Cars with the Most Horsepower for 2023
These are the vehicles with the highest horsepower rating across each car category based on iSeeCars' analysis of all new and used models within the last 5 years.
Cars with the Most Horsepower by Vehicle Type
Horsepower remains one of the key measurements of a vehicle’s performance and capabilities. It determines everything from acceleration to top speed to towing capacity. Traditionally, exotic cars with large V12 or V8 engines offered the greatest horsepower, but now electric vehicles powered by advanced electric motors are challenging high-performance supercars with twin-turbo and supercharged engines.
Below you’ll find the vehicles with the most horsepower ranked in 40 vehicle categories, including cars, trucks, SUVs and minivans. Rather than focusing on exotic brands like Ferrari, McLaren, and Lotus, these lists highlight the most powerful production cars mainstream consumers can actually find and afford at their local dealerships.
You’ll still see aerodynamic coupes and powerful muscle cars, with both rear-wheel and all-wheel drive powertrains, but hypercars with 250-plus mph top speeds, such as the Aston Martin Valkyrie, Bugatti Chiron Super Sport, and Koenigsegg Regera, aren’t included here. Instead, you’ll find traditional, high-horsepower road cars like the Chevy Camaro ZL1, Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye, and Ford Mustang Dark Horse.
Each model listed below includes maximum horsepower and lb-ft of torque figures for the most powerful variants. The most powerful electric cars, including the Lucid Air and Tesla Model S Plaid, are also ranked by horsepower in the electric car categories below.
Remember that while horsepower gets more attention, torque is what actually turns a vehicle’s wheels and provides forward (or reverse) motion. Electric vehicles provide instant torque immediately, which is why they feel so quick at low speeds compared to internal combustion engines that have to rev up from idle to achieve maximum power and torque. Generally speaking, torque is what moves a car at lower speeds while horsepower is what keeps it moving and accelerating at higher speeds.
New car and used car price ranges, fuel economy specs, and cargo capacity are also provided below.
Cars with the Most Horsepower
SUVs with the Most Horsepower
Trucks with the Most Horsepower
Hybrids with the Most Horsepower
Electrics with the Most Horsepower
Minivans with the Most Horsepower
How We Rank These Cars
The Cars with the Most Horsepower lists rank vehicles by their maximum horsepower.
The maximum horsepower is the highest horsepower across all trim levels for a given vehicle model. In the event there is a tie, we use iSeeCars proprietary rating of the overall quality of the car (iSeeCars Score) to break the tie.
The overall iSeeCars Score is an analysis of three factors: reliability, resale value and safety. It is calculated based on the latest research and analysis by our data science team. The data analysis comes from over 12 million new and used vehicles in our Longest-Lasting Cars and 5-Year Depreciation Studies, combined with NHTSA and IIHS Safety Ratings.
Vehicles are scored in three categories:
Reliability | 33.3%
The reliability score represents an analysis of iSeeCars' proprietary research on the longest-lasting vehicles.
Value Retention | 33.3%
The value retention score is based on our data science team's statistical analysis and prediction of 5-year depreciation from MSRP to determine which cars hold their value best, using US Bureau of Labor Statistics data to adjust for inflation.
Safety | 33.3%
The safety score is calculated based on the last five years of crash test ratings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and incorporates the latest Top Safety Pick information from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
