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Car horsepower over time: average and record power by decade

How much power new car generations made, decade by decade: the median, the average and the record holder. Figures come from the 1CARS catalog, which leans towards sports cars and American V8s, so read them as the catalog, not the market.

Car horsepower over time: average and record power by decadeHow much power new car generations made, decade by decade: the median, the average and the record holder. Figures come from the 1CARS catalog, which leans towards sports cars and American V8s, so read them as the catalog, not the market.05001000150020001920s1940s1960s1980s2000s2020sMedian, kWAverage, kWRecord, kWCar horsepower over time: average and record power by decadeHow much power new car generations made, decade by decade: the median, the average and the record holder. Figures come from the 1CARS catalog, which leans towards sports cars and American V8s, so read them as the catalog, not the market.05001000150020001920s1940s1960s1980s2000s2020sMedian, kWAverage, kWRecord, kW
Based on 1,514 car generations from the 1CARS catalog. Exact numbers are in the table below.

Key findings

  • The median new car generation of the 2020s makes 282 kW (383 PS) in its most powerful version, against 89 kW (121 PS) in the 1920s.
  • The 2020s record is the Lotus Evija with 1,500 kW (2,039 PS).
  • The 2020s average (371 kW) is well above the median: a few hypercars pull the mean up, so the median is the better figure for a typical car.
  • The median dipped to 67 kW in the 1940s before rising again.

Data table

Car horsepower over time: average and record power by decade
DecadeGenerationsMedian peak power (kW / PS)Average peak power (kW / PS)Record power (kW / PS)Record holder
1920s 11 89 / 121 104 / 141 239 / 325 Duesenberg Model J / SJ
1930s 15 121 / 165 101 / 137 168 / 228 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900
1940s 12 67 / 91 68 / 92 157 / 213 Jaguar XK120
1950s 76 165 / 224 156 / 212 298 / 405 Lincoln Continental Mark III
1960s 162 242 / 329 221 / 300 336 / 457 Chevrolet Chevelle II
1970s 122 190 / 258 189 / 257 336 / 457 Aston Martin V8 Vantage (1977)
1980s 96 157 / 213 172 / 234 466 / 634 Vector W8 I
1990s 141 170 / 231 197 / 268 570 / 775 Dodge Viper GTS-R
2000s 263 209 / 284 248 / 337 882 / 1,199 Bugatti Veyron
2010s 408 209 / 284 275 / 374 1,491 / 2,027 Trion Nemesis I
2020s 208 282 / 383 371 / 504 1,500 / 2,039 Lotus Evija

Methodology

For each generation we take its most powerful version (peak power in kW from the generation record or its modifications) and group generations by the year production started. Median = the middle value; average = the mean; record = the highest value. Values below 5 kW or above 1,500 kW are treated as errors and excluded. 1 kW = 1.36 PS.

Passenger cars only: trucks, buses and vans are excluded (the same rule as our rankings).

Decades with fewer than 8 generations are not shown; the table gives the number of generations behind every figure.

Values come from the 1CARS catalog. Part of the specifications are extracted from our articles and not yet checked by an editor; obvious outliers are excluded. Figures describe the cars in our catalog, not the whole market.

Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: credit “1CARS” and link to this page. License terms.

How we collect and check data