10 Fastest Cars of 2015

Welcome to MOTOR’s 10 fastest cars of 2015. Sort of. While we try and run numbers on every car we test, unfortunately it’s not always possible.

While we’ve driven such supercar luminaries as the Lamborghini Huracan, Ferrari FF and Porsche 918 Spyder on Aussie soil this year, for various reasons – launch schedules, time constraints, manufacturers say no – we haven’t been able to extract a full set of figures on every car.

But fear not, when the slowest car on this list is running a 12.5sec quarter, it’s fair to say we’ve figured plenty of fast metal in 2015.

Biggest surprises? Well, three of the cars in the list weigh well over two tonnes (including two SUVs) and there’s a stock-standard hot hatchback in the top three. So without further ado, here’s the 10 fastest cars we’ve tested in 2015.

10th – Walkinshaw W507 0-100km/h – 4.38sec, 0-400m – 12.39sec @ 189.99km/h
The HSV GTS is no slug to begin with, but once Walkinshaw Performance gets its hands on the 6.2-litre supercharged LSA V8 and lifts outputs to 507kW/850Nm, well, the times tumble. The W507 slithers around in first gear a bit, but hooks up cleanly and storms down the strip.

9th – Harding VW Golf R 0-100km/h – 4.31sec, 0-400m – 12.50sec @ 180.01km/h
At this year’s Hot Tuner event recent rains made Sydney Dragway so green even the all-wheel drives were wheel-spinning off the line. This includes Harding Performance’s awesome Golf R, but it didn’t stop it being the class of the field to 100km/h – and Guy says the really fast one is coming next year.

8th – Bentley Continental V8 S 0-100km/h – 4.30sec, 0-400m – 12.33sec @ 187.92km/h
Bentley handed its big, black brute over with just 700km on the clock, so in deference to its age it completed just two runs, but two was all it needed. There’s no launch control but when you can build almost 3000rpm against the brakes it doesn’t need it. Sounds magic, too.

7th – BMW X5 M 0-100km/h – 4.20sec, 0-400m – 12.38sec @ 182.91km/h
Incredible performance from an SUV – how can 2275kg move so quickly? Well, 420kW/750Nm from its 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 sure helps. Rudimentary launch control builds some boost and then you just hold on. Unbelievably, though, this wasn’t the fastest SUV we tested this year.

6th – Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 0-100km/h – 4.18sec, 0-400m – 12.30sec @ 183.77km/h
That honour goes the mighty Merc GLE 63, if only just. A fluke of a launch had the front wheels spinning as it squatted on its rear haunches and hammered down the quarter mile, making the most outrageous noise as it did so. Awesome.

5th – Mercedes-AMG A45 0-100km/h – 4.16sec, 0-400m – 12.41sec @ 180.23km/h
AMG’s new hyper hatch might only have another 15kW/25Nm over its predecessor, but it’s put them to good use by shaving almost half-a-second off its 0-100km/h sprinting abilities. Strange lunch control program – it short shifts into second and third – but it’s undoubtedly effective.

4th – Mercedes-AMG GT S 0-100km/h – 4.00sec, 0-400m – 11.80sec @ 202.60km/h
Check out that trap speed. In terms of outright acceleration, AMG’s new sports car is the fastest car on the list, however getting it off the line is a right pain, a delicate balancing act between building enough boost yet not so much that it fries the tyres. On the right surface would go faster.

3rd – Audi RS3 0-100km/h – 3.95sec, 0-400m – 12.24sec @ 181.13km/h
Wow is this thing fast. Audi’s RS3 blitzes its 4.3sec 0-100km/h claim and in the process becomes the first production hatch we’ve tested to go sub-4sec. And due to time constraints it only completed two runs, so it could go faster still. Just wait until the tuners get their hands on these.

2nd – Jaguar F-Type R AWD 0-100km/h – 3.75sec, 0-400m – 11.80sec @ 193.35km/h
Our second-placed sprinter is also the easiest to extract numbers from: select ‘Dynamic’, plant right foot and let 404kW/680Nm of 5.0-litre supercharged V8 do the rest. With not a skerrick of power wasted in wheelspin, the all-paw F-Type feels even faster than its already insane rear-drive twin.

1st – Porsche 911 GT3 0-100km/h – 3.55sec, 0-400m – 11.48sec @ 201.60km/h
Its outputs aren’t anything special – 350kW/440Nm from a 3.8-litre flat-six – nor is it particularly light at 1430kg, so how is the GT3 this fast? Beats us, but it’ll reel off 3.5sec 0-100km/h passes all day long and thanks to that screaming 9000rpm engine, the speed is relentless. Legend.