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The fastest cars in the world are always the most prestigious, but if you're being honest with yourself, it's the cars that accelerate the hardest that will give you more thrills more often. A rollercoaster that gets to 60 mph in three seconds is far more fun than one that can do 100 mph but takes a full minute to get there, isn't it?
In case it isn't already clear, our list below will include some of the fastest production cars in the world, but some appearances on this list will also be made by some cars that don't have a very high top speed at all, relatively speaking. Finally, there are several cars that achieve similar times, so we're choosing some of the coolest and most evocative.
Without any further ado, let's get this show on the road.
10. McLaren P1 - 2.8 seconds
One of the finest hypercars ever made is only good enough for 10th spot on our list. Managing a 2.8-second sprint was the legendary McLaren P1, and in the years since its release, even naturally aspirated supercars have bested it. The Ferrari 812 Superfast, with a 6.5-liter V12 generating 789 horsepower, can match the P1 to 60 and keeps going to 211 mph, at which point the McLaren reasserts its dominance by going another 6 mph faster. But as electrification becomes more efficient and torque vectoring technologies get smarter, the hybridized hypercars of tomorrow will soon both out-accelerate and out-handle icons of yesterday.
9. McLaren 750S - 2.7 seconds
The McLaren 750S arrived earlier this year with more power than the 720S it replaced but less than the 765LT, from which it draws longtail styling inspiration.
Once again, McLaren has stuck with a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8, and here it generates 740 hp, an increase of 30 ponies. That enables a 0-60 time of just 2.7 seconds. For those who have never driven a McLaren, don't tell us that's slow - our eyeballs still haven't returned to their intended position after we last put our foot down in a Mac.
Also worth a shout for its ability to do 0-60 in 2.7 is the new BAC Mono single-seater road car (we're not covering race cars on this list).
8. Chevrolet Corvette Z06 - 2.6 seconds
We'll take any excuse to add a naturally aspirated V8 screamer to a listicle, but it's a rare thing in any sort of production car these days, let alone the quickest cars in the world.
Before we get all teary-eyed, some specs: a glorious flat-plane crank V8 displacing 5.5 liters is the most powerful of its forced-induction-free kind at 670 hp. Complemented by an eight-speed double-clutch transmission feeding the rear wheels, 0-60 mph in the C8 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 takes place in just 2.6 seconds.
If you'd rather have all-wheel drive and turbocharging, the Porsche 911 Turbo S achieves the same. Add the Sport Chrono package, and you've got an agile yet drag-capable super sports car, but it won't be cheap.
7. Koenigsegg Jesko - 2.5 seconds
Since the extremely pared-back aero of the Jesko Absolut makes no difference below triple digits, both it and its track-focused Attack sibling achieve 0-60 mph in the same 2.5 seconds, compliments of the fastest revving engine in the world. Capable of revving from idle to 7,800 rpm in only 213 milliseconds, it reaches its neutral redline (in-gear limits are set at 8,500) in a little more than a third of the time that it took the sonorous and speedy Lexus LFA to reach its peak rpm.
But we're getting sidetracked. 0-60 takes 2.5 seconds, matched by the track-only, gloriously V10-powered McLaren Solus GT. The first series-production V12 supercar, the Lamborghini Revuelto, is also estimated to hit the mark in 2.5 seconds.
6. Ferrari SF90 Stradale - 2.4 seconds
Electrification was bound to creep onto our list again, but at least it does so with another Italian supercar: the Ferrari SF90 Stradale, again with electric motors on both the rear axle and the front wheels.
Officially, the Italian supercar is claimed to do 2.4 seconds in the sprint to 60, but independent testing by Car & Driver has clocked the hybridized Prancing Horse doing it in 2.0 flat, a time quick enough to dethrone hybrid hypercar royalty in the form of the Porsche 918 Spyder. Crazy what a few years can do. On a similar tangent, it's safe to assume the new SF90 XX twins will best this time.
Oh, and if you're on the other end of the spectrum of car enthusiasts, another 2.4-second machine exists in the form of the Taycan Turbo S.
5. Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport - 2.3 seconds
A Bugatti just has to be on this list, and thanks to the agility enhancements made to the Chiron in order to create the Pur Sport, it earns its place. It still has the same 1,479-hp quad-turbo W16 from the "base" Chiron, but with weight savings that include a new titanium exhaust, 15% shorter gear ratios, stiffer suspension, and improved Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R tire compounds, 0-60 is claimed to be less than 2.3 seconds, a tenth quicker than a normal Chiron. And it can drift. The even more powerful Chiron Super Sport may have the top speed bragging rights that its Veyron SS predecessor did, but it's not the fastest 0-60 car that Molsheim makes.
By the way, that 0-60 time of 2.3 seconds is equaled by the original 840-hp Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, and it did that without a rollout. With it, the time drops to a remarkable 2.1 seconds, making it quicker than a Tesla Model S Plaid or the aforementioned Bug.
4. Porsche 918 Spyder - 2.2 seconds
The Porsche 918 Spyder, according to the official material, will do 0-60 mph in "less than 2.8 seconds," but several independent tests - most notably that carried out by Car & Driver - reveal that the true time is actually around 2.2 seconds.
Let's not forget that this is a car that came out a decade ago. Anything quicker is almost certainly either all-electric or not road-legal, like the Radford 62-2 Pikes Peak that won its class at this year's edition of the Race to the Clouds. Like the Bugatti Veyron, the 918 was one of the fastest accelerating speed machines in its day, and it continues to be so now.
3. Lucid Air Sapphire - 1.89 seconds
Originally announced with a 0-60 mph time of "less than two seconds," Lucid Motors now quotes a figure of 1.89 seconds for its new car, the high-performance Air Sapphire, along with a quarter-mile time of 8.95 seconds.
Of course, both of these figures are only possible on a prepped surface, but for a luxury sedan that can do corners, a sub-2-second 0-60 time is remarkable in any conditions.
This is the quickest car with four doors on our list, and it's embarrassed some of the fastest supercars in the world. In terms of raw output, you get a satisfying 1,234 hp, with a top speed of 205 mph. All of this speed and refinement comes at a luxury supercar-rivaling price point, too: $249,000 before options.
2. Pininfarina Battista - 1.79 seconds
Pininfarina and Rimac have been battling it out in the acceleration wars for a short while, which makes sense since they're selling effectively the same car underneath. There are key differences, however, which is why the two do not share the top step on the podium.
In the case of the Battista, four electric motors generate 1,877 hp, and the fastest acceleration time it has achieved so far is 1.79 seconds, set at the Dubai Autodrome late last year. Depending on weather conditions, reaction time, and tire compound, a drag race between our top three could have different results every time.
1. Rimac Nevera - 1.74 seconds
And now, for the moment you've all been expecting: the fastest accelerating car in the world, or more specifically, the fastest 0-60 production car in the world, is the Rimac Nevera. 1,877 hp and 1,740 lb-ft of torque propel the electric supercar to the acceleration benchmark in a shocking (ha) 1.74 seconds.
Doing that alone is absolutely incredible, but what's just as astonishing is that it set or broke 22 other speed and acceleration records on the same day. Just because your Tesla has a meltdown after consecutive pulls at the drag strip doesn't mean every electric car will, and the Rimac Nevera, the fastest street-legal car 0 to 60 ever made, is remarkably adept at handling corners, too. Top speed is 258 mph.
As a side note, the McMurtry Speirling is even quicker at 1.5 seconds, but it's not road-legal. That may soon change.
Bonus (Sorta): Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170
The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 claims to be capable of 0-60 in 1.66 seconds, which would make it the quickest outright.
However, this time was set with a one-foot rollout, and it was done on a heavily prepared surface, with a car that has barely street-legal drag radials. So, while the Challenger SRT Demon 170 may be capable of this time in just the right conditions, nobody will do anything but make smoke trying to replicate the claim in the real world.
Still, it's cool that the only car not mid-engined is theoretically the quickest standard car out there. We just wish Dodge would reveal the truth.
The list of the quickest cars is no longer populated by the likes of the Nissan GT-R Nismo. The fastest cars off the line are not made by Mercedes-AMG. And even the Tesla Model S Plaid, the first production vehicle to break the two-second barrier, doesn't get more than a passing mention here (independent tests struggle to consistently replicate this claim, even with a rollout, so it's not a perfectly reliable estimate).
But the thing to remember is that the pace of progress in electric cars is as quick as their acceleration times, and while we'll miss the roar of engines one day, at least plenty of the fastest 0-60 cars in 2023 still require ignition.
