5 Of The Most Powerful Engines You Can Get In New Cars And Trucks

Big power used to be reserved for the most exotic, expensive cars in the world. When the production of the Bugatti Veyron began in 2005, its 987 horsepower was almost impossible to wrap your head around. The 8.0-liter W16 and its four turbochargers made it the most powerful production car on the planet, and the price tag was north of $1 million. Back then, 500 hp was already supercar territory, and anything near four digits belonged in a different universe entirely.

Fast forward about 20 years, and that universe has moved much closer to the average driveway. The Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 now makes 1,064 hp from a twin-turbo 5.5-liter V8, and it costs a fraction of what a Veyron did. The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 hit 1,025 hp on E85 before the muscle car era ended. Even trucks have joined the party, with the Ram 1500 TRX packing 777 hp and the Ford F-150 Raptor R putting out 720.

The hp wars are very much alive, and automakers have gotten remarkably good at squeezing huge numbers out of their engines. Forced induction is the biggest tool in the box. Turbochargers and superchargers cram far more air into each cylinder, which means more fuel burned and more power made without needing a massive engine.

Modern engine power also benefits from superior exhaust design, variable valve timing, stronger materials, and sophisticated engine management that keeps everything from blowing apart under pressure. All of that has created a golden age for anyone who loves big numbers. Here are some of the most powerful engines you can get in new cars and trucks right now.

With the dawn of electric motors, internal combustion engines now have, for the first time, a practical rival in terms of power. Cars like the Lucid Gravity GT-S essentially offer a family SUV with seven seats and 1,070 hp, which is more than what the original Bugatti Veyron made. However, internal combustion refuses to give up the fight, and the Hennessey Venom F5 Revolution Evo, with 2,031 hp, leads the charge.

Hailed as the most powerful internal combustion road car, the F5 Revolution Evo is powered by a 6.6-liter twin-turbo V8 nicknamed “Fury.” Running on E85, it makes 2,031 hp at 8,000 rpm and 1,445 lb-ft of torque at 5,200 rpm, all sent to the rear wheels through a seven-speed single-clutch automated manual. That is enough to launch the car from 0 to 200 mph in 10.3 seconds. For reference, the Venom F5 Revolution makes 1,817 hp and already set a COTA lap record in 2024, so the Evo package adds 214 hp on top of that.

The extra power comes from a strengthened engine, bigger turbochargers, and development work with Ilmor Engineering in England. Hennessey also reworked the aerodynamics and fitted adaptive suspension  with five driver-selectable modes to keep all that power under control. The carbon-fiber tub keeps dry weight down to about 3,000 pounds (1,360 kilograms), which explains much of that acceleration. None of this comes cheap, though, as pricing starts at $2.75 million. That is a lot of money and also shows how far the internal combustion engine can still be pushed.

The Koenigsegg Jesko gets its power from a twin-turbo 5.0-liter V8, and its output depends on what is in the tank. On regular gas, it makes 1,280 hp at 7,800 rpm and 738 lb-ft of torque. On E85, that rises to 1,600 hp and 1,106 lb-ft of torque, which works out to roughly 316 hp per liter. The V8 has four valves per cylinder, double overhead camshafts, and dry-sump lubrication, with a bore and stroke of 92 by 95.25 millimeters.

The flat-plane crankshaft weighs about 27.5 pounds (12.5 kg), and Koenigsegg calls it “the world’s lightest V8 crankshaft.” Idle to 7,800 rpm takes 213 milliseconds, and the redline sits at 8,500 rpm. The regular-gas torque is available from 2,700 to 6,170 rpm, and the E85 peak arrives at 5,100 rpm. Power goes through a nine-speed Light Speed Transmission that weighs around 200 pounds (90 kg); it has seven clutches, and all that power is sent to the rear wheels only.

The Jesko weighs 2,910 pounds (1,320 kg) and comes in two versions: the top-speed tuned Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut and the track-focused Koenigsegg Jesko Attack. Koenigsegg quotes up to 3,000 pounds of downforce for the Attack, while the Absolut has F-15 fighter jet-inspired vertical stabilizers instead of a rear wing.

After Koenigsegg gave the Jesko Absolut an over-the-air update, it covered the quarter mile in 8.54 seconds at 190 mph on an unprepped surface, and it reached 200 mph in 9.38 seconds. That 200 mph time is 0.92 seconds quicker than the 10.3 seconds Hennessey claims for the Venom F5 Revolution Evo. The quarter-mile time is also a record for non-electric production cars.

The mid-engined C8 Corvette ZR1 finally brings four-digit hp to a Corvette. Its LT7 engine is a twin-turbo 5.5-liter V8 that makes 1,064 hp at 7,000 rpm and 828 lb-ft of torque at 6,000 rpm. That is 394 more hp than the 670 of the Z06, which uses the same displacement without turbochargers.

The ZR1 is also the first turbocharged factory Corvette ever. Boost comes from two 76-millimeter ball-bearing turbochargers. The compression ratio is 9.8:1, versus 12.5:1 for the Z06. Bore and stroke are 104.25 by 80 millimeters, and the redline is 8,000 rpm: dished pistons, shorter connecting rods, variable valve timing, and dry-sump lubrication round it out. 

The engine also has twin 65-millimeter throttle bodies and two water-to-air intercoolers. The output works out to about 193 hp per liter. Power goes to the rear wheels through an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. Chevrolet quotes 0 to 60 mph in 2.3 seconds and the quarter mile is around 9.5 seconds at 149 mph. Top speed is 233 mph. GM vehicle dynamics engineer Brian Wallace drove the ZR1 around the Nürburgring Nordschleife in June 2025 and recorded a 6:50.763 lap. 

Carbon ceramic brakes are standard. The ZR1 is sold as a coupe or convertible, and both use the same engine. Chevrolet also sells the super-quick Corvette ZR1X, which adds a 186-hp electric motor on the front axle for 1,250 hp combined.

The last-generation Ram ended TRX production in late 2023/2024 with 702 hp. Now, in 2027, Ram brings back the 1500 TRX with 777 hp and 680 lb-ft of torque from a 6.2-liter supercharged Hemi V8. That is 57 hp more than the Ford F-150 Raptor R.  Ram calls it “the most powerful production gas off-road truck ever.”  The TRX is the first Ram with an SRT badge, short for Street and Racing Technology, since 2006.

The engine descends from the Hellcat V8, which made 707 hp in the 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, and the TRX makes 70 more. Compared with the old TRX, output is up 75 hp, or about 11 percent. The supercharger is also a Hellcat-derived 2.4-liter twin-screw unit. The TRX has an eight-speed TorqueFlite automatic and full-time four-wheel drive. 

Ram quotes a top speed of 118 mph, a 12.2-second quarter mile, 3.5 seconds from 0 to 60 mph, and 10.0 seconds from 0 to 100 mph. Although it outperforms pretty much every other internal combustion engine truck on the market, it is still a truck, courtesy of 11.8 inches of ground clearance, 8,330 pounds of towing capacity, and 1,510 pounds of payload capacity.

Pricing starts at $99,995 before the $2,795 destination charge, which works out to about $129 per hp. Ram builds the TRX at Sterling Heights Assembly in Michigan, and customer deliveries began in the summer of 2026.

The F-150 Raptor R gets its power from a 5.2-liter supercharged V8 that makes 720 hp at 6,650 rpm and 640 lb-ft of torque at 4,300 rpm. That’s 270 hp and 130 lb-ft more than the standard Raptor’s 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6,  with 450 hp and 510 lb-ft. It tops the F-150 lineup, but it still makes 57 hp less than the Ram 1500 SRT TRX.

The Ford F-150 Raptor R engine is a version of the one in the Mustang Shelby GT500, which made 760 hp. The Raptor R launched for model year 2023 had 700 hp, and Ford raised that to 720 for 2024. The 2027 model keeps the 720 hp figure. Power goes through a ten-speed automatic. Four-wheel drive is standard, and it includes a low range and a locking rear differential.

The tires are up to 37 inches tall; the rear suspension uses coil springs with 14.0 inches of travel with 37s, and the shocks are FOX racing shocks. Tests put 0 to 60 mph times at 3.6 seconds. The Raptor R comes in one body style, a SuperCrew cab with a 5.5-foot bed. Ford lists the V8 package as Equipment Group 803A.

Overall, the Raptor R represents the top-end, most powerful version of Ford’s performance truck. If that is not enough and you want more power than the RAM TRX, you can take your Raptor R to the Hennessey Performance team for upwards of 1,000 hp.