Tesla's Roadster isn't the fastest car in the world, but it's damn close

“How fast can it go?”

There are many ways to measure automotive excellence, but top speed is the one everybody secretly cares about the most. Aldous Huxley was right about speed being the only truly modern sensation. He left out the part about how much fun it is.

These 25 cars are more than just fun, though, they’re the fastest production cars on the planet. The emphasis here is on “production” — racers and one-off custom jobs need not apply. We also tried to limit our selections for the fastest cars in the world to those with claimed top speeds that have been generally recognized as legitimate by the automotive media and sanctioning groups.

There are also some cars on the horizon that appear ready to knock some names off this list. SSC still hopes to reclaim the title of world’s fastest car with its 1,350-horsepower Tuatara, and Bugatti will officially test the Chiron’s top speed in 2018. For now, though, these are the fastest cars that can legally sport a license plate.

In terms of top speed, Hennessey Performance Engineering is running roughshod over the competition. Hennessey’s Venom GT — which recorded its monumental, yet unofficial 270-mph run in 2014 — sat atop this list for some time, but three years later, Hennessey challenged the boundaries of physics yet again.

Boasting a claimed top speed of 301 mph, the Venom F5 smashes the previous top speed figure by more than a school zone speed limit. To do so, Hennessey started with an all-new, 2,950-pound carbon fiber chassis (the Venom GT is based on the Lotus Exige), and bolted a 1,600-hp, 7,4-liter, twin-turbo V8 to it. The results are absolutely astonishing, as the car can reportedly go from 0 to 249 to 0 mph in less than 30 seconds total. Hennessey has yet to confirm its top speed with the Guinness Book of World Records, so the Koenigsegg Agera RS remains the official fastest car in the world … for now.

The Koenigsegg Agera RS is officially the fastest car in the world, and yet it sits in the second position on our list. Why?

In terms of spec sheets, Hennessey’s Venom F5 is more impressive. Its claimed top speed of 301 mph obliterates everything else on this list by a significant margin, but Hennessey hasn’t verified its numbers with the Guinness Book of World Records. Koenigsegg has, so even though it gets the silver medal here, in the real world, the Agera RS is the true speed king.

To set the official record, Koenigsegg asked the Nevada Department of Transportation to close an 11-mile stretch of Route 160 between Las Vegas and Pahrump. On public roads, the 1,160-hp Swedish supercar hit 284.55 mph during its first run and 271.19 mph during the second, which averages out to 277.9 mph.

The Bugatti Veyron was a monumental feat of engineering, a supercar whose performance was so marvelous, Top Gear presenter James May compared it to the automobile equivalent of the Concorde. After 10 years of production, the Volkswagen Group has unveiled the Veyron’s successor, the Bugatti Chiron.

Named for a legendary centaur in Greek mythology, the Chiron is intended to improve upon the Veyron in every way. Hitting 261 mph using street legal settings, the 1500-hp Chiron is like a beast in chains. On the racetrack, Bugatti aims to break those chains, as well as the current speed record. For now, its top speed remains a mystery to the public. Although the Chiron is built like a race car, one needn’t be a professional to operate it — the car is engineered to automatically adjust its machinery as the speed increases or decreases, ensuring optimal performance.

The Chiron will not be a mere speedster, but a comprehensive luxury vehicle as well. Beyond a beautiful leather interior, the car also sports a decadent sound system, with a diamond diaphragm inside each speaker. The dashboard features high-resolution digital displays that will adjust as the car’s speed changes, showing only crucial information at higher speeds. The Chiron looks to be a king among supercars, which is fitting, as kings will be among the few to obtain one — only 500 will be released for the first generation, and they cost a staggering $2.6 million each.

The original Tesla Roadster was a sports car based on the Lotus Elise, and although its performance was certainly impressive, it’s more known for establishing Tesla as a legitimate player in the automotive world. The new Roadster, with its bonafide supercar levels of performance, is another thing altogether.

Revealed as a surprise at the end of the Tesla Semi unveiling, the second-generation Roadster features the most impressive spec sheet of any EV before it — 0 to 60 mph in 1.9 seconds, 0 to 100 mph in 4.2 seconds, and a claimed top speed of 250 mph. While these numbers remain unconfirmed at this time, the Roadster’s 200kWh battery pack is absolutely massive and will undoubtedly push performance EVs to an entirely new level. The biggest battery you can get in a Model S or Model X is half that size, by the way.

No sane person would ever call the Pagani Huayra tame, because with an AMG-sourced biturbo V12 pushing less than 3,000 pounds, the Italian dynamo is the definition of a beast. The formula can always been improved though, and at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show, Pagani proved it by debuting the Huayra BC.

Lighter and more powerful than the standard Huayra, the BC’s engine was massaged to produce 789 hp, while total curb weight was slashed down to a paltry 2,645 lbs. That’s effectively the same weight as the latest Honda Civic Coupe with five times the power. It should come as no surprise, then, that the BC’s top speed is rated at a ridiculous 238 mph.

One of the only performance cars to come out of Denmark is also one of the fastest motorcars ever built. Assembled in Zealand, the Zenvo ST1 exhibits the height of Danish engineering prowess, as the car combines a 6.8-liter V8 with both a supercharger and a turbocharger to create 1,104 hp and 1,054 lb-ft. All of that power goes straight to the rear wheels, making the ST1 a handful for anyone outside of the professional racing scene. If you can get the tires locked up, though, the bullish coupe will shock you with raw ability.

Flat out, the ST1 is capable of reaching 233 mph given enough road, but it’s important to note its top speed is electronically limited. Without the digital nannies on board, we suspect the ST1 would be even faster in the top end, which is a scary thought indeed.

Sometimes you get what you pay for in life, and the Lamborghini Veneno proves it by appearing on our Most Expensive Cars in the World list as well as this one. That’s right, this $4.5-million supercar is actually quite the bargain.

With a 6.5-liter V12 producing 750 screaming Italian ponies, this venomous Lambo approaches superbike levels of performance with a 0 to 60 time of 2.9 seconds and a top speed of 221 mph. The car also features an array of racing-inspired gadgetry, such as a quick-shifting ISR semi-auto transmission with five different modes, pushrod suspension, and horizontal damper units. There’s also the comic book/stealth fighter styling, which is worth the price of admission for some.

If you thought $4.5 million was a lot, you’ll love this — in 2014, a Veneno sold in Germany for a whopping $6.5 million. Perhaps the word “bargain” was a bit of a stretch.