These are 2015’s fastest and most powerful cars

Reports of the demise of fast, powerful cars in the face of pressure from eco-campaigners and sniffy politicians have been very much exaggerated. 2015’s been another stellar year for bonkers quick stuff designed to dropkick your backside up the road faster than your brain can compute the forces it’s been squashed by.

Here’s Top Gear’s highlights reel for the supercar class of 2015. What’s your favourite?

What we say: “The noise is glorious, a proper soaring, cackling, last-night-of-the-proms V12 that makes an F-Type sound like a damp fart in the Albert Hall. Other V12 Aston’s feel mellow and lazy, but this is angry, fast-reacting and challenging, noise projected and magnified by the titanium exhaust into something much more than just the clash and flare of cylinder explosions.”

Read the TG review here

What we say: “As an all-weather all-conditions machine the R8 pulls out some huge advantages. Quattro really is something to have on your side when 610bhp meets wet bitumen.”

Read the TG review here

What we say: “There’s maybe a nano-second of hesitation as the R prepares to throw 2.2 tonnes down the road, but the surge is so brutal it really is scarcely noticeable.”

Read the TG review here

What we say: “As befits its luxury car status, the V8 is much more muted than in a ‘Vette, perhaps a little too much. But in performance terms, there’s no doubt whatsoever what’s driving the big V. It piles on the speed rapidly enough and bolts out of turns, so you rarely want for more.”

Read the TG review here

What we say: “It’s not just a bit faster than your standard trackday entrants, but so much faster it’s almost unfair. Like a parent competing at a kid’s school sports day.”

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What we say: “The 488’s acceleration is a step up from the 458 and even the Lambo Huracán, flinging you down the road with the shocking, brutal thrust of a fighter jet on take-off.

"It’s the sort of acceleration that pins you back into the seat, the sort of acceleration that causes a string of involuntary expletives to spew forth from your lips.”

Read the TG review here

What we say: “In ‘Race’ mode, the F12tdf is just amazingly fast and stable. Switch the guardians off, though, and it can be spikey until you’ve got your hand properly in.”

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What we say: “And then you really put your foot down and realise that, even on 20-inch, barrel-chested Conti rubber, the P7 is lightly feral. Even more so than the standard R. That’s the kind of one-upmanship that leaves you looking pale and needing a sit-down.”

Read the TG review here

What we say: “A full launch control snaps your head back, like being jabbed in the chin by a heavyweight boxer, while upshifts in Corsa mode are instant but accompanied by a jolt that knocks the wind out of you. Braking hard is much the same, but in reverse.”

Read the TG review here

What we say: “You’re not going to go skidding around your nearest supermarket roundabout, cackling wildly with clouds of smoke billowing in your noisy, acrid wake, but if you do give it a quick prod in second you’ll find the tail arcs wide progressively and steps back in smoothly.”

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What we say: “After a 45-minute immersion, it’s difficult to think of a road car that’s more focused or intense than this.”

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What we say: “Back out of the throttle mid-corner and the GT3 RS will move around, will punish your indecision with a slow exit and your heart in your mouth. Instead you need to trust it, trust the amazing front end grip, keep turning, stay on the throttle - then you have perfect balance and the RS fires out the far side, squatting heavily on that back axle, afterburners in full effect.”

Read the TG review here

What we say: “There’s no wheel-spin, no traction control stutter, no driveline shunt. With its full 686lb ft of torque available from standstill, the instant you mash the throttle, the Tesla simply hooks itself into the tarmac and Millennium-Falcons off down the road.”

Read the TG review here