TOP 5: Extreme road cars

The Chevrolet Corvette Z06 is only the beginning for the US supercar

In life there’s a place for logic, reason and sensibility, but occasionally they need to be ignored. Otherwise, we’d all be driving Toyota Camrys with just enough power to do 110km/h, eating nutritionally optimised slop and working 16 hours a day, every day – probably.

To celebrate none of these things being a reality, we give you five of the most over-the-top, senselessly radical sports cars that have ever worn number-plates – that can be purchased brand new. Impressively, four of the five vehicles on this list have somehow snuck past the Australian Design Rules whose creators, if put in charge of everything and anything, would doubtless be mandating said slop for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Let’s get to it.

Aston Martin Valkyrie

The closest thing to driving an F1 car on the road, says Aston Martin – the same roads, of course, that include construction sites, cyclists and all manner of other hazards. Not that we’re whinging, as who would refuse the keys to Aston Martin’s 865kW, hybrid V12 hypercar, one revving to 11,000rpm. While the Valkyrie can’t be road-registered in Australia – not until an enterprising individual figures out how to, anyway – we’ve included it on this list as at least one has arrived Down Under. Costing a cool $6m, Australian entrepreneur Laurence Escalante has added a red AMR Pro to his Lee Collection in Perth, although to be fair that’s intended to be the track-only Valkyrie version.

VIDEO: Check out the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro on the track

Chevrolet Corvette ZR1

While the vehicle pictured is the Corvette Z06 with the optional, track-ready Z07 Performance Package, there’s another version coming with even more insane styling – and it’s expected to go on-sale in Australia. The next Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 – and all those ZR1s before it – are America’s way of challenging the European supercar fraternity at its own track-special game.

The next ZR1 is tipped be powered by a twin-turbo, flatplane-crank V8 pumping out no less than 634kW and 1119Nm, almost double the torque of the current Z06 while our spies have spotted mules racing around the Nurburgring at blistering pace. An even more berserk version is also rumoured called the Zora, mating that engine to a front electric motor for all-wheel-drive and outputs that are off-the-charts.

Ferrari SF90 XX

XX used to be reserved for track-only specials, but Ferrari has figured out how to sneak number-plates on its latest iteration: the SF90 XX. With a lazy 758kW from its hybridised powertrain – a mix of 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 and triple electric motors – zero to 100km/h takes just 2.3 seconds, while 0-200km/h 6.5sec. As well as Sport and Race modes, there’s a Qualifying mode which gives you additional hits of power, responsible alone for shaving 0.25sec off the record-breaking Fiorano road-legal lap time, says Ferrari. All things that will come perfectly in handy for the run to Coles – if you can stomach the $1.5m entry fee.

VIDEO: Watch the Ferrari SF90 XX smash the lap record at Fiorano

Lamborghini Huracan STO

Possibly the tamest car on this – which is saying something – Lamborghini’s Huracan STO is bred for the racetrack, yet is more than up for ambling through a McDonald’s drive-through. STO stands for Super Trofeo Omologata and makes the link to Lambo’s one-make Super Trofeo racer and its GT3-specification car.

Its 5.2-litre V10 pumps out 470kW and 565Nm, which doesn’t seem like much compared to some of the turbocharged or hybrid vehicles on this list, but based on nothing but the noise you’d swear it made twice the power. With its giant rear wing and Alcantara-cladded interior, the Huracan is perpetually alive with feedback from the road – for better or worse. Yours for $596,000.

Porsche 911 GT3 RS

When it comes to road-car must-haves, you might think something like the ability to lock it so you can park in public places. But what about 860kg of downforce, active aerodynamics and the ability to minutely adjust the compression and rebound of the shock absorbers, and the locking of the differential?

That’s what you get when you park the new 992 911 GT3 RS in the driveway – the wildest modern Porsche to ever be road registrable. With its Cup Car styling including a rear wing that would make an ironing board blush, the $500,200, atmo flat-six GT3 RS is textbook overkill for the road – and exactly why we couldn’t love it more.