8 Cars That Are Way Faster Than You Would Expect

Feb. 12, 2016
When it comes to fast cars, most people expect them to be brightly colored or extremely angular in design. This isn't always the case. Many automakers take pride in being able to stuff as much insane horsepower as they can into some of their most normal looking cars. Often referred to as 'sleepers', these are the cars you never see coming, then they fly past you, often with a blaring exhaust note.They're brilliant. I promise it's not a Chevy Malibu.General Motors should collect a dime for every time that someone mistakes a Chevy SS for their much more placid, last-generation Chevy Malibu. They look so similar!Fortunately,

When it comes to fast cars, most people expect them to be brightly colored or extremely angular in design. This isn't always the case. 

Many automakers take pride in being able to stuff as much insane horsepower as they can into some of their most normal looking cars. Often referred to as 'sleepers', these are the cars you never see coming, then they fly past you, often with a blaring exhaust note.

They're brilliant. 

I promise it's not a Chevy Malibu.

General Motors should collect a dime for every time that someone mistakes a Chevy SS for their much more placid, last-generation Chevy Malibu. They look so similar!

Fortunately, under the hood it's a much different story. Once you get the traction control turned all the way off, this thing turns into a burnout machine. With the traction control back on, the SS will happily do 0-60 in a brisk 4.5 seconds.

You can surely trust that the Corvette-sourced V8 motor it uses would be happy to get you into some trouble. 

That probably won't happen though. These things are basically invisible. 

"Is that your mom's car?"

This might look like your ordinary BMW 5 Series diesel wagon, but it surely is not. While most normal turbocharged cars have just one or 2 turbos to boost up power, the M550D has 3! And it does 0-60 in 4.9 seconds.

This inconspicuous-looking beast puts out 376 horsepower to all four wheels. It also uses suspension components borrowed from BMW's M performance division to make the driver forget that they're actually driving a 4350lb wagon. 

What a dream. 

The Audi S8 is not just another Audi.

The Audi S8 is the performance-oriented version of Audi's A8 executive sedan. It may look pretty much standard Audi on the outside -aka, not very exciting- but, when you put your foot down, you'll find out what the S8 is really about. 

The S8 is available with up to 605 horsepower, will do 0-60 in 3.8 seconds, and when the speed limiter is off, can manage a top speed of 190 MPH. That much power is more than enough to disrupt the business of whatever company executive might be getting chauffeured in the backseat. Or at least get them where they're going, very, very quick.

The Range Rover Sport SVR is an SUV with the heart of a sportscar.

It uses the 550 horsepower V8 motor from the Jaguar F-Type V8 R to do 0-60 in 4.3 seconds and tops out at 162 MPH. It also has an insane exhaust to go along with all that power.

But you wouldn't know any of that from its looks.  

The Subaru Forester is like a jacked up WRX.

The Subaru Forester is a car that's treasured by New Englanders and Northwesterners everywhere, and for good reason. They're capable, affordable, reliable, all-wheel drive vehicles that'll pretty much get you wherever you need to go, in almost any conditions. But they get even better with the XT trim.

The Forester XT uses the same motor as the sporty Subaru WRX. With a 0-60 of under 7 seconds, this thing can move.

Tesla Model S is just ludicrous.

Most people know the Tesla Model S as "that neat electric car thing." While that is indeed what it is, the P90D Model S with ludicrous modeengaged moves like a total rocket ship. That's really the only way to describe it's brute torque and 2.8 second 0-60 time. 

The electric, instantaneous power is like nothing else. 

Not exactly the "trail-rated" 4x4 you'd expect from Jeep.

Similar to the Range Rover Sport SVR, the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 is pretty much a sports car trapped inside an off-roader's body. At around $66,000, it's a bit more of a value than the $111,000 SVR, but they both do their jobs as scary-quick performance SUVS very well. 

If you told people 25 years ago that a Jeep would be able to do 0-60 in 4.6 seconds, they would've laughed in your face. 

You just can't trust these Swedes.

In any color but the ice-blue, the Volvo V60 Polestar blends in as a standard Volvo wagon. It's not until you really get on the gas and hit some twisty roads that the car really shows its colors. 

The V60 Polestars do 0-60 in 5 seconds flat. To go along with that straight line speed, Polestar and Volvo have also packed the car with an specially designed sport suspension for optimal handling performance.  

This article originally appeared on Tech Insider