LexFather

Aston Martin DB9 450-hp V12
Aston Martin V12 Vanquish S 520-hp V12
Audi A8 L W12 450-hp W12
Bentley Arnage T 450-hp V8
Bentley Continental GT 552-hp W12
BMW 760i/Li 438-hp V12
Cadillac CTS-V 400-hp V8
Chevrolet Corvette 400-hp V8
Chrysler 300C SRT8 425-hp V8
Dodge Ram 1500 SRT10 500-hp V10
Dodge Viper 500-hp V10
Ferrari F430 490-hp V8
Ferrari 575M Maranello 515-hp V12
Ferrari 612 Scaglietti 540-hp V12
Ford GT 550-hp V8
Lamborghini Gallardo 500-hp V10
Lamborghini Murcielago 580-hp V12
Maserati GranSport 400-hp V8
Maserati Quattroporte 400-hp V8
Maybach 57/62 543-hp V12
Mercedes-Benz CL55 AMG 493-hp V8
Mercedes-Benz CL600 493-hp V12
Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG 604-hp V12
Mercedes-Benz CLS55 AMG 469-hp V8
Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG 469-hp V8
Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG 469-hp V8
Mercedes-Benz S55 AMG 493-hp V8
Mercedes-Benz S600 493-hp V12
Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG 604-hp V12
Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG 493-hp V8
Mercedes-Benz SL600 493-hp V12
Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG 604-hp V12
Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 617-hp V8
Pontiac GTO 400-hp V8
Porsche 911 Turbo S 444-hp H6
Porsche Carrera GT 605-hp V10
Porsche Cayenne Turbo 450-hp V8
Rolls-Royce Phantom 453-hp V12
Volkswagen Phaeton W12 420-hp W12

Majority of the cars are European. Surprise, surprise.

by Perry Stern

Welcome to the 400 Club. Price of admission—four hundred horses.


The exotic Lamborghini Diablo was one of the original vehicles to gain membership in the 400 Club.

Pontiac's GTO receives a 400-horsepower V8 for 2005, making the Australian-built coupe the least expensive club member.


Ford's 550-horsepower GT supercar is currently the company's only entry in this high-powered club.


The 450-horsepower Porsche Cayenne Turbo was the first sport-utility vehicle to break the 400 mark.


Even Volkswagen has an entry in the 400 Club in the form of the 12-cylinder Phaeton luxury sedan.


Cadillac launched its high-performance V-Series with the 400-horsepower CTS-V.

The new S65 AMG is the top-of-the-line Mercedes-Benz S-Class, featuring a twin-turbo V12 engine producing an astounding 604 horsepower.

Prior to the year 2000, production cars with more than 400 horsepower were a rarity, with the players limited to high-end exotic sports cars at exotic prices, such as the Lamborghini Diablo, Ferrari F40, and Dodge Viper. Today there are 18, yes eighteen, different brands that offer at least one U.S. production vehicle with 400 or more horsepower, with prices starting as low as $32,295—the base MSRP of the V8-powered 2005 Pontiac GTO.
And the number of available models in this powerful club continues to grow each year.

So why is this growth happening? Why now? It's a logical and straightforward question, especially with oil prices continually rising, hybrid vehicle production struggling to meet demand, and competition heating up between automakers that want to be first to market with vehicles running on alternative fuel sources. And let's not forget environmental concerns, too.

However, fuel economy or saving the environment are probably not part of the decision process for shoppers considering these high-powered machines. The 400 Club vehicles don't have great fuel economy and don't have any more utility because of their added power—it's all about performance and bragging rights.

Let's face it: The 604-horsepower Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG is not really that much more lavish inside than the luxurious 302-horsepower Mercedes-Benz S500, but the S65 AMG is the top-level S-Class primarily because of its twin-turbo V12 engine under the hood. Therefore, generally speaking, power has taken on more significance lately as a key factor in the luxury equation.

The current vehicles in the 400 Club vary greatly in terms of price and style, but they do have one common thread binding them together—engines that generate at least 400 horsepower, and in some cases, considerably more.

Surprisingly, a number of models with 400-plus horsepower have four doors. Although this subset includes some rather expensive models such as the Bentley Arnage, Rolls-Royce Phantom and Maybach 62, it also includes more mainstream models such as the Chrysler 300C SRT8, Dodge Magnum SRT8 and the Cadillac CTS-V.

There are even a few SUVs that meet the club's horsepower criteria: the Porsche Cayenne Turbo boasts a 450-horsepower twin-turbo V8, and the Mercedes-Benz G-65 is powered by a supercharged V8 good for 469 horsepower. Last year Dodge added the first production pickup truck capable of membership in the 400 Club—the Dodge Ram SRT10, which houses the same 500-horsepower V10 engine found in the Dodge Viper.

Brands such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz have many high-end luxury models as part of this group. The BMW 760i sports a 438-horsepower V12 engine, and when the new M5 goes on sale in the States later this year it will feature a V10 putting out 500 horses. Mercedes-Benz offers a dozen models that exceed 400 horsepower, and, amazingly, four of them exceed 600 horsepower. These include the S65 luxury sedan and the new SLR McLaren supercar that attempts to reign in an awe-inspiring 617 horses.

Of course, the 400 Club still hosts those rare exotic brands that are club founders and charter members. These include the V12-powered Aston Martin DB9 and Vanquish; the Gallardo and Murcielago from Lamborghini; and all the current Ferraris: the F430, 575M, and 612 Scaglietti.

Not to be outdone, Porsche has its 605-horsepower Carrera GT, and Ford has joined in with the powerful GT.

Admittedly, these cars aren't for everyone, but for high-performance motoring enthusiasts this must surely be the greatest club on earth.

GFerg

Damn!!! Thats a lot of cars with over 400hp. Whats funny is that a non exotic car company dominates the list. Well, if I had to pick one out of this entire list I would pick the real O.G.. That car will be the Lamborghini without even thinking twice about it.

My goodness, can you imagine how many cars will be added to the 400 club in 10 years!!! Its scary but damn awsome!!!

Ag02M5

Ummm.

BMW M5 and M6????

LexFather

Yeah and the Mitsubishi EVO XIII FQ 400 has 400 hp.....

GS3Tek

iTrader: (8)

Seems like MB has the most.

When Lexus, when?
Now that they are the king of reliability, how about adding some horsies

So the only Japanese is the EVO

GFerg

Probably because the M5/6 arent for sale yet in the US, and the Evo FQ400 isnt sold in te USA. My guess is that this list contains vehicles only sold in the USA. However, yall are right, they still forgot some.

Off the top of my head,

Saleen S7(is that still available??)
Dodge Magnum SRT-8
Jaguar Super 8
Maserati Quattroporte(i think)
Maybach 57/62
Panoz.....(whatever the name is)

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i doubt if lexus will make the list soon before the racing concept. lexus is getting the power by using hybrid technology now

AJL0365

mercedes mind as well make the C and M class offering both 400 plus horses and be done with it. There numbers are already impressive, but if i had the money, i would pick the E55 AMG. that car is really appealing to me, my neighbor for some extremely odd reason got a maybach, i dont know if its a 57 or 62, but he has very little room in his garage to get around it. he has to open the garage door to basically get into the trunk properly, and to top it all off, he drives it himself, i feel its more like a sit in the back and have someone tow u around kind of car rather than u drive it yourself and pick up the groceries kind of car.

-J-P-L-

Chrysler seems to be in 2nd place with 4 vehicles.

Viper
Ram SRT-10
300C SRT-8
Magnum SRT-8

...more models than Lamborghini, Farrari, Porsche, ect.

rheiy

Yea..the maybach is the kind of car you sit in back and let someone else drive. Maybe your neighbor is a poor rich person.

Richie

The FQ400 is a UK only model.

XeroK00L

I don't think they're on sale yet. Perhaps that's why they aren't included.

mooretorque

According to the original press on the car, the Maybach 57 was for the owner who preferred to drive while the 62 was for the owner who preferred to be driven.............

One of my plastic surgeon buddies is trying to get an SL65 to replace his SL500, says they are damn hard to obtain..........he's figuring on a year.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Jury's still out on the hybrid power. Sure the torque #'s from an electric motor are impressive, but as you know calculating the true power of a hybrid is tricky. I somehow still doubt the GS450h will be anything like as fast as a car like the E55.

UDel

Pagani Zonda and Saleen S7 are two exotics I can think of right now that are not on the list. I believe TVR Caberra 4.5 has 400hp. Koenigsegg CC8S too if it is still in production.