10 Of The Quickest Naturally Aspirated Street Cars In Recent History

It's an open secret that putting a turbocharger into the engine bay of your average car can transform it into a fun and spicy toy. However, you don't have to buy a vehicle with forced induction to get something fast and fun. Here are some cars that are still respectable performers without the aid of electric motors, superchargers and turbochargers...

One: Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport

The Corvette Grand Sport is General Motors fastest naturally aspirated car at the moment and not just in straight line acceleration. The Grand Sport is a tenth of a second slower than a Porsche 911 GT3 around Virginia International Raceway, a road course where a sub 3 minute lap time is considered fast; the Grand Sport accomplishes all this while still using a pushrod V8.

Two: Ferrari F12 Berlinetta

While Ferrari’s mid engined V8 car has gone turbocharged, the V12 grand tourer made by the prancing horse has stayed naturally aspirated for the time being to the tune of 731 horsepower. Grand Tour presenter Jeremy Clarkson is a self professed lover of engine power, and even he thinks that the F12 might have too much of it.

Three: Ford Mustang Shelby GT350

Loved by gearheads across the board, the new Shelby GT350 is a very unique and capable car. In a Head 2 Head test conducted by Motor Trend, the GT350 beat a Camaro Z/28 around a racetrack 1:57.87 to 1:59.03 respectively AND in a quarter mile drag race by two tenths of a second; take that Chevy.

Four: Porsche 911 GT3 RS

It is very impressive how fast the GT3 RS is considering it’s RWD and has a naturally aspirated 4 liter flat six engine. The regular GT3 has a slightly smaller engine that is able to rev higher because the GT3 RS’ mill has a longer stroke to it. If you have almost $200,000 in spare change laying around and are looking for a fun car, the GT3 should be on your radar.

Five: Dodge Viper

Considering the fact that the Viper has the largest engine ever fitted to a production car (8.4 liters of displacement to be exact), it would be an embarrassment if it didn’t make this list. The ACR has set records at several racetracks dispelling the myth that American cars can’t corner. To the chagrin of it’s followers, the Viper is no longer being produced although there are rumors it could have a successor.

Six: Lamborghini Huracan

All wheel drive and high revving 600 horsepower from a 5.2 liter V10 help this rampaging bull go from 0-60 in under 3 seconds and onto a sub 11 second quarter mile. The baby Lambo has very similar performance to it’s bigger brother, the Aventador, the V12 powered flagship of the Lamborghini brand.

Seven: McLaren F1

The McLaren F1 is quite possibly the fastest naturally aspirated street car ever built. If you have a long enough road, you can go up to 243 MPH (391 km/h). With a production run of 106 cars, a gold plated engine bay and a driving position right in the middle of the chassis, the F1 is a very special car (just don’t wreck one like Roman Atkinson did).

Eight: 1st generation Honda NSX

The 1st generation NSX’s largest engine had a displacement of around 3.2 liters but it’s low curb weight helped it achieve some not too shabby acceleration numbers. You got a 13.1 second quarter mile for a 2002 model which wasn’t too far off from the Chevrolet Corvette of the time.

Nine: Ariel Atom 500

The 500 here stands for 500 horsepower coming from a 3 liter V8; that’s a lot of power for a car that weighs around 1,213 pounds. If you’re wondering what the bhp per tonne figure is, it’s 909. Yeah, that’s completely sane…

Ten: BAC Mono

The BAC Mono is road legal but if you plan to carry a passenger or significant cargo with you on your daily commute, you should probably save this one for the autocross. The Cosworth powered wonder from Briggs has most of it’s weight in the middle of a car which improves driving dynamics and goes from 0-60 MPH in a seriously quick 2.8 seconds and set one of the fastest lap times at Top Gear’s test track at 1:14.3