When it comes to speed, horsepower and torque are only a part of the equation. Weight is a huge consideration car makers have to think about to get the most performance out of a car. A lightweight sports car rocking 300 HP versus a hulking SUV sporting the same 300 HP engine will be drastically different on the road and the track.
Supercars are especially familiar with the concept of weight saving. The exceedingly rare Lamborghini Sesto Elemento is a Gallardo that had every non-essential piece removed including seats and even door handles with what remained replaced with lightweight carbon fiber. The result is a beast on the track that only has 3.85 lbs per horsepower. A Mazda MX-5 aka Miata comparatively has a power-to-weight ratio of 15.29 lbs per horsepower.
But many cars have better power-to-weight ratios than even the stripped-down Sesto Elemento. Here are 10 supercars with the lowest power-to-weight ratios.
10 Koenigsegg One:1
Perhaps the most famous car to take power-to-weight seriously is the Koenigsegg One:1 which was named for having exactly 1,360 PS to its 1,360 kg weight. The PS is a European car power measurement that stands for Pferdestrke. Though the PS is not a one to one comparison with the US horsepower it is close.
But that means the One:1 does not have a perfect power-to-weight ratio when compared to a pound per horsepower. The One:1 has an incredible 2.24 lbs per horsepower making it the world’s first “megacar” according to Koenigsegg.
9 Hennessey Venom GT
The Venom GT is a modified Lotus Exige made by performance tuner Hennessey. The tuner made history when the Venom GT become the fastest road car in the world-beating out the then champion, the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. Since then the Venom GT has become legendary in the car community despite other cars beating it for the fastest car in the world title as one of the last rear-wheel-drive cars to take the title.
It’s no wonder the Venom GT beat the Veyron Super Sport, its power-to-weight ratio is incredible at 2.2 lbs per horsepower which finally beat out the Veyron Super Sport’s almost 1,000 horsepower.
8 McLaren M8C
The McLaren M8A was a unique car as it was based on the legendary race car the M8C. The M8C dominated Can-Am racing for four consecutive seasons. The M8A still looks like a completely wild road version of a real race car. Though the design was toned down a bit it will still turn heads driving to the grocery store. It may not have the hardcore racing dynamics of the M8A, but it still retains the amazing lightness of a race car.
The M8C has a power-to-weight ratio of 2.19 lbs per horsepower and despite being decades old it is still one of the fastest cars on the road thanks to that staggering power and lightness.
7 Daimler-Benz T80
The Daimler-Benz T80 also known as the Mercedes-Benz T80 is another blast from the past. The car was designed by Ferdinand Porsche, founder of Porsche, and built by Mercedes-Benz. The T80 was intended to break the land speed record but never attempted due to WWII. Despite its somewhat mired past, the T80 was and continues to be a marvel of engineering. It had a V12 originally designed for aviation use and ran on special fuel.
The power-to-weight ratio of the T80 was 2.15 lbs per horsepower, incredible by today’s standards but almost impossible by 1930s standards. Not only was the power-to-weight ratio amazing but its drag coefficient, the ability to cut through the air, was just as insane at just 0.18. For reference, the Lamborghini Huracan has a drag coefficient of .33, lower is better.
6 2009 SSC Ultimate Aero
The Ultimate Aero was the brainchild of SSC otherwise known as Shelby SuperCars. At the time of its release, it was the fastest production car in the world with a top speed of 270 MPH until the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport knocked it off the pedestal. But as a Shelby car, it was completely performance-based with no electronic driver aids like anti-lock braking or traction control.
In pursuit of the perfect driver’s car, they moved from a supercharged V8 to a twin-turbocharged V8 that puts out almost 1,300 horsepower that pulls only 2,600 lbs, less than a Honda Civic. That means the power-to-weight ratio is 2.13 lbs per horsepower, less than a car built to beat the land speed record.
5 2001 Lotec Sirius
Outside of Porsche, Germans aren’t known for making supercars that can compete with the best but Lotec created the amazing Sirius back in 2000 which outputs almost 1,000 HP. Though it took 3.8 seconds to go from 0-60 MPH it had a top speed of 248 MPH which was amazing at the time. Where the Sirius loses out on acceleration it makes up for with fantastic V12 sound and great driving dynamics that have been compared directly with Porsche.
The Sirius was unfortunately the final car Lotec created but thanks to its amazing power-to-weight ratio of 2.12 lbs per horsepower the Sirius continues to be one of the best supercars one can buy despite it being decades old.
4 2011 SSC Tuatara
SSC formerly known as Shelby SuperCars continued to make amazing cars even after the Ultimate Aero which is also featured on this list. The Tuatara is the successor to the Aero. The supercar was first revealed as a concept car in 2011 but has made its official debut in 2020. The ultra-modern styling isn’t the only supercar aspect of the Tuatara, SSC stated the power output is around 1,350 HP and a top speed of 300 MPH, exceeding the Ultimate Aero by a considerable margin.
Much of the performance is thanks to one of the lowest power-to-weight ratios in the world at 1.93 lbs per horsepower and one of the lowest drag coefficients even among supercars at 0.279.
3 1972 McLaren M20
Though the McLaren M20 was not a road-legal car it is still an amazing feat of engineering. The race car prototype was the final car to be entered in the CanAm racing series. The car was a technological marvel but could not secure consistent wins for McLaren when it came to racing. Eventually, the cars were sold to other racing teams like Mario Andretti’s team and German Felder Racing.
The decades-old car was able to pull off 1.92 lbs per horsepower making it still one of the best power-to-weight ratios even after half a century later.
2 1971 McLaren M8F
Like the McLaren M20, the McLaren M8F was not a legal road car but instead a race car. The M20 was designed to be the successor to the M8F but it never found the same success as the M8F for racing who won many racing including the 1971 CanAm championship.
Both the M20 and the M8F may have the same power-to-weight ratio at 1.92 lbs per horsepower, but in fact, the older M8F had a slightly lower and therefore better power-to-weight ratio. The difference was about a few thousandths of a pound per horsepower but other slight differences between the cars made a huge difference when it came to handling. The M8F is proof that newer doesn’t always mean better.
1 Hennessey Venom GT2
We come to the most impressive car on this list, the Hennessey Venom GT2. Hennessy wasn’t content with just the world's fastest title, they wanted to push the limits of the platform they were working with and so the Venom GT2 was created. Not much about the car has changed but the LS V8 engine was further refined and even more, weight was cut from the already bare-bones Venom GT.
The GT2 has an incredible power-to-weight ratio of 1.79 lbs per horsepower beating out many actual race cars and vehicles purpose-built to shatter the land speed record. Few vehicles can beat the power-to-weight ratio of the GT2 but it is one of if not the lowest in any road-legal car.