The 14 Cars That Ignited the Horsepower Wars
Today, we take power and speed for granted. Any supercar worth its price tag packs north of 600 horsepower (441kW). Similarly, many performance-oriented electric family cars can hit 0-60 mph in under four seconds, a feat that used to be reserved for the most exotic and advanced hypercars. Progress is relentless, and in fact, it’s been a long time coming, as evidenced by the so-called “horsepower wars.” This has been a race between manufacturers over the past 30 years, particularly to outmuscle their rivals’ performance models in terms of sheer power. The result is that we live in a world of 400hp (294kW) performance hatchbacks, 600hp (441kW) luxury super-saloons, and 800hp (588kW) hypercars, but there have been a few key turning points along the way. We’ve decided to list them, though only a few luxury performance models really stand out in terms of power.
Lotus Carlton
A car so potent and rapid that the legality of its power was once debated in Parliament. The Lotus Carlton arguably defined the concept of a “sleeper” – a car that didn’t look the part for the performance it delivered. It wasn’t exactly subtle, with a deep front spoiler, stubby wheel arches, and a substantial rear wing, but even that hint of aggression couldn’t prepare you for the sheer force lurking beneath. Lotus-developed 3.6-liter twin-turbocharged straight-six engine produced a monumental 382hp (280 kW) and allowed the Carlton to reach a top speed of 177 mph (280 km/h).
Back in 1990, when the contemporary BMW M5 and Porsche 911 Turbo produced 315hp (231 kW) and 320hp (235 kW) respectively, that was serious speed and power. This was, in fact, the first time we had to ask ourselves if that was enough.
Ford Focus RS
In the 1980s and 90s, performance hatchbacks started with a 1 and had a 2 after it, and we were all the better for it. The Golf GTI, 205 GTI, Clio Williams, and many others brought genuine performance to the masses. So how did we get here, where the power output of these cars has doubled in 30 years? Gradually, although there were some key moments, one of which was the 2002 Ford Focus RS. Okay, the Escort Cosworth was more powerful, but that was a four-wheel-drive special that really had no rivals or counterparts. The Focus, on the other hand, set the precedent for the decade-long horsepower war among performance hatchbacks, with a 215hp (158 kW) turbocharged four-cylinder engine sending power exclusively to the front wheels, just as a proper performance hatchback should. It also upgraded the spec along with the power increase, adding a Quaife torque-splitting differential to tame the power. The RS was a controversial car, remembered for its raw, unhinged personality.
Honda S2000
The Honda S2000 doesn’t stand out in terms of outright power, but it’s a very important car in the history of horsepower production. Its 2.0-liter naturally aspirated dual-overhead-cam four-cylinder F20C engine produced 250hp (183 kW) and could rev to 9,000 rpm. More importantly, it made 125hp (91 kW) per liter… in 1999. That’s a figure only surpassed by the 2009 Ferrari 458 Italia and only matched by the 2013 Porsche 911 GT3. It still holds its own on the list of cars with the highest power per liter using naturally aspirated engines, including the Ferrari LaFerrari, Porsche 918 Spyder, GMA T.50, and Aston Martin Valkyrie.
Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG
But when you want real power, nothing beats displacement… combined with a healthy turbocharger. That’s why the Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG could boast a colossal 612hp (450 kW) as early as 2003, thanks to its 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12 engine. It was easily the most powerful production (non-limited) car in the world. This was supercar-level power at the time and, frankly, it was too much, as evidenced by the struggles of the traction control system every time you tried to put all that power down through the rear wheels. It was at its best when you were already moving, accelerating from 70 mph to 140 mph with the sort of ferocity that any performance car shows when it’s already doing 70 mph.
Bugatti Veyron
We couldn’t not mention it, could we? The Bugatti Veyron has always been the pinnacle of raw engine power. While its successors have surpassed the 1,600hp (1,176 kW) mark, the Veyron’s 1,000hp (735 kW) in 2005 was still a seismic shock and a signal to all performance car manufacturers that, when it comes to power, every limit was up for grabs. A massive engineering feat that cost the VW Group a fortune to the point that perhaps even the production of the Chiron (which, admittedly, used a developed version of that engine) wouldn’t recoup the cost. You’ve seen it a thousand times but it still doesn’t lose any of its insanity: 8.0-liter, 16 cylinders, four turbochargers. Just crazy.
BMW M5
The BMW M5 has always been at the heart of what we often call the “horsepower wars.” But the race between it and Mercedes to increase power with each generation peaked in 2004, when BMW launched the E60. It housed a stonking 5.0-liter naturally aspirated V10, the displacement didn’t increase, two cylinders were added, and staggeringly, it produced 100hp more than the E39 it replaced. That’s a significant jump, but the most impressive number is this: 507hp (372 kW). To put that in perspective, it took the M5 nearly 15 years to add another 100hp (73 kW) like the E60 did to the E39, with the launch of the 2018 M5 Competition reaching 625hp (459 kW).
Audi RS6
However, the biggest leap on the road to the new M5 was actually the Audi RS 6 C6. While the Mercedes-AMG E63 had put up a good fight, the Audi delivered the knockout blow. Launched in 2009, the C6 RS 6 housed a 5.2-liter twin-turbo V10, producing no less than 580hp – a mind-boggling figure for a family car at the time. This was the final leap in power in the executive saloon segment, at least for internal combustion engines. All subsequent models have topped out between 570-625hp (419-459 kW) and not much more. The C6 RS 6 wasn’t a good car, given its two-ton weight and poor chassis tuning, but it’s certainly a legend in the car wars.
Corvette ZR1
It wasn’t just the brilliant German racers pushing the power boundaries during this period, and how could we compile a list of “horsepower heroes” without mentioning our friends across the pond? We thought the 505hp (371 kW) C6 Corvette Z06 was a monster when it launched in 2006. Then in 2008, the Corvette ZR1 arrived. The naturally aspirated 7.0-liter LS7 V8 was replaced by a 6.2-liter supercharged LS9, giving it a colossal 647hp (475 kW). The “Blue Devil” Corvette crossed the Atlantic and made waves in Europe, setting Nürburgring production car lap records and beating supercar rivals in performance tests. Sure, the C7 ZR1 made 765hp (562 kW) but at the time of its launch, you could buy a more powerful Dodge Challenger.
At that point, the C6 was the most powerful production (non-limited) car being sold in the world.
Ford Mustang Shelby GT500
Ford wasn’t about to take that lying down, of course. How did they respond? By fitting the Mustang with an engine that made more power than that supercar, with a solid rear axle, no less. The 2013 Mustang GT500 packed 671hp (493 kW), using a special 5.8-liter V8 Trinity engine – a unique unit within the Ford group. The supercharger alone was bigger than the entire engines of most performance hatchbacks, at 2.3 liters. The car could hit over 200 mph (around 320 km/h) and a limited-slip differential was again optional – very American
