Ever since humans built some sort of machine to make them go faster than their legs could take them, speed, and going faster again, has fascinated.
In the world of cars, even today, the fixation on v-maxes continues – even if it’s perhaps subsided slightly as car-makers butt up against pesky laws of physics.
Still, though, having the fastest car on the planet is good enough of a bragging right to motivate engineers and designers to have a crack.
In this article, we give the world’s top five fastest new production cars you can sort of buy now – or at least the fastest ones built in recent years.
READ MORE: Bugatti and Rimac join forces for EV hypercars
1. Bugatti Chiron Supersport 300+
The long-tail Bugatti Chiron remains one of the fastest production vehicles on earth. After almost 70 seconds at full throttle, the Chiron Supersport officially eclipsed the 300mph (482km/h) barrier at the Ehra-Lessien high-speed bowl in Germany on August 2, 2019. Its driver was Le Mans winner Andy Wallace, and the official top speed recorded was an incredible 490.48km/h. Powering the ballistic Bug is an 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16 producing 1177kW and 1600Nm and while its v-max is mighty, even its 0-200km/h time of 5.8sec is enough to have any lunch feeling a little unsettled in the stomach.
2. SSC Tuatara
The American brand formerly known as Shelby SuperCars (hence SSC) claims its Tuatara hypercar is capable of 500km/h, and has been recorded at 475km/h in private testing. In the back of this wildly styled speed machine there’s a 5.9-litre flat-plane crank twin-turbo V8 capable of 1300kW when running on E85, sending its prodigious quantity of homegrown American ponies through a seven-speed automated manual gearbox and, like a few cars on this list, two tortured rear tyres. The SSC is yet to be homologated for road use so it’s a bit of a ‘grey area’ addition to this list, but an interesting one nonetheless.
3. Hennessey Venom F5
Hailing from Texas in the USA, Hennessey built its reputation on creating aftermarket tuned cars with staggering quantities of horsepower. So it’s not entirely surprising that when it created a hypercar of its own, it fitted a 6.6-litre twin-turbo V8 producing an almost unbelievable 1355kW and 1617Nm, all through two very unlucky rear tyres. While it hasn’t yet been tested, Hennessey claims the Venom F5 can exceed 485km/h – which would make it the fastest production car on earth. All 24 cars confirmed for production have already been sold, at around US$2m a pop (A$3m).
4. Rimac Nevera
The only electric car on this list, the low-slung, two-seat Rimac Nevera packs four electric motors and a thumping 1914kW and 2340Nm. Zero to 100km/h takes just 1.81 seconds, 0-300km/h 9.22sec on to a tested top speed of 412km/h. Just 150 units exist at a price in the if-you-have-to-ask millions, and there really isn’t much more to know about this Croatian hypercar other than it tears through the air like it’s a sheet of paper. It’s also currently the fastest production EV at the Nurburgring Nordschleife.
VIDEO: Watch the Rimac Nevera hit 412km/h
5. McLaren Speedtail
It seems appropriate the brand that produced the McLaren F1 – the holder of the title of fastest production car in the world through most of the 90s, not beaten until the Bugatti Veyron – should be on this list. The Speedtail, with its 5.2-metre long teardrop shape, officially hit 403km/h at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, in 2019. That’s thanks in part to a mid-mounted, 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 and hybrid system that produces a combined 772kW and 1150Nm, all directed to the rear wheels. The sculpted Speedtail almost looks like it’s doing 403km/h standing still.
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