These Are The Fastest Cars For Your Money, Period
If you want to know what the fastest car is per dollar, looking solely at horsepower is absolutely the wrong way to go. Horsepower is an abstract number that gives you a very vague notion of how quickly a car can accelerate. This list is a solution to that problem. It's based on a formula whose only inputs are 0-60 times and MSRPs. Thus, it doesn't matter if a car has 10,000 hp or 100, as long as it can reach 60mph.
After plugging in the data for 60 different cars, we ranked all of them to find out which rides give you the best bang for your buck. The results are shocking, to say the least.
60. Ferrari LaFerrari
Bang for your Buck Score: 7.81
0-60: 2.4
Price: $1,420,112
59. McLaren P1
Bang for your Buck Score: 8.22
0-60: 2.6
Price: $1,150,000
58. Porsche 918 Spyder
Bang for your Buck Score: 13.13
0-60: 2.4
Price: $845,000
57. Toyota Prius
Bang for your Buck Score: 25.48
0-60: 10.0
Price: $25,090
56. BMW i8
Bang for your Buck Score: 32.62
0-60: 3.8
Price: $135,700
55. Audi S5
Bang for your Buck Score: 41.03
0-60: 5.4
Price: $53,425
54. Porsche 911 Turbo S
Bang for your Buck Score: 41.38
0-60: 2.9
Price: $183,695
53. Porsche 911
Bang for your Buck Score: 42.55
0-60: 4.1
Price: $89,375
52. Porsche Cayman
Bang for your Buck Score: 43.27
0-60: 5.1
Price: $56,795
51. Porsche Cayman GTS
Bang for your Buck Score: 43.91
0-60: 4.4
Price: $75,200
50. Jaguar F-Type Coupe S
Bang for your Buck Score: 44.90
0-60: 4.3
Price: $77,000
49. Lexus RC350
Bang for your Buck Score: 45.01
0-60: 5.7
Price: $43,715
48. Lexus IS 350 F Sport
Bang for your Buck Score: 45.30
0-60: 5.6
Price: $45,000
47. Audi RS5
Bang for your Buck Score: 45.97
0-60: 4.4
Price: $71,825
46. Porsche Cayman S
Bang for your Buck Score: 48.35
0-60: 4.4
Price: $69,295
45. Cadillac ATS 3.6
Bang for your Buck Score: 48.43
0-60: 5.6
Price: $42,090
44. Ford Fiesta
Bang for your Buck Score: 48.65
0-60: 9.7
Price: $13,965
43. Jaguar F Type Coupe R
Bang for your Buck Score: 49.82
0-60: 3.6
Price: $99,000
42. Porsche Macan Turbo
Bang for your Buck Score: 50.12
0-60: 4.2
Price: $72, 300
41. Mercedes C63 AMG
Bang for your Buck Score: 50.31
0-60: 4.4
Price: $65,625
40. Porsche 911 GT3
Bang for your Buck Score: 51.17
0-60: 3.1
Price: $130,000
39. Mercedes CLA
Bang for your Buck Score: 52.34
0-60: 6.1
Price: $32,825
38. Audi S4
Bang for your Buck Score: 53.98
0-60: 4.9
Price: $49,325
37. Mazda 6
Bang for your Buck Score: 54.78
0-60: 7.0
Price: $23,815
36. Lexus RC F
Bang for your Buck Score: 55.40
0-60: 4.3
Price: $62,400
35. Audi A4
Bang for your Buck Score: 55.96
0-60: 5.6
Price: $36,425
34. BMW 328i
Bang for your Buck Score: 56.05
0-60: 5.8
Price: $33,900
33. Tesla Model S P85D
Bang for your Buck Score: 60.75
0-60: 3.1
Price: $109,500
32. Mazda MX-5 Miata
Bang for your Buck Score: 61.03
0-60: 6.5 (est)
Price: $24,790
31. Mitsubishi Lancer Evo
Bang for your Buck Score: 64.46
0-60: 5.3
Price: $35,305
30. Audi A3
Bang for your Buck Score: 64.87
0-60: 5.4
Price: $33,795
29. Cadillac CTS-V
Bang for your Buck Score: 66.80
0-60: 3.7
Price: $69,900
28. Mercedes CLA45 AMG
Bang for your Buck Score: 66.80
0-60: 4.4
Price: $49,425
27. Ford Fiesta ST
Bang for your Buck Score: 67.99
0-60: 6.7
Price: $20,945
26. BMW 335i
Bang for your Buck Score: 68.59
0-60: 4.6
Price: $44,045
25. Chevy SS
Bang for your Buck Score: 69.01
0-60: 4.5
Price: $45745
24. Ford Mustang Ecoboost
Bang for your Buck Score: 69.57
0-60: 5.6
Price: $29,300
23. Ford Focus ST
Bang for your Buck Score: 70.49
0-60: 6.1
Price: $24,370
22. Alfa Romeo 4C
Bang for your Buck Score: 70.55
0-60: 4.1
Price: $53,900
21. BMW M3
Bang for your Buck Score: 71.40
0-60: 3.8
Price: $62,000
20. Mercedes GLA45 AMG
Bang for your Buck Score: 71.58
0-60: 4.3
Price: $48,300
19. Dodge Charger Hellcat
Bang for your Buck Score: 72.96
0-60: 3.7*
Price: $63,995
18. Cadillac ATS-V
Bang for your Buck Score: 73.21
0-60: 3.8
Price: $60,465
17. Nissan GT-R
Bang for your Buck Score: 73.53
0-60: 2.9
Price: $103,365
16. Dodge Challenger R/T
Bang for your Buck Score: 74.95
0-60: 5.1
Price: $32,790
15. Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Bang for your Buck Score: 75.72
0-60: 3.9
Price: $55,505
14. Dodge Viper SRT Coupe
Bang for your Buck Score: 76.37
0-60: 3.1 (est)
Price: $87,095
13. Chevrolet Camaro (V6)
Bang for your Buck Score: 77.47
0-60: 5.9
Price: $23,705
12. BMW M235i
Bang for your Buck Score: 78.48
0-60: 4.3
Price: $44,050
11. Audi S3
Bang for your Buck Score: 78.62
0-60: 4.4
Price: $41,995
10. Chevrolet Corvette Z/06
Bang for your Buck Score: 79.02
0-60: 3.2
Price: $79,000
9. Dodge Challenger Hellcat
Bang for your Buck Score: 80.10
0-60: 3.7
Price: $58,295
8. Chevrolet Corvette Stingray
Bang for your Buck Score: 80.49
0-60: 3.8
Price: $55,000
7. BMW 228i
Bang for your Buck Score: 80.56
0-60: 4.9
Price: $33,050
6. Subaru WRX STI
Bang for your Buck Score: 85.12
0-60: 4.6
Price: $$35.490
5. Hyundai Genesis Coupe
Bang for your Buck Score: 85.51
0-60: 5.2
Price: $27,645
4. Nissan 370Z
Bang for your Buck Score: 88.77
0-60: 4.9
Price: $29,990
3. Dodge Challenger Scat Pack
Bang for your Buck Score: 91.76
0-60: 4.2
Price: $39,490
2. Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE
Bang for your Buck Score: 98.55
0-60: 4.4
Price: $33,505
1. Ford Mustang GT
Bang for your Buck Score: 99.41
0-60: 4.4
Price: $33,215
Conclusions
- As one might expect, there's a distinct point of diminishing returns with regard to both price and power. Only one car in the top 30—the Nissan GT-R—sells for over $100,000, and it's generally considered extremely fast for its price. As evidenced by the Hellcat twins, traction is a critical component. If they were using drag radials as Dodge itself did to record times, they could use more of their power, and would actually top this list.
- Seeing a Mustang, Camaro, and Challenger rank one, two, and three is certainly no surprise, even if the specific Camaro and Challenger at the top is. Bang for the buck is what those three have always been about.
- The cluster of Porsches all across a wide price point of 911s and Caymans is fascinating, and would seem to imply a direct link between Porsche's pricing and acceleration. That's surprising, since the cars' primary purpose is cornering, and increased cornering prowess doesn't appear to impact price points.
- What's not shown is as interesting as what is: luxury and comfort, as well as perception of brand prestige are all absent, which is how cars like the Hyundai Genesis managed to spring their surprise.
The entire list:
A quick note on times shown: Often, the time quoted by a manufacturer and the time tested in the real world varies. When in doubt, the faster of the two times was used.
*NOTE: For both the Charger and Challenger Hellcat, Dodge claims a time of 2.9 seconds. However, that time was set on drag radials, which provide an unfair advantage in straight line acceleration. No other car on this list set its time using an equivalent tire, so the Hellcats' times were omitted in the name of fairness. For the record, 2.9 seconds would put the Challenger and Charger Hellcats at number one and two on this list by a considerable margin.