Whenever possible, MOTOR Magazine independently performance tests fast (and sometimes not so fast) cars to discover how they compare to their manufacturer claims, and how their performance translates to the real world.
We’ve begun to see some incredibly impressive real-world times appear over the last few years, so it seemed sensible to begin a collation of our best strip-runs.
Of course, this list will be updated in the future, so keep an eye on it!
RANKED: The fastest cars we’ve ever tested
1st – 2021 Porsche 992 911 Turbo S
Quarter Mile: 10.28sec @ 217.32km/h
0-100km/h: 2.58sec
Tested in: PCOTY ’21
The Porsche 992 Turbo S demolished everything at PCOTY 2021 in a straight line. 2.58 seconds to 100km/h is seriously rapid, but the real gobsmacker was a standing start sprint to 200km/h… in just 8 seconds. While it didn’t win in its PCOTY year, we came away proudly proclaiming it to be the fastest car we’d ever strapped timing gear to. It still owns the quarter mile crown, but its mindbending acceleration figures would soon be eclipsed (see 7th).
2nd – 2022 McLaren 720S
Quarter Mile: 10.40sec @ 231.14km/h
0-100km/h: 3.10sec
Tested in: Mar ’22
The fastest and most extravagent car ever to grace the MOTOR long-term test fleet, the manic McLaren took to Heathcote drag strip on a sweltering 35-degree day and posted a scarcely-believable 10.4-second pass over the quarter. A modest 3.1-second sprint from 0-100km/h make its ballistic terminal speed (the highest across 400m on this list) even more remarkable.
3rd – 2021 Porsche 911 992 Turbo
Quarter Mile: 10.55sec @ 214.3km/h
0-100km/h: 2.83sec
Tested in: APR ’21
The 911 Turbo represents one of the ultimate super sleepers on the market, capable of delivering a blistering 10.55-second dash across the 400m, fresh out of the box. It trails its Turbo S big brother by precious tenths of a second from 0-100km/h and across the quarter mile, but costs almost $80k less.
4th – 2022 Lamborghini Huracan Evo Fluo Capsule
Quarter Mile: 10.57sec @ 219.04km/h
0-100km/h: 2.93sec
Tested in: PCOTY ’22
The highlighter-hued Lamborghini was one of the stars attractions of PCOTY 2022. It posted some serious performance figures throughout the week of testing, but ultimately finished second behind the 992 GT3. Amongst the closely-fought PCOTY field, it achieved dominant quarter mile times and V-Max, and out accelerated all except for the manic Porsche Taycan Turbo S.
5th – 2019 Porsche 991.2 911 GT2 RS
Quarter Mile: 10.63sec @ 220.85km/h
0-100km/h: 3.13sec
Tested in: PCOTY ’19
Porsche’s 991.2 911 hero is our 2019 Performance Car of the Year winner, and – at the time – was the fastest car we’d ever independently performance tested.
6th – 2017 Porsche 991.2 911 Turbo S
Quarter Mile: 10.70sec @ 212.4km/h
0-100km/h: 2.9sec
Tested in: PCOTY ’17
Though it’s not nearly as powerful as GT2 big brother, the 911 Turbo S’ all-wheel drive gives it an upper hand with traction, and a bloody quick ET. Winner at PCOTY 2017, of course.
7th – 2021 Porsche Taycan Turbo S
Quarter Mile: 10.73sec @ 202.98km/h
0-100km/h: 2.55sec
Tested in: PCOTY ’22
The all-electric Taycan Turbo S may not have any actual turbochargers fitted to it, but those familiar with Porsche’s nomenclature know that this is ‘the fast one’. A lightning-quick sprint to 100km/h in 2.55 seconds makes it the fastest accelerating car we’ve ever tested.
8th – 2015 Hi-Torque Nissan GT-R
Quarter Mile: 10.83sec @ 220.16km/h
0-100km/h: 3.31sec
Tested in: Hot Tuner ’16
About 600kW and an all-wheel drive system will get you pretty far, pretty quickly. Our 2016 Hot Tuner winner was able to do just that.
9th – 2017 Audi R8 V10 Plus
Quarter Mile: 10.93sec @ 209.58km/h
0-100km/h: 3.18sec
Tested in: PCOTY ’17
Long live the naturally aspirated engine! Audi’s supercar shows us here that you don’t need forced induction to run 10s… a 449kW V10 helps, though.
10th – 2014 Porsche 911 Turbo
Quarter Mile: 10.98sec @206.13km/h
0-100km/h: 3.07sec
Tested in: Mar ‘14
In a test up against an Audi R8 of the same vintage, the 991 911 Turbo cleaned up at the strip. It also makes 911 variants five of the 10 fastest cars we’ve tested.
11th – 2017 Ferrari 488 GTB
Quarter Mile: 11.0sec @ 214.1km/h
0-100km/h: 3.3sec
Tested in: PCOTY ’17
Performance Car of the Year 2017 runner-up (to the 911 Turbo S) had incredibly strong performance claims… but we were unable to match them. 0-200km/h in 8.3 seconds? We managed 9.6sec. Still incredibly fast, obviously.
12th – 2018 Porsche 991.2 911 GT3 RS
Quarter Mile: 11.07sec @ 203.78km/h
0-100km/h: 3.18sec
Tested in: June ’19
If you think you’re sacrificing too much speed for the sake of hearing an atmo flat-six at full noise when you buy a 911 GT3 RS, you’re thinking wrong.
13th – 2019 Mercedes-AMG GT63 S
Quarter Mile: 11.08sec @ 203.43km/h
0-100km/h: 3.16sec
Tested in: Aug ’19
Its looks are polarising, but there’s no arguing with the 470kW twin-turbo V8 heart under its bonnet, hooked up to all four wheels. Scott Newman reckoned it was the most impressive and cohesive driver’s car AMG offered at the time.
14th – 2018 APR Audi RS3 (Stage 1)
Quarter Mile: 11.09sec @ 208.14km/h
0-100km/h: 3.28sec
Tested in: Sept ’18
An ECU tune is all it took for APR to make Audi’s already-quick RS3 faster than a Nissan GT-R Nismo. On 98RON, outputs increase from the standard 294kW/480Nm to 355kW/637Nm, but using E85 liberates a whopping 404kW/678Nm, which equates to 332kW at all four wheels.
15th – 2018 Nissan GT-R Nismo
Quarter Mile: 11.19sec @ 203.08km/h
0-100km/h: 3.28sec
Tested in: PCOTY ’18
You don’t need to tune a GT-R to draw an impressive quarter-mile time. Nismo’s own version does it from the factory. 441kW is enough, right?
16th – 2017 Nissan GT-R
Quarter Mile: 11.21sec @ 199.67km/h
0-100km/h: 3.2sec
Tested in: PCOTY ’17
Actually, you don’t even need the full-fat Nismo-spec version of R35 Godzilla to run the gauntlet in the low-11 range. The 419kW standard car will do it for sub-$200k, versus the $299k Nismo…
17th – 2017 Lamborghini Huracan LP 580-2
Quarter Mile: 11.25sec @ 209.46km/h
0-100km/h: 3.55sec
Tested in: PCOTY ’17
PCOTY 2017 was a helluva year – the Lambo came 5th. Fifth! On the strip, it was a different story, with only three cars (911 Turbo S, R8 V10 Plus, GT-R; all on this list) besting it.
18th – 2018 Mercedes-AMG E63 S
Quarter Mile: 11.28sec @ 203.72km/h
0-100km/h: 3.4sec
Tested in: PCOTY ‘18
AMG’s brutal family-hauler made a strong case to be PCOTY winner for the 2018 reign, but the Civic Type R was just too damn good.
19th – 2018 Audi RS7 Performance
Quarter Mile: 11.29sec @ 202.79km/h
0-100km/h: 3.37sec
Tested in: Annual ’16
When we put the RS7 up against Tesla’s Model S P90D, the RS7 came out on top. Elon’s own only managed 11.68s at 184.73km/h.
20th – 2019 Audi R8 V10 RWS
Quarter Mile: 11.36sec @ 206.87km/h
0-100km/h: 3.57sec
Tested in: PCOTY ’19
It turns out that, if you take the front tyres out of the equation, the R8 V10 is still damn quick. A few tenths are added to the quarter mile and to its 0-100km/h time, but once it hooks up, the 5.2 in the back does the talking.
21st – 2014 Tekno Lamborghini Aventador
Quarter Mile: 11.4sec @211.66km/h
0-100km/h: 3.8sec
Tested in: Hot Tuner ‘14
Another Lambo, but this time with 525kW and a free-breathing V12. The Aventador, tuned by Tekno, was enough to take out Hot Tuner in 2014, besting a Harrop-tuned Ferrari 458 Italia.
22nd – 2004 Ferrari Enzo
Quarter Mile: 11.40sec @ 212.5km/h
0-100km/h: 3.6sec
Tested in: Oct ’04
Some cars just stand the test of time. A mid-mounted 6.0-litre V12 producing 485kW helps with that, of course. This car was tested at Nardo, if you were wondering why that stretch of banked road in the image looked familiar.
23rd – 2020 Herrod Performance Ford Mustang SM17
Quarter Mile: 11.42sec @ 206.95km/h
0-100km/h: 3.70sec
Tested in: PCOTY ’21
Herrod’s SM17 entered the 2021 PCOTY round as the most powerful car ever submitted for testing. It struggled to overcome bouts of overheating and limp mode throughout the week of testing, but we still managed to extract some serious numbers (and a lot of smoke) from the possessed pony.
24th – 2022 Porsche 911 992 GT3
Quarter Mile: 11.53sec @ 203.83km/h
0-100km/h: 3.11sec
Tested in: PCOTY ’22
Hot lap hero and the outright winner of Performance Car of the Year 2022, the 992 GT3 is a purpose-built track day weapon but still posted an impressive 11.53-second pass over the quarter mile despite a power output that pales in comparison to much of this list.
25th – 2022 Corvette C8
Quarter Mile: 11.68sec @ 194.57km/h
0-100km/h: 3.63sec
Tested in: PCOTY ’22
The first ever locally-delivered and factory-built right-hand drive Corvette arrived as one of PCOTY’s biggest curiousities. As a value proposition, it’s one of the most powerful cars you can buy for the price, and accelerates to 100km/h as quick as a Ferrari Enzo.
Keyword: The top 25 fastest cars tested by MOTOR Magazine