Some still don't care about torque that much, and we're not here to change their opinion, but if the words of Carroll Shelby are anything to go by, “horsepower sells cars, torque wins races” is still as true as it ever was.
With that being said, we're here for the 2017 edition of the “torquiest production cars you can buy,” brought to you by a motley array of carmakers that still know how to create monstrous engines in this day and age.
2017 Koenigsegg Regera
Last year's torquiest production car is back, and in the meantime, it has also entered full production. More powerful and torquier than the mighty Bugatti Chiron, which is in second place, by the way, the Regera is like no other supercars before it.
We apologize, this is no supercar, and not even a hypercar, according to Koenigsegg's way of naming its creations. The Koenigsegg Regera is a plug-in hybrid megacar since its output greatly exceeds one Megawatt.
More specific, the Swedish monster can hit 300 km/h (186 mph) in less than 10 seconds thanks to a twin-turbocharged, 5.0-liter V8 that delivers 1100 horsepower and about 1280 Nm (944 lb-ft) of torque. Those numbers wouldn't be enough to make it the torquiest production car in 2017, so Christian Von Koenigsegg gifted the car with three electric motors, one of which also acts as a transmission.
Apart from the unnecessarily powerful ICE unit, each rear wheel is powered by a driveshaft-mounted electric motor that delivers 245 hp and 260 (191 lb-ft) of torque. The third electric motor is mounted on the V8s crankshaft and is good for 218 hp and 300 Nm (221 lb-ft) of torque.
Therefore, the combined power and torque output of the Regera (which means “to rule”) is a staggering 1500 horsepower and an Earth-moving 2000 Nm (1,475 lb-ft) of torque. All of that nastiness is sent to the rear tires only, which should make them one of the most tortured pieces of rubber this side of an overused condom.
2017 Bugatti Chiron
Seen by some as a redesigned Veyron, the 2017 Bugatti Chiron is on a whole new level compared to its predecessor, despite using the same engine, transmission, and parts of its chassis.
Thanks to a quad-turbocharged, 8.0-liter W16 engine, the Chiron can send no less than 1500 horsepower and 1600 Nm (1,180 lb-ft) of torque to all four wheels. Using twin-scroll turbochargers and no some mild-hybrid trickery like everyone was expecting, VAG's Bugatti engineers therefore managed to squeeze 300 more horsepower and 100 more Nm (73,8 lb-ft) of torque from the Veyron's engine.
From many perspectives, this monster of an engine will probably remain the most powerful and torquey engine that doesn't use electricity to achieve its full potential. That said, all that engineering work wasn't enough to dethrone the Regera, unless Bugatti gangs up on the Swedes with a Super Sport version of the Chiron.
2017 Pagani Huayra BC
Named after Benny Caiola, Pagani Automobili's first ever customer and a close friend of Horacio Pagani, the Huayra BC is the second most powerful Italian road car in history after the Ferrari LaFerrari.
Unlike the Ferrari, which used a naturally aspirated V12 and an electric motor, the Pagani trumps its Maranello neighbor when it comes to torque figures. This happens mostly thanks to the use of Mercedes-AMG magic on the bespoke, twin-turbocharged, 6.0-liter V12, which delivers an output of 800 horsepower and no less than 1200 Nm (885 lb-ft) of torque to the rear wheels.
Since only 20 units will ever be manufactured, we're kind of pushing the boundaries of what “production car” means here, we're pretty sure none of you actually minds it. All that twist is sent to the rear wheels via a 7-speed automated manual transmission, but that's probably not the most important details related to the torque figures. The car's insane 1218 kg (2685 pounds) of weight probably is, though.
2017 Bentley Mulsanne Speed
Last year's number two contender in this battle of torque, the Bentley Mulsanne Speed has dropped to the fourth spot due to the arrival of the Chiron and Pagani releasing official numbers for the Huayra BC.
That doesn't make the Flying B any less impressive, though, especially since its 6.75-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 is the oldest mill from the bunch. Largely based on the Bentley L Series V8, which was introduced all the way in 1959, the eight-cylinder behemoth produces an adequate 537 PS (530 HP) and a massive 1100 Nm (811 lb-ft) of torque.
Those numbers are more than able to propel the 2711 Kg (5977 pounds) leviathan from 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in just 4.9 seconds, and then onward to a scarcely believable top speed of 305 km/h (190 mph). At least half of those stats wouldn't be possible without those gigantic gobs of torque at its disposal. “The world's fastest lorries,” as Mr. Bugatti himself used to call them, are now faster than ever, and the Mulsanne Speed is a perfect example of the saying.
2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon
The most powerful production muscle car in history doesn't need to talk smack to be on this list. Not when its supercharged, 6.2-liter V8 can develop 840 horsepower and 1044 Nm (770 lb-ft) of wheelie-inducing torque.
Yes, despite not being the only rear-wheel-drive car on the list, nor the one with the biggest torque numbers, the Demon is the only car here that can pop a wheelie on the drag strip. Sure, it needs 315/40R18 street-legal drag radial tires on the rear and skinny tires on the front to achieve this feat, but it still wouldn't be possible without all that tire-scorching mountain of torque.
After it hooks up, the Demon is also capable other feats on the drag strip. It's the world’s fastest quarter-mile production car with an elapsed time (ET) of 9.65 seconds at 140 miles per hour (mph), as certified by National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), and it also can register the highest g-force (1.8 g) ever recorded at launch in a production car.
Surprisingly, especially for this level of performance and specs, the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon is also the cheapest car by a long shot on this list, starting at a U.S. MSRP of just $84,995. This only goes to show that you don't necessarily need millions in R&D money to control gigantic amounts of torque under your right foot, and you don't need to be a trucker either.
