The 5 fastest Chinese cars Mat Watson has ever driven
Car changing is a big deal
China is making some of the fastest cars in the world right now, and Mat Watson has raced a lot of them on the Carwow drag strip. Here are five of the fastest Chinese cars he’s experienced.
There was a time that if you wanted to do a quarter-mile in 12 seconds or less, you had to buy something like a Lamborghini Gallardo. In 2026, you can do it in a Chinese electric hatchback.
I managed a 12-second quarter-mile in the MG4 XPower, and that got me thinking about the other insanely fast Chinese cars I’ve driven in Carwow drag races. Here are the five fastest examples.
Remember, you can buy a brand new or used car right here on Carwow. And you can sell your car, too. We’re here to help you through every step of your car-changing journey.
Fastest Chinese cars I’ve ever drag raced
- Denza Z Racing
- Denza Z9 GT
- Zeekr 8X
- Human Horizons HiPhi Z
- Yangwang U8
Denza Z Racing
The fastest Chinese car I’ve ever raced is the Denza Z. In August 2026, it set a quarter-mile time of 9.5 seconds. It beat the Lamborghini Temerario on the day, and it’s also a tenth of a second quicker than I got from the Bugatti Chiron.
Powering this car is a trio of electric motors, putting out a combined 1,604hp and 1,240Nm of torque. It is rather heavy though, coming in at 2,250kg.
Denza Z9 GT
It’s another Denza coming in second place, and it actually competed in the same race as the Denza Z. The Z9 GT is a four-door electric family car with three electric motors, 1,156hp and 1,210 Nm of torque.
The result is a quarter-mile time of 10.3 seconds, making it faster than a McLaren 720S, a Ferrari 812 Superfast and a Tesla Model S Performance.
Zeekr 8X
This is the first car on the list to feature a petrol engine, but it’s more a backing singer than a headliner. The Zeekr 8X has a 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine which acts as a generator to feed electricity to the car’s battery and electric motors.
Combined you get 1,400hp and 1,410Nm of torque, which is enough to beat the Ferrari Purosangue in a drag race by almost a second. The Zeekr did the quarter mile in 10.6 seconds.
Human Horizons HiPhi Z
This crazy-looking thing is the HiPhi Z, and it’s a car which draws more attention than anything I’ve ever driven thanks to the wild styling. It also put on a good show on the drag strip, setting a time of 12.3 seconds.
It’s powered by a pair of electric motors putting out a combined 672hp and 820Nm of torque. Despite having plenty of poke, it couldn’t quite beat the Porsche Taycan on the day.
Yangwang U8
I would never have expected a 3.5-tonne off-roader to feature in a “fastest cars” top five, but here we are. The Yangwang U8 set a time of 12.4 seconds, which is a touch faster than a BMW X7 M60i.
That’s pretty good going for something which would require an HGV license in the UK. Power comes courtesy of a 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine and four electric motors, which put out 1,200hp and 1,280hp combined.
Car change? Carwow!
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