The 50 fastest cars around Autocar's test track

Just look at all the cars this 2.3-tonne SUV beat; it’s staggering to contemplate. It handles in such a flat, immediate way that on track you can easily forget it’s so heavy, and it accelerates like a missile. It’s pretty hard on tyres and brakes, though, so maintaining top-level pace for more than five laps without a break would be tough.

Matt Saunders

48th - Honda NSX

Lap time: 1min 10.7sec

Road test date 5.10.16 Test number 5289 Peak power 573bhp Kerb weight 1770kg Tyres Continental Sport Contact 5P 0-60mph 3.3sec 0-100mph 7.3sec Quarter mile 11.4sec at 125.7mph

Tied 45th - Noble M600

Lap time: 1min 10.5sec

Road test date 14.10.09 Test number 4930 Peak power 650bhp at 6800rpm Kerb weight 1305kg Tyres Michelin Pilot Sport 0-60mph 3.5sec 0-100mph 6.8sec Quarter mile 11.0sec at 131.1mph

Tied 45th - McLaren GT

Lap time: 1min 10.5sec

Road test date 27.1.21 Test number 5508 Peak power 612bhp at 7500rpm Kerb weight 1580kg Tyres Pirelli P Zero PNCS 0-60mph 3.3sec 0-100mph 6.5sec Quarter mile 11.1sec at 134.3mph

Tied 45th - Porsche Taycan Turbo S

Lap time: 1min 10.5sec

Road test date 29.7.20 Test number 5484 Peak power 751bhp Kerb weight 2355kg Tyres Pirelli P Zero NFO Elect 0-60mph 2.8sec 0-100mph 6.5sec Quarter mile 10.9sec at 128.8mph

44th - Porsche 911 Carrera S (992)

Lap time: 1min 10.4sec

Road test date 29.5.19 Test number 5424 Peak power 444bhp at 6500rpm Kerb weight 1525kg Tyres Goodyear Eagle F1 Asym’c 3 0-60mph 3.4sec 0-100mph 7.7sec Quarter mile 12.0sec at 125.3mph

Tied 42nd - BMW M4 Competition

Lap time: 1min 10.2sec

Road test date 21.4.21 Test number 5520 Peak power 503bhp at 5600-7200rpm Kerb weight 1800kg Tyres Michelin Pilot Sport 4S 0-60mph 3.9sec 0-100mph 8.4sec Quarter mile 12.1sec at 122.2mph

Tied 42nd - Caterham Seven 420 Cup

Lap time: 1min 10.2sec

Road test date 31.8.22 Test number 5589 Peak power 210bhp at 7600rpm Kerb weight 560kg Tyres Avon ZZS 0-60mph 4.2sec 0-100mph 9.0sec Quarter mile 12.8sec at 111.3mph

41st - Nissan GT-R

Lap time: 1min 10.1sec

Road test date 6.5.09 Test number 4907 Peak power 480bhp at 6400rpm Kerb weight 1775kg Tyres Dunlop SP Sport 600 DST 0-60mph 3.8sec 0-100mph 8.5sec Quarter mile 12.1sec at 120.4mph

That so many of the cars ahead of the GT-R on this list came out much later goes to show how astonishing the big Nissan was. And make no mistake, the R35 is big. Technical. Complex. You’d also say sophisticated if so many of its attributes didn’t feel industrial and cumbersome compared with today’s supercars. If a roadster feels like a speedboat, the GT-R feels like a ship.

What’s doubly impressive is that Nissan didn’t bring a team to get the best out of the GT-R’s tyres or brakes, even though its weight puts extreme strain on them. It was driven to a time it could maintain. I recall how it wanted to put its power down, but it’s the heat coming from it after getting out that I remember the most, rather than the drama I felt inside it.

Matt Prior

Tied 39th - Chevrolet Corvette Coupe 3LT (C8)

Lap time: 1min 10.0sec

Road test date 22.6.22 Test number 5579 Peak power 475bhp at 6450rpm Kerb weight 1679kg Tyres Michelin Pilot Sport 4S 0-60mph 3.9sec 0-100mph 9.1sec Quarter mile 12.3sec at 116.9mph

No doubt expecting some stark dynamic transformation from their new mid-engined hero, parts of the American press criticised the C8 for a tendency towards understeer at the limit of grip: in our view, quite unfairly.

Sure, this is no Ferrari 458 Speciale for outright handling poise and control on the circuit. It’s large and heavy by sports car standards. It moves on its contact patches a little at fast track speeds, communicating the physical forces it’s subject to – and, because of the car’s mass and its performance potential, those forces are significant.

But the C8 can certainly lap quickly and accurately, and with confidence, commitment and plenty of staying power. While it is usually the front axle that communicates the margins of its adhesion by starting to miss apices, that doesn’t stop you finding a decent chassis balance, along with fairly benign adjustability in the dry – although that rearward weight bias and active diff make the C8 trickier to drive quickly at the limit in the wet.

Matt Saunders

Tied 39th - Ferrari F430 F1

Lap time: 1min 10.0sec

Road test date 21.6.05 Test number 4709 Peak power 483bhp at 7500rpm Kerb weight 1528kg Tyres Pirelli P Zero Rosso 0-60mph 4.4sec 0-100mph 9.3sec Quarter mile 11.7sec at 125.0mph

Tied 36th - BMW M5 CS

Lap time: 1min 9.9sec

Road test date 14.7.21 Test number 5532 Peak power 626bhp at 6000rpm Kerb weight 1940kg Tyres Michelin Pilot Sport 4S 0-60mph 3.0sec 0-100mph 6.8sec Quarter mile 11.1sec at 128.8mph

This awsome BMW 5-Series is the most powerful road-going M car that has yet been built, and it's also the only four-door saloon ever to lap the MIRA dry handling circuit as part of an Autocar test figuring session in less than seventy seconds. Rather absurdly, that achievement doesn't even get it into the top half of this chart overall; but what a car. Think unburstable power, remarkable grip and balance, incredible brakes for something of its sheer bulk; and only the slightest sense of penalising weight when you're boorish or late with your inputs. 

We tested it on standard-fit Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres; on BMW's optional Pirelli Corsas, you'd imagine it might have gone up to a second quicker still. If you're were wondering what the king of the 21st century super saloon set looks like, wonder no longer.

Matt Saunders

Tied 36th - Porsche 718 Spyder

Lap time: 1min 9.9sec

Road test date 1.4.20 Test number 5467 Peak power 414bhp at 7600rpm Kerb weight 1350kg Tyres Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 0-60mph 4.3sec 0-100mph 9.7sec Quarter mile 13.0sec at 115.3mph

Tied 36th - Porsche 911 GT3 RS (991)

Lap time: 1min 9.9sec

Road test date 19.8.15 Test number 5230 Peak power 493bhp at 8250rpm Kerb weight 1490kg Tyres Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 0-60mph 3.4sec 0-100mph 7.8sec Quarter mile 11.6sec at 123.3mph

35th - Porsche 911 GT2 (997)

Lap time: 1min 9.7sec

Road test date na (road test rival) Test number na Peak power 523bhp at 6500rpm Kerb weight 1440kg Tyres Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 0-60mph 3.8sec 0-100mph 8.0sec Quarter mile 12.0sec at 123.9mph

Tied 33rd - Porsche 911 Turbo S (991)

Lap time: 1min 9.6sec

Road test date 8.1.14 Test number 5147 Peak power 552bhp at 6500rpm Kerb weight 1610kg Tyres Pirelli P Zero 0-60mph 3.0sec 0-100mph 7.1sec Quarter mile 11.4sec at 126.3mph

Tied 33rd - Porsche 911 GT3 RS 3.8 (997)

Lap time: 1min 9.6sec

Road test date 12.5.10 Test number 4959 Peak power 444bhp at 7900rpm Kerb weight 1415kg Tyres Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 0-60mph 3.9sec 0-100mph 8.4sec Quarter mile 12.2sec at 120.0mph

32nd - Ferrari 430 Scuderia

Lap time: 1min 9.5sec

2008 was a big year for our MIRA laptimes. We road tested the Lamborghini Gallardo LP-560-4; and we group-tested that car, along with the '997'-generation Porsche 911 GT2 and this special-series Ferrari (scour the web and you can still find the video comparison we shot; sorry about the picture quality).

The MIRA lapimes set by all three cars remain in this chart to this day. But it was the Ferrari that went the quickest, pipping its rival from Weissach by two tenths of a second, and remaining the fastest production car produced in the decade of the 'noughties' that you'll find anywhere here. It sounded epic. It beat the GT2 by more than half a second over a standing quarter mile (which, where a fast 911 is concerned, takes some doing). And dynamically, it took the legacy of the critically acclaimed 360 Challenge Stradale and transformed it with an actve diff, super-controllable limit handling and utterly searing track pace.

The 430 Scuderia was a very special Ferrari and, between the 458 Speciale, the 488 Pista and the F8 Tributo, it has quite the legacy too.

Matt Prior

Road test date 23.7.08 Test number 4867 Peak power 503bhp at 8500rpm Kerb weight 1405kg Tyres Pirelli P Zero Rosso 0-60mph 3.4sec 0-100mph 7.4sec Quarter mile 11.5sec at 127.0mph

31st - Ferrari 812 Superfast

Lap time: 1min 9.3sec

Road test date 25.7.18 Test number 5381 Peak power 789bhp at 8500rpm Kerb weight 1725kg Tyres Pirelli P Zero F 0-60mph 3.1sec 0-100mph 6.2sec Quarter mile 10.9sec at 137.9mph

You may be surprised to find the most potent front-engined Ferrari yet sitting so far down this list, but there’s a simple explanation. When you try to send 789bhp through Pirelli P Zero tyres for a sustained period, you may manage to preserve the rears for longer than expected but will very quickly obliterate the fronts, whose job it is to direct and partially contain such huge force.

Thus what I remember from our 812 Superfast road test is a mixture of frustration and fun: mid-corner understeer, then lashings of easy-access yaw as the tail went wide and the agile steering let you gather it all up intuitively. On more serious tyres, it would have been no surprise to see it break into the top 10.

Richard Lane

30th - BMW M4 CSL

Lap time: 1min 9.2sec

Road test date 16.11.22 Test number 5600 Peak power 543bhp at 5950-7200rpm Kerb weight 1625kg Tyres Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R 0-60mph 3.6sec 0-100mph 7.3sec Quarter mile 11.6sec at 129.3mph

Tied 27th - Ariel Atom 4

Lap time: 1min 8.9sec

Road test date 9.10.19 Test number 5443 Peak power 316bhp at 6500rpm Kerb weight 680kg Tyres Yokohama Advan A052 0-60mph 3.2sec 0-100mph 6.9sec Quarter mile 11.3sec at 123.4mph

Tied 27th - Ferrari 458 Italia

Lap time: 1min 8.9sec

Road test date 18.8.10 Test number 4973 Peak power 562bhp at 9000rpm Kerb weight 1535kg Tyres Michelin Pilot Sport K1 0-60mph 3.2sec 0-100mph 7.0sec Quarter mile 11.3sec at 128.7mph

Tied 27th - McLaren 12C Spider

Lap time: 1min 8.9sec

Road test date 8.5.13 Test number 5113 Peak power 616bhp at 7500rpm Kerb weight 1520kg Tyres Pirelli P Zero 0-60mph 3.4sec 0-100mph 7.2sec Quarter mile 11.6sec at 129.5mph

26th - Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS

Lap time: 1min 8.8sec

Road test date 14.9.22 Test number 5591 Peak power 493bhp at 8400rpm Weight on scales as tested 1444kg Tyres Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 N1 0-60mph 3.9sec 0-100mph 8.3sec Quarter mile 12.1sec at 122.5mph

It's a mark of the rapid advance of modern tyre technology, as well as the monumental job that Weissach has made of this car's track-intended chassis development, that the angriest Porsche Cayman that there's yet been deposed so many vastly more powerful performance cars in this list. The Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS's laptime put it just outside the very fastest twenty-five cars we've ever timed; but ahead of V12-engined Ferraris and plenty of fast, GT-department 911s.

The GT4 RS's handling is quite a bit more purposeful than its notoriously forgiving forebears and rangemates have been. It grips harder so as to ultimately carry greater speed than they can; but when it breaks away, it does so a little more quickly and aggressively.

But concentrating that little bit harder on the perfect braking and clipping points as you lap rewards you with incredible cornering speed and top-level body control and track stability. There's the rawest and most intoxicating engine soundtrack to spur you on, too, as the tacho winds up close to 9000rpm, and a supremely quick-shifting, super-close-ratio PDK gearbox. What a car.

Matt Saunders

25th - McLaren 570S

Lap time: 1min 8.7sec

Road test date 30.3.16 Test number 5262 Peak power 562bhp at 7400rpm Kerb weight 1445kg Tyres Pirelli P Zero Corsa 0-60mph 3.1sec 0-100mph 6.4sec Quarter mile 11.0sec at 133.5mph

Tied 23rd - Ferrari F12 Berlinetta

Lap time: 1min 8.6sec

Road test date 6.11.13 Test number 5139 Peak power 731bhp at 8250rpm Kerb weight 1715kg Tyres Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 0-60mph 3.0sec 0-100mph 6.5sec Quarter mile 11.0sec at 133.6mph

Tied 23rd - McLaren MP4-12C

Lap time: 1min 8.6sec (damp)

Road test date 29.6.11 Test number 5018 Peak power 592bhp at 7000rpm Kerb weight 1470kg Tyres Pirelli P Zero Corsa 0-60mph 3.3sec 0-100mph 6.7sec Quarter mile 11.1sec at 131.5mph

22nd - Bugatti Veyron Super Sport

Lap time: 1min 8.5sec

Road test date 2.3.11 Test number 5000 Peak power 1183bhp at 6400rpm Kerb weight 1995kg Tyres Michelin Pilot Sport PAX 0-60mph 2.6sec 0-100mph 5.0sec Quarter mile 10.1sec at 147.9mph

21st - Ariel Atom V8

Lap time: 1min 8.4sec

Road test date 10.8.11 Test number 5024 Peak power 475bhp at 10,500rpm Kerb weight 650kg Tyres Toyo Proxes R888 0-60mph 3.0sec 0-100mph 5.7sec Quarter mile 11.2sec at 134.2mph

Tied 18th - Ferrari 458 Speciale

Lap time: 1min 8.3sec

Road test date 20.8.14 Test number 5179 Peak power 597bhp at 9000rpm Kerb weight 1445kg Tyres Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 0-60mph 3.6sec 0-100mph 6.8sec Quarter mile 11.1sec at 130.1mph

Tied 18th - McLaren 650S Spider

Lap time: 1min 8.3sec

Road test date 30.7.14 Test number 5176 Peak power 641bhp at 7250rpm Kerb weight 1490kg Tyres Pirelli P Zero Corsa 0-60mph 3.2sec 0-100mph 6.3sec Quarter mile 11.0sec at 135.2mph

McLarens like it best if you trail their brakes right to the apex, because this quells the understeer that they all to an extent suffer from. But the circuit layout we chose deliberately doesn’t always allow the same cornering style – particularly the really long, really fast left-hander, which shows up high-speed stability issues.

Even so, the 650S Spider was exceptionally fast, even on slightly worn tyres. (One last set went unused because we don’t get the circuit all day and the car turned up late.) Still, with the McLaren techs thinking there was a little more left in the bag, our track time was up, but this drop-top would match the more track-focused Ferrari 458 Speciale coupé.

Matt Prior

Tied 18th - Mercedes-AMG GT R

Lap time: 1min 8.3sec

Road test date 10.5.17 Test number 5319 Peak power 577bhp at 6250rpm Kerb weight 1665kg Tyres Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 0-60mph 3.6sec 0-100mph 7.3sec Quarter mile 11.5sec at 128.6mph

17th - Radical RS3 SL

Lap time: 1min 8.0sec

Road test date 20.11.11 Test number 5040 Peak power 245bhp at 6000rpm Kerb weight 765kg Tyres Kumho Ecsta V700 0-60mph 3.4sec 0-100mph 8.4sec Quarter mile 12.3sec at 115.8mph

16th - Dallara Stradale

Lap time: 1min 7.9sec

Road test date 16.10.19 Test number 5444 Peak power 395bhp at 6200rpm Kerb weight 987kg Tyres Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R 0-60mph 3.7sec 0-100mph 9.2sec Quarter mile 12.4sec at 116.6mph

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Dallara Stradale turned up at MIRA with just the one set of Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R tyres, and even those weren't fresh. When it comes to setting lap times, the benefit of having several sets of tyres is obvious – it gives our road-testers the chance to get adequately familiar with a car's ten-tenths limit-handling, as they incrementally achieve quicker and quicker lap-times without having to worry too much about overheating the rubber. Cook the tyres and you're essentially squandering the chance to see the car's true speed, but with several sets of tyres, we can simply scrub in some new ones, get the pressures right, and go again. 

The fact the Dallara still managed to pip the outrageously quick cars it has is therefore quite something. Note also that everything ahead of it in this list has either six, eight or ten cylinders, rather than four. How fast might it have gone with more tyres-sets for us to play with? We'll never know, but it's not out of the question that it might have seen off even the McLaren P1.

Richard Lane

15th - Porsche 911 GT2 RS (991)

Lap time: 1min 7.8sec

Road test date 18.7.18 Test number 5380 Peak power 691bhp at 7000rpm Kerb weight 1520kg Tyres Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 0-60mph 3.0sec 0-100mph 6.1sec Quarter mile 10.8sec at 136.3mph

Tied 13th - McLaren 620R

Lap time: 1min 6.9sec (damp)

Road test date 23-30.12.20 Test number 5504 Peak power 611bhp at 7250rpm Kerb weight 1470kg Tyres Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R 0-60mph 3.2sec 0-100mph 6.4sec Quarter mile 11.1sec at 138.5mph

Tied 13th - McLaren 600LT Spider

Lap time: 1min 6.9sec

Road test date 22.5.19 Test number 5423 Peak power 592bhp at 7500rpm Kerb weight 1465kg Tyres Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R 0-60mph 2.9sec 0-100mph 6.1sec Quarter mile 10.7sec at 133mph

Tied 11th - McLaren Artura

Lap time: 1min 6.8sec

Road test date 19.10.22 Test number 5596 Peak power 671bhp at 7500rpm Weight on scales as tested 1552kg Tyres Pirelli P Zero Corsa 0-60mph 3.2sec 0-100mph 6.3sec Quarter mile 10.9sec at 137.0mph

Tied 11th - McLaren P1

Lap time: 1min 6.8sec

Road test date 7.5.14 Test number 5164 Peak power 903bhp at 7300rpm Kerb weight 1490kg (claimed, DIN) Tyres Pirelli P Zero Corsa 0-60mph 2.8sec 0-100mph 5.2sec Quarter mile 10.2sec at 147.5mph

Tied 9th - Porsche 911 Turbo S (992)

Lap time: 1min 6.7sec

Road test date 10.8.22 Test number 5586 Peak power 641bhp at 6750rpm Kerbweight 1640kg (claimed, DIN) Tyres Pirelli P Zero 0-60mph 2.5sec 0-100mph 5.7sec Quarter mile 10.4sec at 135.9mph

It's almost comical how on-brand it was for a Porsche 911 Turbo to turn up to MIRA without factory support, wearing nothing fancier than road-leaning Pirelli P Zero rubber, and in stubbornly unsporting silver-over-red-leather trim, and then set an absolutely blistering laptime on the Dunlop. How blistering? Well, blistering enough to match the time set by its Cup 2-shod, lightweight, howling and hardcore GT3 rangemate. More blistering even than the Big Mac itself! The P1 might be a decade old now but this is some scalp for the comparatively cheap Porsche. 

So how did it do it? One thing about the 992 iteration of the 911 Turbo (tested in S form) is that it rotates more easily than its predecessors, allowing you to more neatly trail the brakes into corners, get the car pointed out, and then unleash that 641bhp flat-six, which when on full boost feels as though it has no less than 700bhp. Traction is of course immense, even on fairly ordinary tyres, to the extent that you do wonder just what sort of machinery this mighty 911 would trouble if you fed it some properly sticky rubber.

As for stability, there's only one corner of the track – a second-to-third gear right-hander that opens out – where the tail really wants to step out under full power, but the 992 is a surprisingly docile thing in moments like this and inspires confidence. Oh, and one more thing: despite its fulsome kerbweight, stopping distances are truly in the league of trackday specials. I don't know how Porsche has achieved this but plenty of the Turbo S's speed over a flying lap comes in the braking zones.

Tied 9th - Porsche 911 GT3 PDK Clubsport (992)

Lap time: 1min 6.7sec

Road test date 11.08.21 Test number 5536 Peak power 503bhp at 8400rpm Kerb weight 1435kg Tyres Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 0-60mph 3.4sec 0-100mph 7.4sec Quarter mile 11.5sec at 125.1mph

8th - McLaren 720S

Lap time: 1min 6.1sec

Road test date 24.5.17 Test number 5321 Peak power 710bhp at 7500rpm Kerb weight 1419kg Tyres Pirelli P Zero Corsa 0-60mph 2.9sec 0-100mph 5.6sec Quarter mile 10.4sec at 143.5mph

7th - Porsche 918 Spyder

Lap time: 1min 5.7sec

Road test date 22.10.14 Test number 5188 Peak power 874bhp at 8700rpm Kerb weight 1740kg Tyres Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 0-60mph 2.6sec 0-100mph 5.3sec Quarter mile 10.2sec at 144.9mph

Tied 5th - Lamborghini Huracan Performante

Lap time: 1min 5.3sec

Road test date 11.10.17 Test number 5341 Peak power 630bhp at 8000rpm Kerb weight 1590kg Tyres Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R 0-60mph 2.9sec 0-100mph 5.9sec Quarter mile 10.6sec at 136.7mph

Meeting the Lamborghini crew on a grey, mizzling morning made me feel guilty from the off. I always do when conditions make it hard to test a car fairly; usually we have a day to do it so just have to get on with our work.

I remember heading onto the track with the rain only just stopped and an hour booked in which to try to warm the car and tyres, dry out a line and see what was possible.

We had already scrubbed a fresh set of tyres and the asphalt was still drying, so we extended our session.

With literally a minute left, on our last tyre set and at temperature just in time, the Porsche 918 Spyder’s three-year-old record went. When the VBox timing app pinged in the way it does to indicate you’ve just improved your best time, I felt as if I’d just ‘done a Hamilton’ in Q3.

Matt Saunders

Tied 5th - Ferrari 488 Pista

Lap time: 1min 5.3sec

Road test date 7.8.19 Test number 5435 Peak power 710bhp at 6750rpm Kerb weight 1465kg Tyres Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R 0-60mph 2.8sec 0-100mph 5.6sec Quarter mile 10.5sec at 141.0mph

4th - Lamborghini Aventador SVJ

Lap time: 1min 5.2sec

Road test date 19.6.19 Test number 5427 Peak power 759bhp at 8500rpm Kerb weight 1770kg Tyres Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R 0-60mph 2.9sec 0-100mph 6.1sec Quarter mile 10.7sec at 135.9mph

3rd - McLaren Senna

Lap time: 1min 3.8sec