Top 5 Fastest Muscle Cars Under 50K
The Porsche 911 Carrera S can stir up nearly 400 hp, but it will also cost someone around the neighborhood of $150, 000. Are you in search of that same feeling when you have a 400 hp engine under the hood but can’t afford such a car? Look no more, we compiled a list of the top five fastest muscle cars just under $50, 000.
Thanks to enhanced engine technologies that can produce higher horsepower, and lighter materials that lower the car’s curb weight, the latest generation of affordable, sports cars can go as fast if not faster than many of the fancier cars beaming across the freeway.
Quantifying speed can be very hard. Auto developers have been avoiding advertising the car’s maximum speed due to legal reasons, explains Bruce Harrison, a research director at IHS Automotive.
What about 0 to 60? That measures acceleration, and the importance of that speed is decreased, some experts would say.
“The actual speed is getting so close and so good,” says analysts Ivan Drury. “The simple reason because the Toyota Camry can reach 0to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds is very amazing in comparerison to the muscle cars from the ’60s doing the same time,” he explains.
So what is the best path to determine a car’s speed? Horsepower and weight: the lower the ratio of power to curb weight, the faster the car, experts say. Based on that metric, researchers at Edmunds.com helped us determine the fastest cars under $50,000.
One surprise: U.S. automakers sweep the top five spots.
The Chevy Camaro takes fifth place among the fastest cars under $50,000. The Camaro has 426 hp, but at $33,180 for a two-door coupe with a 6.2 liter, eight-cylinder engine, it’s the top least expensive across the top five on our list.
Need even more speed than that? Check out what the Challenger can offer, you’ll have to pay about $10,000 more and thus standing on the fourth place on our article. The two-door Dodge Challenger SRT8 392 has a power-to-weight ratio of 8.9 in comparison with the Camaro’s 9.1, and it can hit up to 470 hp. But the Challenger will cost you about $44,920 easy.
The third place is taken by the new 2012 Dodge Charger SRT8. Just under $43,000 it can hit up top 470 hp as the Dodge Challenger SRT8 with its power-to-weight ratio of 8.4.
Are you a lover of the classic rounded look of the Mustang? Well our second spot is taken by one and only 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 with the amazing price of $41,105 it has a power-to-weight ratio of 8.2 and it can go up to 444 hp.
And last but not least the top number one spot in our article is taken by the one and only 2012 Ford Shelby GT500 with an amazing 550 hp it will easily outcome any of the previous mentioned muscle cars with its power-to-weight ratio of 6.9. If you want this car well it come half the price of the 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S but it will still leave your wallet $49,605 less easy.
Antonia inherited from her father his Barracuda and since then she became a muscle car enthusiast. Antonia also enjoys reading about trucks on http://www.coopskw.com/