When a supercar maker such as Ferrari or Porsche unveils its latest vehicle and its astonishing acceleration figures, we gasp at how quick and ludicrous modern-day performance cars have become. Even full-size luxury sedans are achieving figures Lamborghini would have dreamed of a few short years ago, with vehicles such as the Mercedes-AMG E63 capable of 0-60 mph in 3.4 seconds.

But we forget about the modified vehicles - cars that once started out in life as a humble coupe or family car - that have been tuned to slay the biggest supercar dragons. In the following video, a little Toyota Celica proves that newer is not necessarily better.

This monstrous machine began life as a Celica All-Trac Turbo. Known by Toyota enthusiasts as the ST185, the Celica started out with a perky 222 horsepower. But what's under the hood is world-renowned for its tunability. Fitted with a 72-millimeter turbo, the 3S-GTE powertrain produces 1,000 hp and has been stroked to 2.1 liters. It's also now capable of revving to 10,000 rpm. Power is sent to all four wheels via a manual transmission and the '90s Japanese coupe rockets to 60 mph in 2.85 seconds. This makes it quicker than a stock Nissan GT-R, a car famed for its incredible off-the-line acceleration. This is proven in the above video, as the Celica humiliates not one, but two heavily modified GTR's, both of which produce similar power to this little Toyota.

We could watch the GT-Rs get pummeled time and time again, but the video also dwells for a little while on a Subaru Forester that has been tuned to produce 850 horses on the wheels, proving that even the most unlikely candidate for drag racing can become a force to be reckoned with, so long as you spend enough time and money on it. The owner is aiming to be the first Forester owner in the 8-second bracket, a noble endeavor to k Subaru cool when the company itself is struggling to find relevance in today's market. But whatever you drive, whether it be a Nissan, a Toyota, a Subaru, or something else, there's always more performance hiding under the hood.