We love tests that demonstrate more than just one specific automotive attribute. Racing from 0-150-0 mph (or 0-241-0 km/h for those of you in the metric system) is just such a test because it reveals details you won’t find on paper. In the case of these 12 cars, a few end up in positions that we think might surprise you.
Every car here in this test by Car&Driver can reach 150 mph (241 km/h), but how quickly they achieve that feat and then return to zero says a lot about their performance. For instance, the weakest car in this bunch, the Hyundai Elantra N, isn’t the slowest. It accomplished this feat in 47 seconds flat, which is 5.2 seconds faster than the overall slowest car here, the Honda Civic Type R.
Don’t go thinking that the Civic Type R is a dog, though. It’s optimized for track use and has a huge gearing gap between fifth and sixth gear. To that end, it needs to shift from fifth to sixth at about 144 mph (232 km/h). That creates a small gap in acceleration where drag really takes hold of that giant rear wing. The result? A much slower overall time compared to everything else here.
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The Elantra N doesn’t have that giant wing or the big gap in gearing so it sailed to a surprising victory over the more powerful and track-capable Type R. Another surprise here comes in the form of the Bentley Bentayga S. It weighs well over 5,000 lbs (2,267 kg) and has just 542 hp. Nevertheless, it finished the test in just 32.8 seconds. That’s good enough for ninth place ahead of the Honda, the Hyundai, and the VW Golf R.
The Kia EV6 beat all of those including the Bentley, but that’s just about where the surprises stop. Every model that went faster is a proven performance car with almost complete focus on all-out speed.
The Ford Mustang Dark Horse stopped faster than every car in attendance short of the Porsche 911 GT3. The Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing smoked everything but the Corvette and the Porsches. And the Porsche 911 Turbo S proved just how incredible it really is even with a price tag of $253,510.
Have a watch of the whole video for a few more interesting insights and in-car video. Here are just two more: The Tesla Model S did this test separately in just 16.2 seconds and the Lucid Air Sapphire did it in 15.5.