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fastest porsche
Nick D·
Special ListsPorschePorsche Lists0-60 TimesPowerTop Speed1/4 mileFastestAll Time
·34 min read

The Definitive List of the Fastest Production Porsches Ever

The Ultimate Guide to the Fastest Porsches

What’s Here

Fastest Porsches

In Detail

We recently spent weeks pulling together all the performance numbers for every Porsche production model we could find and as mentioned in the post we grouped everything by model and era so that you could compare cars in a meaningful way. Of course it took all of 5 minutes for readers to ask

Porsche was never known as a straight line performance company. It was about small, lightweight cars with relatively small engines competing and winning against big engined competitors from Italy and America. With that in mind Porsche’s have always been awesome performers on track and Porsche’s record in world championships in just about any racing series proves that point. Yet, despite its lack of focus on straight line acceleration performance, Porsche has produced some cracking cars with serious acceleration.  We are going to call out some specific models that stuck out to us for helping Porsche make a name for themselves in straight line performance even though they were not really trying.

First up is the 1978 Porsche 935/78 ‘Moby Dick’. With a 0-60 mph time of 2.5 seconds (in 1978) the 935/78 was built under Porsche’s Chief Racing by Norbert Singer for high speeds at Le Mans. Due to the advanced shape of the car 227 mph or 366 km/h was possible. To achieve this, both the front and rear end were redesigned with detachable panels that could reveal what little was left of the production unitary steel monocoque with new aluminum sub-frames. The race car was so quick it dominated and was the first true monster Porsche in terms of performance.

Next up is the 1994 Dauer 962 Le Mans with a 0-60 mph time: 2.5 sec and barely believable 9.7 second 1/4 mile time of 9.7 seconds. Dauer partnered with Porsche to manufacture a contender for the 1994 24 Hours of LeMans (the rules stipulated that a single road-going version of the car had to manufactured for homologation). At the 24 hour race, Dauer showed up with both a road version and race version of the Porsches 962 (a design which had already won Le Mans six times). After winning the race, the FIA declared it would be creating rules to make sure the 962 wouldn’t be back in 1995.

The awesome 918 is next on our list of special Porsches. In our top 50 cars by 0-60 mph acceleration times, the Porsche 918 comes in at fourth place with a 2.3-second sprint to 60 and quarter mile time of just 9.9 seconds. Put the Porsche 918 Spyder in “Race Hybrid” mode for maximum performance and the car accelerates like it is on a slingshot. What makes the 918 special is the hybrid powertrain. The 918s combustion engine is chiefly used under high load with the electric motors providing additional support in the form of boosting. A technical marvel that makes us excited about the future of Porsche electric performance.

These are some special models for sure, but don’t forget Porsches daily drivers. Just think about the current SUV lineup. The Macan Turbo (with Performance Package) hits sixty in 4.2 seconds and the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S does it in 3.8 seconds. 3.8 seconds from standstill to sixty is faster than a 2001 911 Turbo and the Cayenne is a 2+ ton monster SUV. Speaking of 911 Turbos, this is where Porsche excelled in effortless straight line performance. The 911 Turbos were always the fastest cars you could buy and these days it is no different. Try 0-60 in 2.8 seconds in 2018 in luxury, air conditioned comfort with a dual clutch gearbox automatically doing all the work with the help of launch control. It is great time to be a car fan.

Fastest Porsches from 0 to 60 mph

Can you say the word 911 Turbo? When it comes to the sprint from zero to 60 mph it is the 911 Turbo that reigns supreme. Eleven of the top 20 fastest Porsches to 60 mph are Turbo models. That isn’t surprising to us considering the Turbo was always about comfortable, effortless speed.

The very top of the acceleration list is the 918 Spyder hypercar with a blistering 2.3 second time. The 918 is helped along by a 608 hp 4.6 liter V8 and two electric motors for a total 887 hp. It isn’t just one of the fastest accelerating Porsches, it makes our all-time top 10 fastest cars to 60 mph. Other notable Porsche sprinters include the latest GT2, GT3 and GT3 RS models as well as the Panamera Turbos that have recently taking four door acceleration to the next level.

Fastest Porsches by Quarter Mile time

If you are an executive looking to race from light to light on your way to work, we suggest you go for the 911 Turbo. If we didn’t group all the 911 Turbo and Turbo S models into one grouping for each year, the Turbo bunch would have taken up almost the entire list. That is just how good the top Porsche is at smashing acceleration competitions. You can see from the fastest 0-60 mph Porsche times that the 911 Turbo range is epic, but clearly it gets even better as you cover more distance because it is more dominant in the fastest Porsche list over a 1/4 mile. Thanks to twin turbo flat six with a lot of power and all-wheel drive, it is hard for non-Turbo Porsches with rear wheel drive to win. The outliers (non 911 Turbo) models over the 1/4 mile are the hypercar 918 Spyder and the supercar Carrera GT. In the midpack are the GT3 and GT3 RS cars which all hover around the 11 second quarter mile mark. It is encouraging to see the current crop of “normal” 911s like the Carrera/Carrera 4/Targa 4 GTS models make the list (all have the new twin-turbo flat six engine) with mid 11 second quarter mile times. When it comes to the fastest Porches over the quarter mile, clearly having a turbo motor is important.

* Note: We grouped all Porsche 911 Turbo S, Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet under one entry for the appropriate years since they are substantially the same model.

Fastest Porsches by Top Speed

Damn those Porsche 911 Turbos that keep dominating these Porsche performance lists. There are eight on this list of our top 20 fastest Porsches by top speed. Clearly the Porsche supercars feature prominently on the top speed list as do the GT2 and GT3 motorsport fettled machines.

* Note: We grouped all Porsche 911 Turbo S, Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet under one entry for the appropriate years since they are substantially the same model.

Most Powerful Production Porsches

If you thought turbo engines dominated the other Porsche performance lists, then the most powerful production Porsche list is no different. A total of 16 out of 20 cars are turbo powered which is not a surprise when you consider the sheer physics of turbo engines. What will surprise most people is that Cayenne and Panamera make up a large portion of the list. Largely absent from the acceleration and top speed performance lists, we see almost half of Porsches with the most horsepower are passenger cars. It makes sense of course because you need a lot of power to make a 2+ ton Cayenne SUV move quickly and the Panamera is no lightweight either. These models use big horsepower to hustle them along as acceptable Porsche speeds. Other than passenger cars, there are no surprises here, with the supercars and 911 Turbo being high on the list.

Note: * We grouped all Porsche 911 Turbo S, Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet under one entry for the appropriate years since they are substantially the same model. **We did the same for the Panamera Turbo S and Panamera Turbo S Executive for 2013. 

Fastest Porsche Nurburgring Times

The Nurburgring lap time is the true measure of a top performance car and Porsche has spent a lot of time on the top of the leaderboard in terms of the fastest cars to tame the Green Hell. While 0 – 60mph and 1/4 mile times are useful for comparing performance you can see from the above lists that something is missing. The 911 Turbo cars that dominate the numbers game are amazing cars but car fans like us want to know which Porsches truly represent the racing DNA, the cars that are the ultimate performance machines. The twenty fastest Porsches around the Nurburgring are those cars. You can see that the Porsche GT2 RS, GT3 RS and Porsche supercars like the 918 Spyder come out on top of the heap. Note that every single Porsche on the top 20 for this list also makes the top 100 all-time Nurburgring lap times for production cars. Go Porsche.

 

Which is the Fastest Porsche Questions Answered

What is the Fastest Porsche?

Fastest New Porsche (current)

The 991.2 GT2 RS is powered by a 3.8 L twin-turbocharged flat-6 engine that produces a maximum power of 700 PS (515 kW; 690 hp) at 7,000 rpm and 750 N⋅m (550 lb⋅ft) of torque, making it the most powerful 911 ever built. Unlike the previous GT2 versions, this car is fitted with a 7-speed PDK transmission to handle the excessive torque produced from the engine. Porsche claims that this car will accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 2.7 seconds, and has a top speed of 340 km/h (210 mph). It is by far the most expensive and extreme 911 available and is really only useful on track.

Fastest Ever Porsche (all time)

When it comes to Porsche, every generation is faster than the one before. So it is no surprise then that the latest Porsche supercar, the 918 Spyder is the fastest (production) Porsche ever made. Check out the lists above and the 918 Spyder tops the acceleration, top speed and total power categories.

The Spyder is powered by a naturally-aspirated 4.6-liter V8 engine that is capable of producing 608 horsepower (453 kW). Paired with this engine are two electric motors that deliver an additional 279 horsepower each, for a cumulative combined total of 887 horsepower (661 kW). In an independent series of speed tests performed by Car and Driver Magazine, the Porsche 918, achieved a 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) of just 2.6 seconds, a 0-100 mph (0-161 km/h) time of 4.9 seconds and a 0-180 mph (0-290 km/h) time of just 17.5 seconds. It is one of the fastest accelerating cars on the planet and its top speed of 214 mph is up there too with the fastest cars in the world. It easily ranks as the fastest Porsche (for now).

How fast can a Porsche 911 Go?

Fastest New Porsche 911 (current)

The 991.2 GT2 RS is powered by a 3.8 L twin-turbocharged flat-6 engine that produces a maximum power of 700 PS (515 kW; 690 hp) at 7,000 rpm and 750 N⋅m (550 lb⋅ft) of torque, making it the most powerful 911 ever built. Unlike the previous GT2 versions, this car is fitted with a 7-speed PDK transmission to handle the excessive torque produced from the engine. Porsche claims that this car will accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 2.7 seconds, and has a top speed of 340 km/h (210 mph). It is by far the most expensive and extreme 911 available and is really only useful on track.

The GT2 RS has a roof made of magnesium, front lid, front and rear wings and boot lid made of carbon, front and rear apron made of lightweight polyurethane, rear and side windows made of polycarbonate and features a titanium exhaust system. Porsche claims that the car will have a wet weight of 1,470 kg.

Inside the interior is as stripped back as you expect of a GT 911, with liberal usage of lightweight plastics and metal, with Porsche stating you could save an additional 12kg by swapping the steel roll cage for an aluminum one. It is rougher, less civilized and louder than both the GT3 and GT3 RS. As expected the steering is brilliantly communicative and fabulously responsive. On the road there is some turbo lag but this engine is phenomenal, with a level of responsiveness and linearity that not many years ago would have been unthinkable on this kind of turbocharged output. On track you won’t notice because it is always on song. While a GT2 RS would be amazing on country roads, its level of performance is so ferocious that it really needs to be on track to be enjoyed.

Fastest Ever Porsche 911 (all time)

The current 991.2 GT2 RS you can buy new is also the fastest, most powerful 911 of all time.

How fast can a Porsche 911 Turbo Go?

Fastest New Porsche 911 Turbo (current)

There are five 911 Turbo models you can buy brand new. While they are all super fast it is the 911 Turbo S Exclusive Series that is top dog. Porsche will build only 500 copies of the 911 Turbo S Exclusive and it gets hands on love from Porsche’s customization team. Lots of leather and lots of carbon fiber.

More importantly, the engine has also been tickled with an extra 27 horsepower over the standard Turbo S to a pretty nuts 599 hp. The sprint from standstill to 60 mph is over in less than 3 seconds and the quarter mile in 10.6 seconds. Top speed is 205 mph.

We haven’t tested one but from other reviews it sounds like you cannot tell the difference in performance verses the Turbo S so it is hard to justify $250k+ price point. The guys at Car & Driver once again put it best: It appears Porsche is making this ultimate and rare 911 to test the quarter-million-dollar waters; while undeniably cool, the Turbo S Exclusive will appeal to the Porsche faithful who especially prize rarity. The rest of us could be more than satisfied with the $191,750 Turbo S or even the 540-hp Turbo for $162,850.

Fastest Ever Porsche 911 Turbo (all time)

The current 911 Turbo S Exclusive Series you can buy new is also the fastest 911 Turbo ever.

Fastest Porsche Around Nurburgring

Fastest Porsche at Nurburgring (hint, they’re race cars)

In June 2018 Porsche smashed the all-time Nordschleife Nurburgring lap time by a staggering 51.58 seconds. Porsche driver Timo Bernhard behind the wheel of Porsche’s 919 LMP1 (919 Evo) race car broke the record with a time of 5 minutes 19.545 seconds, besting the previous record of 6 minutes 11.13 seconds by Stefan Bellof in 1983 in a Porsche 956 race car. For exactly 35 years and one month, Stefan Bellof’s 6:11.13 lap record around the Nürburgring’s long Nordschleife course in a Porsche 956C seemed untouchable. Not any more. The 919 Hybrid Evo is the new undisputed king of the ‘Ring.

While the 919 Hybrid is king, lets talk a little about the previous record holder because that story is even cooler. In 1983, Stefan Bellof, driving a Porsche 956, ran a 6:11.13 at the Nürburgring. The 1983 Nurburgring 1000km was held on the 12.9-mile Nordschleife, marking the only time top-level Le Mans cars raced on this configuration. The Porsche 956 broke new ground in sports prototypes and was very fast. The 2.65 liter, 620 horsepower turbocharged flat-six powertrain was familiar but it was the advanced ground effect underbody made it unbeatable. Ground effect made the 956 unbelievably fast, but also incredibly tricky on a bumpy, narrow circuit like the Nurburgring. Despite the shortfalls, the 25 year Stefan broke the record and held it for three-and-a-half-decades. Not a bad day at the office.

Onboard the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo record-breaking lap at the Nurburgring

Onboard the Porsche 956 record-breaking lap at the Nurburgring

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z8FLlp8igw

Fastest Production Porsche at Nurburgring

The current fastest production Porsche at Nurburgring is the 911 GT2 RS with a time of 6:47.30 (video below). 

When it comes to production car Nurburgring records the fight is a back and forth tussle between Lamborghini and Porsche. Just a year after the GT2 RS stunned everyone by beating the Huracan Performante, Lamborghini fired back with the Aventador SVJ. It’s two second quicker than the Porsche. Six months later and the Porsche 911 GT2 RS took the top spot by nearly five seconds. The better balanced but not as powerful 911 GT3 RS (991.2) held its own with a 6:56.4 time. Thanks to new tires, heavily revised suspension, more downforce, and a heroic drive by Kevin Estre, the 991.2 GT3 RS shaved 24 seconds off its predecessor’s Nurburgring lap time. A crazy result for a car with only 520 hp. The Porsche hypercars were topped by the Porsche 918 Spyder whose 6:57.00 time was the best production time for any production car for four years. The 918’s blistering time was a result of an 887-hp hybrid drivetrain, with an electric motor on the front axle, providing incredible grip.

Onboard the 911 GT2 RS world record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh8_2zQZ3xM

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