Top 10 best supercars 2023

Our top 10 supercars gets the pulse racing with their exotic looks, thrilling performance and razor sharp driving dynamics

Few genres of car instil such a sense of childish glee as the supercar, the mere mention of which is as likely to get car mad school kids squealing with excitement as fully grown adults trembling at the knees. The definition of this breed has become a little fluid over the last few years, but essentially these machines aim to offer exotic looks, kidney crushing performance and physics-teasing handling at a price that shouldn’t mean that only billionaires need apply.

Once the sort of relative rarity that would mean such a car would likely never get noted in a keen-eyed fan’s I-Spy Book, supercars have become almost ubiquitous as both long-time practitioners and youthful start-ups aim to get in on the high profit action. That means the route to outright performance has changed too, with everything from pure ICE machines to plug-in hybrids. There’s also a still surprisingly wide array of engine layouts, as V6s jostle with V10s and V8s.

Even so, to take top honours in this class a contender will have to demonstrate a remarkable breadth of ability, because unlike the even more focussed hypercars, these models have to be able to cope with day-to-day duties, with owners often keen to use their purchases from more than just high days and holidays.

Read on as we reveal the supercars that cause us to issue the most superlatives.

1. Ferrari 296 GTB

There were a few Ferrari fans that fretted over the demise of the old F8 Tributo, the last pure ICE mid-engined machine to bear the prancing horse badge. Surely it’s a replacement, a plug-in hybrid off all things, would be a soulless shadow of its predecessor? Erm no, not by a long shot.

While the ferociously quick but slightly spiky SF90 Stradale represented a toe-in-the-water exercise for the firm's plug-in powertrains, the smaller and less costly (relatively speaking, because it's still a £250,000 car) 296 GTB is sensationally well executed and goes straight to the top of the supercar charts. It’s so good that you wonder why you worried the folks at Maranello might have got it wrong.

At the heart of the car is a new twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 engine that's mated to a 164bhp electric motor to deliver a staggering combined total of 819bhp - in what's essentially an 'mid-ranking' Ferrari. As you would expect, performance is relentlessly, savagely sensational, plus it will also crack a claimed 15.5 miles of electric-only range. More importantly, the ICE feels and sounds as special as any that has had crackle red painted applied to its cam covers, responding with zeal to every input and emitting a howl that has you convinced that it packs twice as many cylinders.

What's more remarkable is that Ferrari has managed to make a car with this much power and performance potential feel so approachable and engaging. The trademark wristily quick steering is still perhaps a little too over-eager to help you change direction, but the car's mid-corner balance, control and poise beggars belief. This is a machine that's as happy to play a neat-and-tidy game of hunt-the-apex as it is to hang it all out. It's packed with driver assistance systems and various modes, but the 296 GTB always feels natural and on your side.

It's a remarkable supercar, and one that shows that increasing levels of electrification don't necessarily mean diminishing driver rewards

*2. McLaren 765LT*

There are few more direct or effective ways for cars in this stratum of the performance car market to demonstrate their superiority than by accelerating faster, lapping quicker and stopping harder than any rival. The McLaren 765LT does all three, and then some. In fact, in many of the performance benchmarks this 754bhp upgrade of the now defunct 720S (the new 750S in on the way) is a closer match for a contemporary hypercar than one of its mid-engined opponents.

Yet also it's uncommonly communicative and easy to drive, it's a supreme ergonomic achievement and it flatters a rambunctious track style more rewardingly than any of its predecessors. McLaren makes no bones about its track focus, and so the 765 also ranks in our hardcore sports car list, but it’s almost as easy to live with as the car it’s based on, which means it also lands here.

As you’d expect, the performance is savage with that typically laggy McLaren delivery that frustrates and fulfills in equal measure - when the turbos are boosting hard the 765’s rocketship impression is hard not to enjoy. Yet it’s the chassis’ rare ability to combine toweringly high limits with genuine involvement and driver-instigated adjustability that really takes your breath away. On the road it’s subtly pared back refinement helps engage at any speed, while on the track it draws you into nailing the perfect lap. Three years on it remains a high watermark for the Woking concern.

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**3. Lamborghini Huracán Evo**

Only the makers of the world's rarest and most expensive, hand-built automotive exotics can now really compete with Lamborghini when it comes to creating cars of pure combustive drama, traffic-stopping looks and feral, unfettered soul.

The Huracán may be the firm's entry-level model, but it's no second-order offering when it comes to its sensational styling or its fantastically wild, naturally aspirated V10 - an engine that over-delivers in equal measure on speed, responsiveness and audible character.

The facelifted Evo version gets rear-wheel steering and torque vectoring, and the results raise the Huracán's game closer to that of its McLaren and Ferrari rivals. That you also get the 631bhp powertrain from the old hardcore Huracán Performante seals this junior Lamborghini's reputation as a seriously rewarding, engaging supercar.

There's also a purely rear-driven version of the Evo, too. Its magnificent V10 may produce slightly less power than those of its four-wheel-drive siblings, but by ditching its front driveshafts, it gains a whole load of additional character and dynamic appeal.

You need even more of an adrenaline injection? Well, there's always the fairly hardcore, carbonfibre-bodied Huracan STO that's effectively Lambo's Porsche 911 GT3. Taking its visual cues from the brand's one-make Trofeo race car, complete with an (admittedly vestigal) engine-cover-mounted snorkel air intake, this is a very special machine that engages and entertains like few others. Packing essentially the same 631bhp V10 as the standard car but with less mass to haul around it's a spine-tinglingly, sensationally fast and noisy machine that immerses you from the moment you hit the starter button. The stiffened suspension is borderline unacceptable for the road, but the razor-sharp responses and incredible adjustability make up for it.

For those who want the STO's thrills but not its peacocking looks (although there's no such thing as a wallflower Huracan), the recently introduced Tecnica should be just the ticket. Mechanically the same but with slightly softer, road biased suspension and more or less standard bodywork, it represents the sweetest of sweet spots when it comes to Sant'Agata's entry-level supercar.

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**4. McLaren Artura**

McLaren has endured some tough times over the last few years, failing to fully capitalise on the ready flow of wheel-heeled buyers that have helped arch-rivals such as Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche posting healthy profits during a period when much of the rest of the world is in financial turmoil. So there's a lot resting on the success of the Artura, which is arguably the brand's first clean-sheet design for more than a decade.

There's certainly no faulting the ambition of the newcomer, which shares almost nothing with its myriad predecessors, all of which were related in one way or another. A clean-sheet approach has been taken for the carbonfibre structure and the electrical architecture, plus the twin turbocharged 3.5-litre V6 engine, which is mated to a 95bhp electric motor to make the Artura a plug-in hybrid. The latter set-up has been designed to be as light as possible, with motor and battery coming in at just 130kg, meaning the car dips under 1500kg all in. It also claims 19 miles of pure-EV running, should you ask.

More importantly for many, the powertrain serves up a combined total of 671bhp, the extra torque-fill from that electric motor making the Artura feel even quicker than this already impressive figure would suggest. It sounds good, too, while predictably for a McLaren, the chassis delivers plenty in the way of driver engagement and dynamic excellence. The brand has persisted with its hydraulic steering set-up, which means few rivals are able to offer such crisp communication to your fingertips, while it corners flat and fast with superb body control.

Sounds good, doesn't it? So why isn't it at the top of this list? Well, the car has had a difficult gestation, and despite numerous delays to allow for fine-tuning, the Artura is still essentially an unfinished project. Experience of early cars has revealed numerous software glitches, quality control issues and the odd breakdown. There's a great car ready in here somewhere; it just needs some more development before it's really ready to be unleashed on buyers.

*5. Chevrolet Corvette Z06*

It was enough of a shock to the system when Chevrolet announced it was undoing decades of dogma and turning its good ol’ Corvette from an all-American front engined muscle machine into European-aping mid-engined sports car. Now it’s gone one step further and delivered the uprated Z06, a car that has the talent to ruffle quite a few feathers in the rarefied atmosphere of the supercar class.

As you’d expect there’s more power, the Z06 getting a new flat-plane crank 5.5-litre V8 that develops a healthy 670bhp, revs to a heady 8500rpm and will zap from 0-60mph in 2.9 seconds. More importantly it sounds the business, bellowing and crackling with the aural excitement of true blue-blood Italian. 

With a 30% stiffer suspension set-up than the standard C8, the Z06 dives into corners with zeal, gripping hard and resisting run-wide understeer. On the road its limits are spectacularly high, while the quick steering engenders the car with the agility of a fleeing gazelle. Yet the adaptive dampers combine supreme control with enough compliance to make the Corvette everyday usable. If you want a more hardcore experience, then the Z07 upgrade pack adds even stiffer springs, carbon ceramic brakes and de-rigueur track attack rubber in the form of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s.

Yet the real kicker is likely to be the price. While the Z06 is unlikely to cost the UK equivalent of £98,000 (its price in the US) when it arrives in right-hand drive form later in 2023. It will likely significantly undercut the European old guard. Expect quite a few automotive aristocratic noses to be put out of joint.

***6. Maserati MC20***

There was a point not that long ago when many were thinking that Maserati was ready to be read the last rites. The Italian brand had become a shadow of its former self, with the lacklustre Ghibli and Quattroporte saloons propped up by the characterful but aging GT models. Even the arrival of the (admittedly only average) Levante SUV failed to create the sort of stir in the showrooms that suggested the brand could have a long and profitable future.

Then, out of nowhere, it launched the sensational MC20, a supercar straight out of the top drawer. Rumoured to have started its development as an Alfa Romeo before Maserati took the reins, the Italian machine ticks all the mid-engined exotic boxes. For starters, there's a carbonfibre tub, double-wishbone suspension all round and an all-new twin turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 engine that musters 621bhp. It's good for 0-62mph in 2.9sec and will top out at 202mph, even if it can't match the aural theatrics of a Lamborghini V10 or a Ferrari V8.

Yet while the performance is on point in this company, it's the way the MC20 deals with the bits between the straights that marks it out as something a bit special. It weighs the right side of 1500kg for starters, which in combination with the quick steering delivers the sort of agility usually reserved for fleeing gazelles. It's perhaps not as communicative as a McLaren or quite as quick-witted as the Ferrari 296 GTB, but it's not far off, and it combines this cornering dynamism with ride quality that makes it genuinely easy to live with.

We've had many false dawns (if you want to make the most of any sunrises, there’s now a Cielo drop top version) from Maserati over the years, but this car could finally represent the true and long lasting shoots of recovery.

*7. Ferrari SF90 Stradale*

This successor of sorts to the LaFerrari hypercar is the most powerful road car in Ferrari's history. It's also the car that set the quickest lap time around the firm's Fiorano test track. Oh, and it's a plug-in hybrid that can travel for up to 15 miles on electricity alone. The SF90 Stradale is a very different kind of Ferrari, then.

It makes use of a heavily reworked version of the 488 Pista's twin-turbocharged 3.9-litre V8 engine, which is complemented by a trio of electric motors that raise the Ferrari's total power output to a staggering 986bhp, allowing for a 0-62mph time of 2.5sec. It's a technological tour de force, for sure. Yet despite the additional weight that powertrain brings, it's still just as incisive, intuitive, engaging and devastatingly quick as you would expect a mid-engined Ferrari to be. However, be warned that you will need to have your Weetabix before turning off the stability control systems, because the knife-edge SF90 demands respect and concentration when exploring the area between grip and slip.

That it makes for a comfortable long-distance cruiser is an added bonus, and the fact that you could theoretically run it as a zero-emissions commuter car is an amusing prospect to contemplate. As a blueprint for Ferrari's electrified future, the SF90 is extremely encouraging.

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*7. Noble M500*

This is the long-awaited follow-up to the M600 that launched in 2009 and finished an impressive second overall in our 2010 Britain's Best Driver's Car shootout, one place ahead of the Ferrari 458 Italia - a result very much not to be sniffed at. Like its predecessor, this new Noble is very much represents the automotive equivalent of the recent audiophile resurgence of vinyl: essentially a warm analogue backlash against an increasingly antiseptic digital world.

Using much of the older car's architecture, the M500 packs the same twin turbocharged 550bhp 3.5-litre V6 found in the Ford GT. Intended as a cheaper and more accessible alternative to the M600 it maintains Noble's commitment to creating as close a connection between driver and car as possible. This means it uses a six-speed manual gearbox, plus there's no anti-lock braking, traction control or airbags - although the steering is hydraulically assisted. There’s also a steel structure, while suspension is by double wishbones front and rear. 

We’ve only driven the car in late-stage prototype form, but given its close relationship to the M600 it already feels honed and ready. There’s the same surprising compliant ride and superb body control, while the new steering is sharper but lacks nothing in feel and weight. You also benefit from a delightfully mechanical shift action from the manual gearbox, while the brakes are firm and powerful. Its old school approach distances it from other cars in this list, but in terms of the driver effort-to-reward ratio the Noble is unrivalled.

*****Ones to Watch*****

*****Aston Martin Valhalla*****

Aston Martin refers to the Valhalla as the 'son of Valkyrie', but that's not to say it should in any way be thought of as a lesser supercar.

It may not use the same Cosworth-developed V12 as its bigger sibling, but expect power to exceed 900bhp in any case. It's clear that Aston Martin has the likes of the Ferrari SF90 Stradale locked in its sights.

It will make use of a similar carbonfibre architecture to the Valkyrie, while its active suspension and aerodynamic architecture will also be related. That said, Aston also says that it will be more usable in the real world.

*McLaren 750S*

It would be very easy to assume that in updating its 720S to the 750S, McLaren simply turned up the turbo boost before wheeling the car into the showroom under an ‘all-new’ banner. Yet despite the subtle visual tweaks to this facelifted machine the brand claims it’s 30% new under the skin.

Power is upped to 740bhp, which in combination with a 30kg weight saving over the old car and a shorter final drive results in a 0-62mph time of 2.8 seconds, while 186mph comes up just 4.4 seconds later. There’s also a wider front track, quicker steering and a thorough suspension overhaul, all aimed at injecting some of the 765LT’s sharper dynamic demeanour. Elsewhere, the interior has been overhauled with an emphasis on delivering an even more driver-focussed environment.

We’ll have to wait until later in 2023 to drive it, but all the signs are that this could be the car to topple the Ferrari 296 GTB from the top of this list.


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