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A league of their own – the world’s most powerful production cars

Although plenty of us won’t get a chance to plough down the Nürburgring or get behind the wheel of a hypercar in our lifetimes, it’s hard to deny our obsession with all things high-performance.


The human race has spent decades perfecting 0-100km/h sprint times and figuring out how to generate maximum outputs with minimal weight.

As we embark on a new decade of development, it’s safe to say the quest for perfection is far from over.

Still, engineers have got performance numbers down to such a fine art that it’s no longer unusual to see outputs of 600kW or more – in production cars, no less.

The holy grail number, it seems, is 1000 horsepower – which roughly translates to 745kW.

The 745kW+ club is an exclusive one. Below, we’ve rounded up all of its existing members and a few cars soon to join – in order of claimed power output (least to most).

 

GMC Hummer: 745kW

Reimagined in both dual-cab pick-up and SUV form, the new-generation Hummer is rumoured to boast extremely impressive performance figures from its electrified powertrain.

According to GMC, the fully-electric Hummer will have “up to” 1000 horsepower, or 745kW, and 11,500 foot-pounds of torque (15,591Nm).

Additionally, GMC claims a 0-60mph (0-96.5km/h) sprint time of 3.0 seconds, which would make the Hummer extremely speedy for a pick-up truck.

Although the new car is yet to be fully revealed, production is set for early 2021.

 

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McLaren Speedtail: 772kW

McLaren’s latest creation, the Speedtail, is the British car marker's first-ever Hyper-GT and the fastest McLaren car ever made.

With a plug-in hybrid powertrain and 4.0-litre V8 engine, it boasts a maximum power output of 772kW and a top speed of 403km/h, with the ability to hit 300km/h in just 12.8 seconds from a standing start.

Only 106 Speedtail Hyper-GTs were built as a tribute to the original number of McLaren F1 cars made, and all examples – priced at Au$2.88 million each – have already been sold.

 

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Aston Martin Valkyrie: 845kW

With road testing for this extreme-looking hypercar kicking off earlier in 2020, it’s likely we will see Aston Martin Valkyrie deliveries land in late 2020.

It might look like a futuristic Batmobile, but believe it or not, the Valkyrie is a road car set to be produced in both left- and right-hand-drive (although there’s no confirmation any of them will make it to Australia as yet).

The Valkyrie is powered by a 6.5-litre naturally-aspirated V12 engine developing 747kW and 740Nm, but an electric motor outputting 119kW and 280Nm boosts that peak power figure to 845kW.

Only 150 will be made and they’ll be priced from £2.6 million, or AUD$4.7 million, each.

 

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Koenigsegg Regera: 1118kW

Koenigsegg's plug-in hybrid Regera boasts a twin-turbo V8 engine which alone can produce 820kW of power. Add in the three electric motors, however, and that combined number leaps to over 1118kW.

Combined torque figures from this lightweight megacar are similarly impressive, with the engine-and-motors pairing capable of a whopping 2000Nm or more.

‘Regera’ means ‘to reign’ and, indeed, the hand-built Regera still reigns when it comes to the world record for the fastest 0-400km/h sprint – completing it in 31.49 seconds in 2019.

 

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Bugatti Chiron: 1119kW

With eight litres of displacement, 16 cylinders and four turbochargers, the engine under the bonnet of the Bugatti Chiron is a beast capable of 1500hp, or 1119kW, of power.

The successor to the Veyron, the Chiron was launched by the French manufacturer in 2016 and was named after Monégasque racing driver Louis Chiron.

Since then, it's sparked a handful of special editions and variations, including the blacked-out Chiron Noire or the lighter, sharper-cornering Chiron Pur Sport.

One Chiron costs north of $3 million, but it just might be worth it for a top speed of 420km/h.

 

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Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+: 1176kW

The limited-edition Chiron Supert Sport 300+ was created as a tribute to the modified Bugatti Chiron that made headlines in late 2019 when it hit the 490.48km/h mark at the Ehra-Lessien test track in Germany.

Almost identical to that record-breaking model, the Super Sport 300+ has a limited top speed of 440km/h but boasts the same 8.0-litre, four-turbocharger W16 engine, capable of – wait for it – 1176kW.

Priced from 3.5 million euros, or AU$5.76 million, only 30 examples of the this two-seater hypercar were produced and most of them were snapped up almost immediately.

 

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Koenigsegg Jesko: 1193kW

Unveiled at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, Koenigsegg’s Jesko is road-legal track car named after founder Christian von Koenigsegg’s father, Jesko.

The Jesko boasts plenty of unusual or unique elements, from the fact its 5.0-litre, twin-turbo V8 can run on biofuel in some markets, to the fact it boasts Koenigsegg’s custom-made, ultra-light, nine-speed, multi-clutch transmission.

But most importantly, when running on regular gasoline, the Jesko produces an impressive 954kW and this number increases to an astounding 1193kW when running on E85 biofuel.

 

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Koenigsegg Gemera: 1270kW

The world’s first ‘mega-GT’, this four-seater plug-in hybrid has been billed as a “family-friendly hypercar” by Swedish-born Koenigsegg.

Some of the Gemera's family-friendly elements include the luggage space in the boot, the ISOFIX points on the rear seats, cocoon-like seats and the fact it can be driven completely silently up 300km/h in EV mode.

Some not-so-family-friendly elements? A 0-100km/h sprint time of 1.9 seconds and outputs of 1270kW of power and 3500Nm of torque courtesy of three electric motors and a 2.0-litre, three-cylinder twin-turbo Freevalve engine.

 

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Hennessey Venom F5: 1354kW

Much like its predecessor, the Venom GT, the Venom F5 is the latest awe-inspiring creation set to come out of independent, Texas-based tuning company Hennessey.

With a chassis built entirely from carbon-fibre, the Venom F5 has been specifically engineered to hit over 500km/h.

Production commenced earlier this year, with testing planned for the middle of the year, and a total of only 24 examples will be produced – 12 for the US market and 12 for the overseas market (US examples are close to being sold out).

Thanks to its 6.6-litre V8 ‘Fury’ engine, the car is capable of producing an impressive 1354kW and 1617Nm.

The Venom F5 is priced from USD$1.8 million (AUD$2.5 million).

 

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Rimac C_Two: 1408kW

Debuting as a prototype at the 2018 New York Motor Show, the production version of the Rimac C_Two was slated for reveal at the 2020 Geneva Motor Show, but the coronavirus pandemic forced a delay.

Still, Croatia-based manufacturer Rimac Automobili suggests its pure-electric hypercar is still on the cards to be delivered in 2021.

Boasting a peak power figure of 1408kW and a top speed of 412km/h in prototype form, the production version of the electric GT is expected to possess similar performance stats, according to Rimac engineers.

Each C_Two car takes five weeks to build and Rimac has indicated the final production car's name and design will be confirmed later in 2020.

 

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Lotus Evija: 1470kW

Lotus's first pure all-electric hypercar, the Evija, features a carbon fibre body that's propelled forward by four electric motors – one on each wheel.

As a result, it's incredibly quick off the mark – completing the 0-100km/h dash in under 3.0 seconds – and ultra-powerful, with quoted outputs of 1470kW and 2000Nm.

It also boasts a WLTP driving range of 346km on a single charge and a top speed of more than 320km/h.

Believed to be priced from AUD$3.3 million, only 130 Evijas will be made and deliveries are expected before the end of 2020.

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Susannah Guthrie

Susannah Guthrie has been a journalist for over a decade, covering everything from world news to fashion, entertainment, health and now cars. Having previously worked across titles like The New Daily, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, People Magazine and Cosmopolitan, Susannah now relishes testing family cars with the help of her husband and two-year-old son.

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