Lead story
New Tesla Roadster: 0-60, Top Speed and Release Date
Tesla's new Roadster claims 0-60 in under 1.6 seconds, under 1 with SpaceX thrusters, and 230+ mph. What's confirmed, what's hype, and when it ships.
Cars7 min read
The Fastest Things blog
Stories behind the speed
How the fastest animals, machines and particles get that way, told with the sourced figures from our rankings.
More stories
Planes7 min read
SR-71 Blackbird Top Speed: How the Fastest Jet Ever Flown Hit 2,193 MPH
The SR-71 Blackbird holds the record for the fastest crewed jet: 2,193.2 mph in 1976. Here's how its J58 engines, titanium skin and spike inlets made Mach 3 routine.
Cars7 min read
Corvette ZR1 C8 Engineering: How Chevy Built a 233-MPH, 1,064-HP Supercar
How the C8 Corvette ZR1 hits 233 mph: the 1,064-hp twin-turbo LT7 V8, cooling, 1,200 lb of downforce, carbon brakes, DCT and a 6:50 Nürburgring lap.
Animals7 min read
Peregrine Falcon Speed: How the Stoop Makes It the Fastest Animal on Earth
How fast is a peregrine falcon? Radar-verified stoop speeds vs the 242 mph (389 km/h) claim, plus the wing tuck, eyes, nostril cones and g-forces behind the dive.
Space6 min read
Parker Solar Probe Speed: How the Fastest Object Humans Ever Built Hit 430,000 MPH
How NASA's Parker Solar Probe reached 430,000 mph (192 km/s) on December 24, 2024: Venus gravity assists, why the Sun is hard to reach, and the heat shield that survives it.
Animals7 min read
Cheetah Top Speed: Why the Fastest Land Animal Can't Keep It Up
How fast is a cheetah really? Measured speeds vs claims, what GPS collars revealed about wild hunts, and why cheetahs don't actually quit because they overheat.
Sports6 min read
Usain Bolt's 9.58: The Physics of the Fastest 100 Meters Ever Run
Inside Usain Bolt's 9.58 world record in Berlin in 2009: 20-meter splits, a laser-measured top speed of about 27.5 mph (44 km/h), 41 steps, a slow reaction time, and how he finished.
From the rankings
The lists behind the stories
Live rankings our stories draw on, plus the most-read lists, each with its current #1.
Fastest Cars
49 ranked#1Yangwang U9 Xtreme496.22km/h308mph138m/s268knClaimed
Fastest 0–60 Cars
30 ranked#1Rimac Nevera1.74sVerified
Fastest Nürburgring Lap Times
13 ranked#1Mercedes-AMG ONE6:29.090Official
Fastest Birds
16 ranked#1Peregrine falcon140km/h87.2mph39m/s75.8knVerified
Fastest Mammals
18 ranked#1Blackbuck105km/h65.2mph29.2m/s56.7knEstimated
Fastest Planets
9 ranked#1Mercury47.4km/s106,030mphOfficial
Topics
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