The Top 10 Best Supercars In 2024

We’ve been checking out the very best options if you’re in the market for a loud and lairy supercar
Ferrari 296 GTB
Ferrari 296 GTB

We’re nearly a quarter of the way through the 21st century and the automotive landscape continues to change at a breakneck pace. Emissions rules, electrification, hybridisation and myriad other technologies are moulding the way cars develop. That’s producing ever-more efficient everyday transport, but what of the world of supercars?

Fear not – where there’s a will for speed there’s a way to excitement, and the supercar market remains packed with poster-worthy machines.

Even amidst a backdrop of tightening emissions rules, the supercar market is full of choice right now. Whether you want six cylinders or 12, all or rear-wheel drive, extravagant or subtle, it’s all out there.

That’s why we’ve come up with a list of the 10 best supercars you can buy new in the UK in 2024, ranked in descending order:

10. Chevrolet Corvette Z06

Chevrolet Corvette Z06
Chevrolet Corvette Z06

It’s been a bit of a weird few years for would-be Corvette owners in the UK. The latest C8-generation American icon was, for the first time, made in right-hand drive and sold officially on our shores from 2022. And there was much rejoicing. But then Chevy’s parent company, General Motors, went rather wobbly on Europe as a whole when it came to large petrol engines, and the big plans that were in place for the Corvette were shelved.

Right now, the Z06 is still officially heading our way with right-hand drive, but you’ll have to forgive us if we believe it when we see it. For now, let’s assume it’ll all be fine, and Brits will have a chance to experience what the US has had for a couple of years now – a top-notch, naturally aspirated V8 that barks out 670bhp at 8500rpm and will dust off the 0-62mph run in 3.1 seconds. We haven’t tried it yet, but various people we trust tell us it’s a cracker and a leftfield alternative for something like a Porsche 911 GT3. If it ever turns up.

9. Audi R8 V10 Performance

Audi R8 V10 Performance
Audi R8 V10 Performance

As we type this, the Audi R8 is in its final days of production. While you can no longer order one, brand new examples are still available from stock, so it just squeaks in. Fittingly, it’s the V10-powered model with either rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive that’s holding the flag in the R8’s final hours.

Technically impressive though the R8 is, it’s not as exciting as some of its supercar rivals. At low speeds, you might as well be in an A6, but find somewhere to legally let loose and it’s a hoot as you approach its limit. You’ll have 562bhp to play with in the RWD version and 612bhp in the AWD model. That much power can liven up just about anything.

An all-new, all-electric R8 is apparently on the way, and we have no doubt that it’ll be a blast, but we are going to miss the scream of a V10.

8. Porsche 911 GT3 RS

Porsche 911 GT3 RS
Porsche 911 GT3 RS

Yes, we know it’s obvious. Yes, we know it’s £192,600 before you add any options. But cliched as we know it seems, Porsche just makes really damn good cars, and the GT3 RS is arguably the best of the 992 generation.

We say arguably because this is the internet, and there will be plenty of people who, with some justification, will say that the standard 911 Carrera is actually all you need. And that’s fine. You do you.

But as far as we’re concerned, the GT3 RS is faster in practice, sharper and just more 911ish than any other 911 in this generation. As our esteemed group editor Matt Robinson said when he took the GT3 RS on a road trip, it’s “possibly the best Porsche ever”. So there.

7. Maserati MC20

Maserati MC20
Maserati MC20

It seems mad that the MC20, released just last year, is arguably Maserati’s first supercar, but there we go. The Italian firm with heritage to die for has had myriad sports cars and a hypercar in its history, but the closest it’s come before to a dictionary-definition supercar is the Bora of the 1970s.

What a return to the genre the MC20 is, though: It looks the shiz, has buckets of brand excellence attached to it, and is exquisite to drive. In an age where hybrid gubbins can weight a sporty machine down, the MC20 keeps things light by modern standards, utilises a jacked twin-turbo V6 mounted behind the driver to push out 626bhp and handles like a dream.

Drawbacks? Well, after you’ve kitted it out with options, you’re looking at the best part of a quarter of a million quid to buy one. Oof.

6. McLaren Artura

McLaren Artura
McLaren Artura

McLaren doesn’t fiddle around with its formula that often, but the arrival of the Artura represented something of a clean slate. Out went the venerable carbon tub that’s been used since the days of the MP4-12C, and in the bin went the old twin-turbo V8. In has come a new monocoque and a 3.0-litre V6 hybrid drivetrain that honks out 690bhp and blasts the Artura to 62mph in three seconds dead.

The steering is brimming with feedback, and everything else, from ride to power deployment is also tremendous. And you can use it everyday, if you want to. Sure, the looks still make it look much like every other McLaren, and the new engine isn’t the most characterful unit out there, but there are minor quibbles. We’ll have ours in orange, please and thank-you.

5. Ferrari 296 GTB

Ferrari 296 GTB
Ferrari 296 GTB

The price of the Ferrari 296 GTB is punchy, even by supercar standards – the best part of £300,000 makes it some £50k pricier than a McLaren Artura. Is it really £50k better? We’ll let various twin tests tell you the answer to that, but the Ferrari is, by all accounts, absolutely superb. Whatever you might think about Ferrari and its haughty, holier-than-thou attitude to… well, everything, it does make absolutely wonderful cars.

The 296 GTB is the latest in a long line of wonderful, beautiful and savagely fast supercars. It’s got a borderline insane 819bhp from its V6 hybrid drivetrain that’s somehow eminently usable and marries with crisp, intuitive steering and a sharpness that’s hard to beat outside of a bona fide race car. The prancing horse just keeps on prancing.

4. McLaren 750S

McLaren 750S
McLaren 750S

Past versions of this article featured the McLaren 720S, but that’s dead, replaced by this, the 750S. It takes the 720S and makes it 30 better. How? With many new bits, which add up to a 30kg weight reduction, power from the twin-turbo V8 up 30bhp to 740bhp (750PS, hence the name) and a 0-62mph time of 2.8 seconds. Face-melting. Essentially, it’s the best bits of the 720S, mixed with the best bits of the 765LT – most noticeably the massive rear wing.

What differentiates it from McLaren’s other supercar, the Artura? Well, it’s not a hybrid for a start. While the Artura represents the future of McLaren, the 750S feels more like a final hurrah for the past. But just look at McLaren’s past – we’re more than happy to hang onto that history for a little while longer. Even if the starting price is a cool quarter mill.

3. Lamborghini Revuelto

Lamborghini Revuelto
Lamborghini Revuelto

As V10s become V8s and V8s become V6s, you’d be forgiven for thinking that an all-new hybrid supercar would be more likely to house a small-capacity three-cylinder thrumbox than anything meaty. So hurrah for Lamborghini, who created the Revuelto with three electric motors attached to a massive 6.5-litre V12. Making more than 1000 horsepower. Hah!

The result is a plug-in hybrid like no other, capable of silent electric running for a handful of miles before the bellowing V12 kicks in. Or you can utilise the torque of the electric motors to supplement the V12’s brawn for monstrous acceleration. While the Revuelto is heavy, it’s crammed with clever electronics to make it drive very tidily. Sure, it’s pushing a half mill to buy, and you could argue that by Lamborghini standards it doesn’t look mad enough. But hot damn if it isn’t a look to the future with a hefty dose of nostalgia left gloriously exposed.

2. Ferrari 812 GTS

Ferrari 812 GTS
Ferrari 812 GTS

We’re courting controversy here, as a supercar is supposed to have its engine in the middle, but the 812 goes beyond being merely a ‘super GT’. How can something with a near-800bhp naturally-aspirated V12 powering the rear wheels exclusively be described as anything other than a supercar?

It’s very difficult to buy and option one without spending over £300,000, so it certainly has a supercar price tag. When it was introduced, Ferrari plucked a suitably outlandish name from its back catalogue to stick after the number: Superfast. That coupe version isn’t made any more, but the convertible version is, so into our list it goes.

1. Lamborghini Huracan Tecnica

Lamborghini Huracan Tecnica
Lamborghini Huracan Tecnica

The days of the Lamborghini Huracan are sadly numbered, but the final incarnation (bar the bonkers off-road Sterrato) is perhaps the best. The Huracan Tecnica is the end of the road for non-electrified Lamborghini supercars, and it takes bits of the monstrous Huracan STO and the wonderful Huracan Evo RWD to create something of a greatest hits compilation.

Just about everything has been tweaked to make this Huracan the best it can be. The looks house the STO’s 5.2-litre V10 with 631 very noisy horses while the aero has been enhanced to reduce drag and improve balance. The various electronic helpers have all been fettled for maximum awesomeness, with adaptive damping, torque vectoring, traction control and rear-wheel steering all combining in various different ways depending on your mood. It’s high tech and yet also old-school, and that’s an intoxicating combination that we’ll miss when it’s gone.

 

Comments

HORSEPOWER!

I agree with this article. LAMBOs are cool especially the Huracan Evo RWD. Nice article! To whoever made it, (even though I didn’t read it)

01/29/2021 - 01:06 |
2 | 0

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