk
Nope. Can you?
Whatever?
Hey guys, is there a reason why the A45 AMG doesn't make your list?
Whatever you have against Merc, its still faster than many on this list.
My wife have tuning Nissan
My wife have tuning Nissan GT-R, I couldn`t believe that it`s one of the quickest production car ever.