Mark Sutton, courtesy of Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC.
“Take it to the track!” is a common catchphrase for those with a need for speed. And while the supply of ultra-high-performance sports cars has never been fiercer, the machines that can legitimately hold their own at a race circuit are actually few and far between.
What makes a car able to withstand the rigors of competition and shine on track days? Sometimes a manufacturer’s hard-fought racing battles can trickle down into the most aggressive strains found at your local showroom; many a carmaker can slap on ground effects and a spoiler, but real heritage can’t be faked. It also doesn’t hurt when the very cars available to consumers are prepped to be fitted with the hardware needed to meet the strict rules and regulations of the track—safety cages, fire-suppression systems, crash-resistant fuel cells, for starters.
Finally, many of the models on this list are homologation specials, which are derived from race cars, save a few minor tweaks to keep them road legal. Armed with that knowledge, we encourage you to grab a helmet, book that track time, and choose your weapon wisely.
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BAC Mono
Image Credit: Briggs Automotive Company The BAC Mono’s antisocial tendencies are right there in the name: with seating for one, this graphene-infused wonder is a relentlessly focused expression of reduction that has no time or space for hangers on. While the lighter, more powerful Mono R is even more track-oriented, there’s plenty to love with the standard model, which packs a naturally aspirated 2.5-liter engine that revs to 8,000 rpm. The Mono’s edge comes with its featherweight mass of only 1,257 pounds, enabling this stripped-down road car to outpace countless supercars.
From its Formula 1–like steering wheel to the scanty carbon bodywork revealing exposed mechanical bits, the Mono looks, feels, and performs the part of a race car that just happens to wear a license plate. When it comes to achieving killer lap times, it’s hard to beat the outrageousness of the BAC Mono.
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McMurtry Spéirling
Image Credit: Vince Mignott/MB Media/Getty Images Amusingly short, squat, and oddly proportioned, the McMurtry Spéirling might seem more at home on the pages of a comic book than at a track day near you. However, its mind-blowing lap times reveal beastly engineering that helped it shatter the Goodwood Hillclimb record. That’s owed largely to the pair of motors producing a total of 999 hp, capable of launching the vehicle to 186 mph, and doing so quicker than a Rimac Nevera and a Bugatti Chiron Super Sport.
The secret sauce here is a fan system that uses twin turbines to help suck the car down towards the ground for a cheek-distorting 3 Gs of lateral acceleration. If that level of performance doesn’t forgive the Spéirling’s curious looks, we don’t know what would.
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Porsche 911 GT3 RS
Image Credit: Porsche Cars North America The Porsche 911 is among the winningest race cars on the planet, so it’s no wonder that the showroom stock models are some of the most extreme road-going examples money can buy. While Porsche’s GT3 variant of the 911 introduced a capable front-wishbone-suspension system and a soul-stirring naturally aspirated flat-six engine, the 911 GT3 RS’s edge comes from its aerodynamics package.
The latter is responsible for up to 1,895 pounds of downforce at 177 mph, well in excess of the amounts achieved by GT3 Cup Cars. Without the strict rules of racing limiting its performance, the GT3 RS comes ready to roll as a 911 that’s been uncorked like no other.
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Ferrari SF90 XX Stradale
Image Credit: Ferrari S.p.A. Up until now, Maranello’s XX suffix described purely track-only machines, denoting an ultra-exclusive circle within the brand’s Corse Clienti program, which maintains a small ecosystem of race cars derived from road cars. The latest in a string of competition models that includes the FXX K (based on the LaFerrari) and the 599XX (derived from the 599), the SF90 XX Stradale is a high-downforce, 1,016 hp hybrid with a twist: this is the first Prancing Horse to wear the XX moniker and be street legal. By combining outrageous performance stats with true road-going sensibilities, the SF90 XX Stradale proves that the line in the sand between race cars and road cars finally deserves the shift. Oh, and there’s also a convertible version.
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Lamborghini Huracán STO
Image Credit: Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. Raging bulls from Sant’Agata Bolognese were never known for their subtlety, but Lamborghini’s Huracán STO takes a quantum leap in extroversion while backing up its garishly equipped body with legitimately serious track cred. From its gaping scoops and massive aero features to its chiseled bodywork, the STO screams speed.
Unlike some of its competition, the STO claims a more organic, naturalistic approach to brutal track capability, namely through its snorty, 631 hp V-10 engine. Thanks to extensive weight savings and aggro downforce, the STO delivers on its visual promise with a gut-punch of power.
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McLaren 765LT
Image Credit: McLaren Automotive While models like McLaren’s 720S deliver whiplash power and remarkable capability, it takes the brand’s LT (short for “Long Tail”) models to achieve truly track-ready levels of performance. The 765LT’s twin-turbo V-8 produces 755 hp (765 metric hp) while its lightweighting and ultra-firm suspension make for an unrelenting ride.
Far crisper and more potent than non-LT models, the 765 excels on a racetrack’s smoothly paved surfaces. Those seeking a more palatable motoring experience might find satisfaction in the more softly sprung Spider version, but the hardcore track-or-die set will find the 765LT just the right amount of crazy.
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Ford Mustang GTD
Image Credit: Ford Motor Company It’s not often that the Blue Oval goes all out on six-figure track toys, but the new Mustang GTD is an extreme example produced in conjunction with Multimatic. Ford’s Mustang GTD is a reasonable facsimile of what happens when a workaday pony car gets star-crossed with an array of high-performance components. With a supercharged 5.2-liter V-8 planned to deliver more than 800 hp, and some radical features incorporated to make it a track star, the GTD should put more exotic alternatives on alert.
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BMW 3.0 CSL
Image Credit: Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty Images First debuting at the 2015 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este as the 3.0 CSL Hommage, BMW’s 3.0 CSL is a modernized, limited-production hat tip to the marque’s 1970s-era 3.0s and legendary Batmobiles. The model houses a 553 hp engine mated to a manual gearbox, and features loads of carbon-fiber goodies and gobs of downforce. Yet with a starting price of €750,000 (roughly $791,700 at time of conversion) and only 50 examples to be built, it marks a unique driving experience for a very select few.
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Mercedes-AMG One
Image Credit: Mercedes-Benz The long-delayed Mercedes-AMG One endured a landmine of development issues because it incorporates high-strung hardware from Formula 1 into a package intended to run on consumer-grade gas. Painstakingly conceived, the One is built around a 1.6-liter V-6 hybrid power plant that produces in excess of 1,000 hp. While the model faces stiff competition when it comes to drivability and usability, it does offer a legit slice of Formula 1 that arguably can’t be equaled in another production car . . . well, other than the following one on this list.
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Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro
Image Credit: Mark Sutton, courtesy of Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC. Lots of hypercars promise next-gen performance, but the Adrian Newey–designed Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro delivers full absurdity at a $3.5 million cost of entry. Positioned as a road-legal Formula 1 car, the Valkyrie AMR Pro achieves outrageous milestones like an 11,400 rpm redline, which produces so much interior noise that it’s almost impossible to tolerate without wearing noise-canceling headphones. As utterly impractical as they may seem, the sacrifices you’ll make in order to pilot this wildly sculpted machine will be worth it for the undiluted and unabashed motorsport experience at a rarified level.