A lot has changed over the past 25 years, but we’re grateful that the noble quest for speed and automotive excellence is still alive and well. As we approach the decline of fossil fueled cars, we’re in the thick of a golden age of internal combustion engine vehicles. Join us in celebrating this petrol crescendo with written coverage and an accompanying video of some seriously quick machines duking it out for… science?
Car and Driver performed the first 0-150-0 test 25 years ago in 1998. Back then, performance tests were measured using analog devices that seem like they would’ve gone extinct alongside carburation and 8-tracks instead of sharing the spotlight with the birth of Google and the Gameboy Color. Archaic measurement tech aside, the first 0-150-0 test included mostly extreme specialist-tuned cars like a Lingenfelter C4 Corvette ZR-1 and a Renntech-tuned Mercedes-Benz SL.
In the magazine’s latest issue, Car and Driver gathered a new crop of performance cars to do the 0-150-0 run, none of which were modified by tuners. The new test also included significantly more accessible cars that can be bought at any dealer like the Honda Civic Type R and Hyundai Elantra N, showing significantly increased access to serious speeds.
Yes, our 150-mph roster includes SUVs, which would have been unthinkable last time. So would including a stock Civic, although we brought one of those—the Type R, of course—along with its Korean antagonist, the Hyundai Elantra N, but not a Toyota GR Corolla, as it maxes out at 144 mph. Representing attainable German speed, Volkswagen sent a Golf R, and representing half-attainable and half-German speed, Toyota furnished a GR Supra 3.0. That car seemed a natural foil to the Ford Mustang Dark Horse, our lone thundering American pony car (we asked for a Dodge Demon 170, but no luck). Beyond the Mustang, prices got mighty fancy, with the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing dicing with the Bentley Continental GT Speed in a battle of large-format autobahn dominators. At the top of the food chain, Porsche fielded a 911 GT3 RS and a 911 Turbo S, and Chevy countered with a Corvette Z06.
To break up the internal-combustion hegemony, the Kia EV6 GT flew the flag for electric vehicles everywhere. It wasn’t supposed to be the only EV, but the Tesla Model S Plaid we’d rented caught a nail in a tire the day we were heading to Oscoda, and we couldn’t get a replacement in time for testing. We did, however, run it later at our usual test venue since the straightaway there is long enough for a car that hits the required speed in a quarter-mile, and we ran a Lucid Air Sapphire on the straightaway at Virginia International Raceway. The results don’t count for the official scoreboard, but they were certainly enlightening.
The contenders listed in order from slowest time to fastest time are as follows: Honda Civic Type R, Hyundai Elantra N, Volkswagen Golf R, Bentley Bentayga S, Kia EV6 GT, Toyota GR Supra 3.0, Ford Mustang Dark Horse, Bentley Continental GT Speed, Cadillac CT-5 V Blackwing, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, Chevrolet Corvette Z06, and the Porsche 911 Turbo S. The slowest car, the Civic, completed the 0-150-0 run in 52.7 seconds, while the 911 Turbo S took just 19.3 seconds total.
C/D’s team did test a Tesla Model S Plaid and a Lucid Air Sapphire, but due to various reasons they were both tested at different tracks and under different conditions so they are separately mentioned. Both were faster than the 911 Turbo S, with the Plaid clocking in at 16.2 seconds and the Sapphire at a scant 15.5 seconds.
It’s wild to think that a $34,000 Hyundai is able to complete this bold test on the 1.5-mile runway, proving that we’ve got it pretty good as far as fast cars go in 2023. Give the vintage test a read here if you’re feeling nostalgic, and you can watch C/D’s full video below.