The Quickest Cars of the Decade
Marc UrbanoCar and Driver
First, let’s make something clear: Quickest refers to acceleration, and fastest refers to top speed. And, good lord, has it been a nice decade for Car and Driver’s acceleration testing. We recorded the fastest zero-to-60-mph production-car time in Car and Driver history. We rocketed a $243,000 SUV to 60 mph in almost 3 seconds flat. And, to align with the industry standard, we shifted our acceleration testing to include a one-foot rollout.
To celebrate a decade well spent, we’ve compiled a list of the quickest cars we tested from 2010 to 2022.
The most normal-looking car vehicle on this, the 620-hp Porsche Panamera Turbo S we tested weighed in at 4702 pounds and ripped to 60 mph in only 2.6 seconds. There’s no chassis-mounted wing, no center-locking wheels, and it has 47 cubic feet of cargo space with the rear seats down. That normal enough for you? The luxury hatchback measured 1.07 g of grip around the skidpad, matching the new 911 Turbo S Cabriolet in lateral grip. The Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s are an obvious performance enhancer here, but give credit where credits due. Especially when something this big flies passed the quarter-mile marker in 10.8 seconds at 127 mph.
Tested date: June 2021Price as tested: $199,480 (base price: $179,050)Engine: 620-hp 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8, eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmissionWeight: 4702 lb
MORE PANAMERA TURBO SPECS
A rear-biassed all-wheel-drive system gets the 630-hp Mercedes-AMG GT63 S to 60 mph in just 2.6 seconds. Our test car wore Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, and unlike many at this level of performance, uses a traditional nine-speed automatic over a dual-clutch transmission. The GT63 S did a quarter-mile in 10.7 seconds at 129 mph.
Price as tested: $199,910 (Base price: $162,950)Powertrain: 630-hp twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8, nine-speed automatic transmissionWeight: 4620 lb
MORE GT63 SPECS
The BMW M5 CS is a littler heavier than the last M5 Competition we tested, but it also has a little more horsepower. They both get to 60 mph in 2.6 seconds, but the M5 CS gets to the quarter-mile mark 0.3 second quicker.
Price as tested: $148,995 (Base price: $143,995)Powertrain: 627-hp twin-turbo 4.4-liter V-8, eight-speed automatic transmissionWeight: 4096
MORE M5 SPECS
Superhero looks, and a 631-hp V-10? The Lamborghini Huracán STO is a special trim, and, as if you couldn’t tell by the wing, it offers a complimentary nod to the GT3 race car. All of its aero contributes to the car’s 926 pounds of downforce at 174 mph.
Price as tested: $453,396 (Base price: $333,633)Powertrain: 631-hp 5.2-liter V-10, seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmissionWeight: 3351 lb
MORE HURACAN SPECS
We used launch control to achieve the majority of these zero-to-60-mph times. The McLaren 720S’s launch button is intertwined with the radio, climate, and navigation controls. With both pedals squeezed, the digital tachometer sits at around 3200 rpm for four full seconds before “Boost Ready” flashes on the digital instrument cluster. Sixty miles per hour arrives 2.6 seconds after takeoff.
Tested date: February 2018Price as tested: $378,215 (base price: $288,845)Engine: 710-hp 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8, seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmissionWeight: 3161 lb
MORE 720S SPECS
This 700-hp Porsche 911 GT2 RS isn’t only quick to 60 mph, it takes just 5.5 seconds to hit 100 mph and blasts through the quarter-mile in 10.2 seconds at 140 mph. Its twin-turbocharged flat-six engine and racing-derived aerodynamics make it a beast on the track, too, where it once held the all-time fastest lap at our annual Lightning Lap competition at Virginia International Raceway. It also held the production-car lap record at the Nürburgring.
Tested date: June 2018Price as tested: $348,730 (base price: $294,250)Engine: 700-hp 3.8-liter twin-turbo flat-six, seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmissionWeight: 3376 lb
MORE 911 GT2 RS SPECS
The BMW M8 is disguised as a giant four-seater coupe, but get behind the wheel of this 617-hp twin-turbocharged V-8 for a loud reminder that looks can be deceiving. It’s snappy eight-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel-drive system mimic NASA launches, and even when blasting to a quarter-mile, the M8 manages to do it in 10.7 seconds at 129 mph. The Pirelli P Zero PZ4 tires provide plenty of grip and kept the M8 clung to the skidpad at 1.03 g.
Tested date: July 2020Price as tested: $175,745 (base price: $147,995)Engine: 617-hp twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V-8, eight-speed automatic transmissionWeight: 4251 lb
MORE M8 SPECS
The Porsche Taycan Turbo S is a high-performance battery-powered sedan without the autonomous nannies found on the Tesla Model S. Both EVs are quick, in fact its 50 to 70 mph acceleration time matched the Model S Performance with 1.6 seconds—the two quickest recorded times ever. Two permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors with a combined output of 750-hp and 774 lb-ft are responsible for the speed.
Tested date: February 2020Price as tested: $205,180 (base price: $186,350)Motor: 2 permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors, 255 and 449 hp, 325 and 450 lb-ft; combined output, 750 hp, 774 lb-ft; single-speed direct drive (front), two-speed automatic (rear) transmissionWeight: 5246 lb
MORE TAYCAN SPECS
The Tesla Model S Performance does it all. A 98.0 kWh battery pack gives it an EPA range of 326 miles on a single charge, it can lane change while in auto pilot with the blink of a– well, blinker, and there’s even a fart button. More importantly, it’s quick too, more so with Cheetah mode enabled. We were able to go a tenth quicker to 60 mph than we had prior, as Cheetah mode boosts power output and crouches the car’s stance on launch. The Model S Performance is powered by motors at each axle that normally produces a combined output of 778-hp with a neck-breaking 841 lb-ft of torque.
Tested date: February 2020Price as tested: $114,690 (base price: $101,190)Motor: permanent-magnet synchronous AC front motor, AC induction rear motor, 275 and 503 hp, 310 and 531 lb-ft; combined output, 778 hp, 841 lb-ft; single-speed direct drive (front), single-speed direct drive (rear) transmissionWeight: 5003 lb
MORE MODEL S SPECS
The $3.7-million Bugatti Chiron Sport is the most expensive car on the list, but it’s slower to 60 mph than three other cars on this list. But—and this is an important but—it is the quickest car to reach a quarter-mile that we’ve ever tested. It did that in 9.4 seconds at a wild 158 mph. With launch control enabled, the revs stick at 2500 rpm, but even that far from redline the engine is already making up to 562 horsepower. After blast off, the Chiron averages more than 1.00 g longitudinally all the way to 70 mph. And 100 to 160 mph is over in 5.2 seconds. The Chiron gets from 100 to 200 mph in 11.3-seconds—quicker than the Honda Civic Type R gets to 100 mph.
Tested date: December 2020Price as tested: $3,710,850 (base price: $3,273,000)Engine: 1479-hp 8.0-liter quad-turbocharged W-16 engine, seven-speed dual-clutch transmissionWeight: 4544 lb
MORE CHIRON INFO
Though not the quickest member of the 992-generation on the list, this German convertible packs the same 640-hp twin-turbo flat-six as its coupe counterpart, and does so with a claimed 205-mph top speed. Now that Porsche 911 Turbo models use an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic, the close-spaced shifts mean more time moving and less time waiting. Our test car wore Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperSport tires and achieved an impressive 1.07 g of grip around the skidpad. Again, not the highest mark for a 992, but still worth noting. Using launch control, we hauled the 911 Turbo S Cabriolet to 60 mph in just 2.3 seconds. We reached 100 mph in 5.4 seconds and crossed the quarter-mile in 10.2 at 136 mph.
Tested date: June 2021Price as tested: $234,570 (base price: $218,650)Engine: 640-hp 3.7-liter twin-turbocharged flat-six, eight-speed dual-clutch transmissionWeight: 3826 lb
MORE 911 TURBO S SPECS
A 631-hp V-10 engine, all-wheel drive, and sticky Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R tires makes the Huracán Performante the second-fastest car we have ever tested. It went from zero to 60 mph in 2.2 seconds. The V-10 engine sounds fast, too, providing a 100-decibel naturally aspirated symphony at wide-open throttle, one of the loudest figures we recorded this decade.
Tested date: October 2017Price as tested: $317,285 (base price: $279,185)Engine: 631-hp 5.2-liter V-10, seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmissionWeight: 3429 lb
MORE HURACAN SPECS
The Porsche 911 Turbo S is somewhat of a performance bargain considering the quickest car we’ve ever tested costs four times as much, but is only quicker by a tenth of a second. The secret to the 911 Turbo S and its astonishing acceleration is its advanced all-wheel-drive system. It can send up to 368 of its 590 lb-ft of torque to the front wheels, which helped it reach 30 mph in 0.9 second. The 640-hp 3.7-liter twin-turbo flat-six helps, too. That’s 60 horsepower more than regular 911 Turbo models. For grip, our test car used four Pirelli P Zero PZ4 tires, with 255/35ZR-20 up front and 315/30ZR-21 in the rear. A 2.2-second zero-to-60 mph run is scary fast from a production car, and its 10.1-second quarter-mile time is even nuttier. Shoot, even the 572-hp 911 Turbo we’ve tested got to 60 mph in 2.4 seconds. However, the Turbo S can reach 137 mph quicker than you can spell Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen.
Tested date: October 2020Base price: $204,850Engine: 640-hp 3.7-liter twin-turbo flat-six, eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmissionWeight: 3646 lb
MORE 911 TURBO SPECS
We tested the quickest car of the decade in May 2014. The hybrid, all-wheel-drive Porsche 918 Spyder has two electric motors with a combined 285 horsepower paired with a 608-hp 4.6-liter V-8. By routing torque—as much as 830 lb-ft—to all four wheels, the 918 maximizes traction and blasts to 60 mph in an unbelievably quick 2.1 seconds.
Tested date: May 2014Price as tested: $875,175 (base price: $847,975)Engine: 887-hp 4.6-liter V-8 with 2 AC motors, seven-speed dual-clutch automaticWeight: 3724 lb
MORE 918 SPYDER SPECS
It’s a sign of the times when the two quickest cars we’ve ever tested don’t rely solely on a gas engine. The Model S Plaid ripped to 60 mph in 2.1 seconds and hit the quarter-mile in 9.4, or just as quickly as the $3.7 million Bugatti Chiron Sport. (Though the Chiron’s 158 mph at the quarter beat the Tesla’s 151 mph.)
Tested date: December 2021Price as tested: $137,440 (Base price: $131,440)Powertrain: 3 permanent-magnet synchronous AC; combined output: 1020 horsepower, front/rear direct-drive transmissionsWeight: 4828 lb
MORE MODEL S SPECS
We’ve tested over 1000 vehicles in that last seven years and none had been able to dethrone Porsche’s 893-hp 918 Spyder. Until now. After a 3500-rpm launch to 60 mph in the Ferrari SF90 Stradale, with the transmission set to manual, we’ve got a new leader. The SF90 Stradale makes 986 horsepower from a plug-in hybrid powertrain featuring two 113-hp motors on the front axle, a 769-hp twin-turbo V-8 behind the seats, and 201-hp electric motor stuffed between that and the eight-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. The SF90 Stradale starts at $511,250. The one we tested at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway had $193,697 in options—including the lightweight Assetto Fiorano package—running its price up to $704,929. You have to pay the cost to be the boss.
Tested date: July 2021Price as tested: $704,92 (base price: $511,250)Engine: 769-hp 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 with two 133-hp AC motors and one 201-hp AC motor; combined output, 986 hp, eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmissionWeight: 3840 lb
MORE SF90 STRADALE INFO
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