More Than 70 Cars on Sale Today Make 500 HP or More

With the advent of hybrids and electric vehicles, many skeptics thought the age of high-performance sports car would die out. Reality couldn’t be any more different, as America has more than 70 cars on sale today that make 500-hp or more.

The number of vehicles pushing out 500-hp or more has nearly doubled in the last five years. What is more remarkable is more than a decade ago, there were just two vehicles in the club: the Ferrari 575M and the Lamborghini Murcielago. Now Ferrari alone has four models pushing out over 500-hp.

The ability to pump out so much horsepower has been aided by the leaps and bounds that engineering and technology has made over the last decade. Automakers are now able to equip their vehicles with smaller, more fuel efficient engines, which thanks to forced induction, can reliably crank out plenty of peak horsepower.

[Source: Autoweek]

Currently there are 18 manufacturers selling vehicles with more than 500-hp in the United States. And while the semi-exclusive club used to be reserved by German contributors such as Mercedes-Benz‘s AMG performance division and BMW‘s M vehicles, both American and Japanese companies have joined in over the recent years with contributions.

Chevrolet for example has its new Camaro ZL1 to go along with its famed Corvettes, while rival Ford is pushing out its 650-hp Shelby GT500. Japan on the other hand, only has its Nissan GT-R and the more recent Lexus LFA as part of the club.

The big question is whether or not automakers will hit a horsepower ceiling, or if bragging rights will continue to make performance vehicles push the limits on reasonable horsepower.

“Everyone is wondering where this is going,” said Filip Brabec, head of product planning for Audi of America. “If you project the trend, will we drive 1,000-hp cars in 10 years? It is about what the technology can allow you to do for thrill and performance, and it’s about refinement as well. Who knows, we could take that performance down into a lower segment one of these days.”

Check out the full list of cars sold in the U.S. with 500-hp or more below.

Aston Martin

DBS coupe & convertible (510 hp)

V-12 Vantage (510 hp)

Audi

R8 V-10 (525 hp)

A8 6 W-12 (500 hp)

R8 coupe & spyder (525 hp)

R8 GT coupe & spyder (560 hp)

2013 S8 (520 hp) (summer launch)

Bentley

Continental GT, GTC, Flying Spur (567 hp)

Continental Flying Spur Speed (600 hp)

Continental Supersports convertible (621 hp)

Continental Supersports IRS convertible (631 hp)

Mulsanne (505 hp)

2013 GT and GTC (500 hp) (new V-8)

BMW

Alpina B7 (500 hp)

2013 M5 coupe & convertible (560 hp) (summer launch)

X5 M (555 hp)

X6 M (555 hp)

M6 coupe & convertible (560 hp)

760Li (535 hp)

Cadillac

CTS-V sedan, wagon, coupe (556 hp)

Chevrolet

Camaro ZL1 (580 hp)

Corvette Z06 (505 hp)

Corvette ZR1 (638 hp)

Ferrari

458 Italia (558 hp)

458 Spider (558 hp)

FF (651 hp)

F12 Berlinetta (740 hp)

Ford

2012 Mustang Shelby GT500 coupe & convertible (550 hp)

2013 Mustang Shelby GT500 coupe & convertible (650 hp)

Jaguar

XFR (510 hp)

XKR coupe & convertible (510 hp)

Jaguar XKR-S coupe & convertible (550 hp)

Lamborghini

Aventador (700 hp)

Gallardo (553-562 hp)

Land Rover

Range Rover Sport Supercharged (510 hp)

Range Rover Supercharged (510 hp)

Lexus

LFA (552 hp)

McLaren

MP4-12C (592 hp)

Maybach

57 and 62 (543 hp)

57S and 62S (620 hp)

Mercedes-Benz

C63 AMG Black Series (510 hp)

CL600 (510 hp)

CL63 AMG (536 hp)

CL65 AMG (621 hp)

CLS63 AMG (518 hp)

E63 AMG (518 hp)

E63 AMG wagon (518 hp)

ML63 AMG (518 hp)

G55 AMG (500 hp)

SLS AMG coupe (563 hp)

SLS AMG roadster (563 hp)

S600 (510 hp)

S63 AMG (536 hp)

S65 AMG (621 hp)

2013 SL63 (530 hp) (July launch)

2013 SL65 AMG (612 hp) (fall launch)

Nissan

GT-R (545 hp)

Porsche

Porsche Panamera Turbo (500 hp)

Panamera Turbo S (550 hp)

911 Turbo S (530 hp)

Cayenne Turbo (500 hp)

Rolls-Royce

Ghost (563 hp)