The best V10 engines ever made

McLaren Solus GT

Unless you are in the rarified position of being a professional racing driver, a track-only car is, fundamentally, a toy. That alone makes the McLaren Solus GT the ultimate toy. It is a V10 hypercar built to give mere mortals an experience that comes as close to driving a Formula 1 car as is realistically possible.

Everything about the Solus GT is inspired by modern F1 machinery. It’s a single-seater, and the seat itself must be moulded specifically to the owner’s body. Access is via a dramatic canopy that lifts upwards, creating the sensation of being enclosed in an open-wheel racer, only without exposure to the elements. Once inside, the driving position, steering wheel and controls all reinforce the sense that this is not a conventional road car, but something far more specialised.

The engineering is just as extreme. The engine is a stressed member of the carbon fibre chassis, while the double-wishbone suspension is mounted directly to a seven-speed sequential gearbox at the rear. The aerodynamic package is capable of generating a staggering 1,200kg of downforce at 150mph, and with a dry weight of just 935kg the Solus delivers racing car levels of grip and responsiveness.

Ironically, the only element that doesn’t scream ‘current F1’ is the engine itself. Under the cover sits a naturally aspirated V10 developed in collaboration with Judd. It produces 858PS (631kW) at a spine-tingling 10,000rpm, though only after you have completed a meticulous 45-minute warm-up procedure. Performance figures of 0–62mph in 2.5 seconds and a top speed north of 200mph somehow undersell the Solus GT, which is reportedly much quicker around a circuit than a contemporary GT3 race car. As a way of living out your F1 fantasies, it is almost impossible to beat.

Hartge H50 V10

If a standard BMW 3 Series isn’t quick enough, you buy a BMW M3. But what if even an M3 doesn’t quite satisfy your appetite for excess? In that case, you once knocked on the door of Hartge — the German tuning company that made BMW’s own performance models look positively tame until it folded in 2019.

Hartge applied its expertise to numerous BMWs, including the 5 Series, 7 Series and even the Mini, but none of its creations made quite the same impact as the H50 V10. Based on a BMW 3 Series saloon, the clue is very much in the name: under the bonnet sits the glorious 5.0-litre V10 from the E60 M5.

The M5 was never accused of being slow, but transplanting its engine into the smaller, lighter 3 Series transformed the H50 into something approaching the absurd. It became a four-door family car with supercar-baiting performance and a soundtrack to rival anything wearing an Italian badge. Hartge couldn’t resist turning the wick up further, reworking the cylinder heads, fitting new camshafts and recalibrating the engine management.

The result was an increase in power from 500PS (368kW) to 550PS (405kW), good for 0–62mph in 4.2 seconds and a claimed top speed of 199mph. Reviews raved not only about its straight-line pace, but also about the ferocious howl of its naturally aspirated V10 — a noise that could genuinely embarrass a Lamborghini. It remains one of the most outrageous sleeper saloons ever built.

Wiesmann GT MF5

This may not be the first time BMW’s V10 appears on this list, but that simply reflects how special the engine is — and how rare it is to find a ten-cylinder powerplant in a road car. In any case, the Wiesmann GT MF5 justifies its place by offering an experience unlike anything else.

Often described as Germany’s answer to Morgan, Wiesmann builds cars that wouldn’t look out of place in the 1950s. Unlike some of their British counterparts, however, there is nothing antiquated beneath the surface. While the exterior evokes classic sportscar proportions, the underlying technology is thoroughly modern, featuring an aluminium monocoque chassis, a variably locking differential and carbon-composite brakes.

The real star of the show is, of course, the engine. Borrowed directly from the E60 BMW M5, the V10 remains mechanically untouched, producing 500PS (368kW). In the MF5, however, that power has a far greater impact. With a kerb weight of under 1,400kg, more than half a tonne lighter than a BMW M6 Convertible, the Wiesmann delivers breathtaking performance.

It will sprint from 0–62mph in just 3.9 seconds, continue on to a top speed of 193mph and spin all the way to 8,500rpm. Drop the roof, and you are treated to the full, unfiltered scream of one of the greatest modern engines ever built. It is exactly the reason you buy a V10 in the first place: visceral, emotional and utterly unforgettable. The GT MF5 is all of these things. 

Porsche Carrera GT

A list of fabulous V10s wouldn’t be complete without the Porsche Carrera GT. Before the sun had even risen over Paris on 28^th September 2000, Walter Röhrl drove the Porsche Carrera GT concept car through the streets of Paris with a police escort, on his way to the car’s reveal at that year’s Paris Motor Show. Quite an entrance but it was quite some car. 

It emerged from the ashes of a Le Mans sportscar project that failed to fruit: the LMP2000 prototype, or the 9R3 as it was known internally, built in 1998 but never driven in anger. The Carrera GT concept, and eventual production car, became the first Porsche road car to feature a carbon-fibre chassis, as that is what the racer was due to use, but it also inherited the engine, a high-revving, 68-degree V10, which itself can be traced back to Formula 1 in the 1990s, when Porsche supplied engines to the Footwork team and was looking to replace its unreliable ’3512’ 80-degree V10.

It took two-and-a-half years for Porsche to take the concept to production reality, the final car going on display at the 2003 Geneva Motor Show. Changes included a new carbon-fibre floor, an active rear wing, but crucially that engine, labelled within Porsche as ‘980/01’, remained. Displacement had gone up from 5.5- to 5.7-litres, meaning power stood at 612PS (450kW) at 8,000rpm, plus 590Nm (437lb ft) at 5,750rpm. Power went to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual ‘box, too. What an engine, what a car. 

Lexus LFA

The Lexus LFA was first mentioned publicly in October 2005. In concept form, Lexus said a “two-seater supercar powered by a high-output B10 engine” would be shown at that year’s Tokyo Motor Show. Look at the pictures though and you’ll see it was quite a different beast back then, but even as the concept evolved over subsequent years, spawning a convertible version in 2008 and racing at the Nürburgring 24 Hours in 2008 and ’09 in prototype guise, the front-mid-mounted V10 engine remained.

In fact, Lexus spent four years promising the world that the V10 was definitely still there and it was a 5.0-litre unit, or just under. In October 2010 the production LFA was revealed, and sure enough it had a V10. A 4.8-litre, 72-degree engine, known as ‘1LR-GUE’, it produced 560PS (412kW) and 480Nm (lb ft), and revved all the way out to 9,000rpm.

Power went to the back wheels via a six-speed single-clutch automatic gearbox mounted at the rear, and where the concept had been based on an aluminium chassis the production car had a carbon-fibre backbone, saving 100kg and improving structural rigidity. Lexus said the bank angle of 72 degrees was chosen to as it was the “ideal for achieving balance in the engine for exceptionally smooth running”. It also said that, thanks to its packaging and design, it was the size of a Lexus V8 and the weight of a V6.

Not wanting to waste a golden opportunity for creating one of the best sounding cars on the road, Honda engineers took inspiration from Formula 1 to tune various elements of the engine, intake system and exhaust to maximise volume while refining the aural quality. The result, as I’m sure you’ll agree, was nothing short of spectacular. 

Dodge Viper

Bob Lutz, Chrysler’s President in 1988, is a big fish in the American car world. He held senior positions at Ford, Chrysler and GM, and even today, at the grand old age of 90, he’s still working. One of his greatest achievements in a long career, however, has to be the Dodge Viper. In 1988 he spoke to designer Tom Gale about creating a modern-day Cobra, and sure enough, one year later, a concept car was shown at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

The concept was a big success, and in part that was down to the monstrous engine: an 8.0-litre V10 named after the car in which it sat, ‘Viper’. Conceived using the example set by Chrysler’s 5.9-litre Magnum V8 but with two extra cylinders (the Magnum V8 was eventually scaled up to an 8.0-litre V10 for the Dodge Ram), the Viper V10 wasn’t exactly sophisticated. A 90-degree engine it had just two valves per cylinder. It also weighed around 290kg dry, and by comparison, the LFA’s engine weighs less than 166kg with fluids… But what it did have was a chonky 406PS (298kW).

Perhaps more importantly given the Viper was conceived with the Cobra in mind, it had a whopping 630Nm (465lb ft). That was enough not just to shred tyres away from every red light, and to make the Viper something of a tricky swine to drive, but to hit 60mph in 4.7 seconds, smash the quarter-mile in 9.2 seconds and go on to a top speed of 165mph.

The Viper engine’s lack of sophistication gave it room to grow, too. Admittedly it was never a truly clever engine, but capacity gradually expanded to 8.3- and then 8.4-litres, and variable valve timing was introduced. Come the SRT Viper’s end in 2017, with Chrysler choosing to brand it as an SRT model rather than a Dodge, that brutal V10 lump was pushing 654PS (481kW) and a ridiculous 813Nm (600lb ft) of torque. It might have been a bit of a blunt instrument, but we’ve got a huge soft spot for this engine and every generation of Viper.

Ferrari F2004

Of all of the glorious V10 F1 cars that ever lined up on the grid, it’s a relatively easy case to make that the Ferrari F2002 and Ferrari F2004 were the best. But it's the F2004 that comes out on top, the car that bagged Ferrari the Constructors’ Championship, Michael Schumacher the Drivers’ and 13 wins, and Rubens Barrichello two wins. To be victorious in 15 of the 19 races, with a podium in every race at least and only two DNFs (neither of which were mechanical failure) is truly remarkable.

Ferrari’s V10 F1 story began with the Tipo 04X engine in 1996, which developed season by season until 2001 when Ferrari introduced the second generation of V10 known as the 05X, designed by French engineer Gilles Simon. The 050 powered the 2001 Ferrari F2001 (back when Ferrari’s F1 car naming strategy made sense), and evolved into the 051 for 2002, the 052 for 2003 and the 053 for 2004.

The project was led by Ferrari F1 engine chief Paolo Martinelli, and his main struggle was figuring out how to make an engine last an entire ace weekend, a new regulation for 2004. Somehow he and his seemingly genius team made it, because not only was the engine reliable but it was extraordinarily powerful. A 3.0-litre, 90-degree V10, the 053 weighed a scarcely believable 92kg, and in qualifying trim revved to 19,100rpm and produced 920PS (690kW).

And if you’ve ever been to the Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard and heard an F2004 running, or were lucky enough to see one racing in period, you’ll know it produces an unforgettable sound.

BMW M5

Welcome, everyone, to one of the coolest saloons and wagons ever created. Why? Quite simply because they had V10s. Yes, we are of course talking about the E60 saloon and E61 estate BMW M5s. When it came to launching the next generation of M5 in 2004, BMW knew it had to move the game on from the V8 E39 M5.

It was easy enough to do from E34 to E39, upping the cylinder count by two from a straight-six in the E34 to a V8 in the E39, but surely building a V10 for just one car would be a development step too far? Not for BMW. It created the S85B50, an all-aluminium, 5.0-litre, 90-degree V10 that was unrelated to every other BMW engine in production.

It weighed 240kg, had an uneven firing order and churned out 510PS (375kW) at 7,500rpm and 520Nm (384lb ft) at 6,100rpm. An engine that liked to be revved then? Absolutely, and all the better for the driver, because if you’ve got a 200mph V10 saloon car or wagon, surely you’re all about waking the neighbours? 

And the engine lived on, being the basis for the excellent 4.0-litre S65 V8 engine used in the E92 M3 from 2007 to 2013. Thank you BMW for doing something so completely barmy, and thank you to anyone who’s got one today and is willing to spend the GDP of several small island nations to keep the engine running.

Audi R15 TDI

What better powerplant to examine than one of the most advanced diesel engines ever created? Welcome to the V10 diesel-powered Audi R15 TDI. Sitting pretty as the second most successful constructor at Le Mans, with 13 overall wins compared to Porsche’s 19, Audi was a sportscar powerhouse in the 2000s and early 2010s. Its first Le Mans racer, the R8, was petrol-powered, while Audi moved to diesel power in its successor, the R10 TDI; from 3.6-litre, twin-turbo V8 petrol to a 5.5-litre, twin-turbo V12 diesel.

Those two cars managed eight wins at La Sarthe out of nine races from 2000 to 2008, so come 2009 and the introduction of the R15 TDI there was a lot riding on this new V10 diesel. It was a 5.5-litre, 90-degree engine, like the V12 in the R10 TDI, and developed by Ullrich Baretsky, Audi Sport’s Head of Engine Technology. It had a different bore and stroke, however, and by knocking off two cylinders the overall length of the engine game down by 100mm, a requirement at the time of the chassis team who wanted tighter packaging, less weight and a more central weight distribution for greater agility.

Much to Audi’s delight, the smaller engine brought with it improvements in economy without compromising performance or reliability. Audi quoted 600PS (441kW) and “in excess of 1,050Nm” (777lb ft) of torque, and improvements to the turbochargers and injection system meant a better throttle response than the R15 TDI’s V12 predecessor. All that seems unconventional about the R15 TDI’s technical package today is that it used a five-speed sequential gearbox from Xtrac.

Audi had hoped to make it nine wins out of 10 races at Le Mans, but in 2009 it was Peugeot’s year, winning with the V12 diesel-powered 908 HDi FAP. But in 2010, with the upgraded R15 Plus, Audi was back on top, celebrating a 1-2-3 finish. The winning R15 TDI of Romain Dumas, Timo Bernhard and Mike Rockenfeller had been so trouble-free and efficient that Audi smashed the overall distance record set by Porsche 39 years earlier by 75.4km (46.9m), a whopping 5,410.713km (3,362.1m). If ever you needed it, proof that diesel isn’t boring.

Audi RS6

If the V10 BMW M5 was mad, then this next engine and vehicle combination is similarly bonkers. We are of course talking about the delightful C6 4F Audi RS6 and its utterly ridiculous twin-turbo V10.

Launched at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show and available in both saloon and wagon formats, the RS6 made use of a new all-aluminium, even-firing, 90-degree, twin-turbo 5.0-litre V10. Power stood at 580PS (427kW) from 6,250-6,700rpm and torque at 650Nm (479lb ft) from 1,500-6,250rpm, making it Audi’s most powerful road car at the time. Power went to all four wheels via a six-speed automatic transmission, with 0-62mph done and dusted in 4.6 seconds.

The top speed was restricted to 155mph, or 170mph if you were willing to pay a little extra to have the limiter raised.The engine weighed 278kg, a not insignificant lump, but when you consider it was only 38kg more than that of the BMW but incorporated the extra complication of two turbochargers, it really wasn’t that bad at all.

Ultimately it marks an estate car high-point. It was the last sensible car to be caught up in the capacity-mad automotive world of one-upmanship, and it was a bit of a unicorn, too, as Audi chose to develop a new engine instead of installing a tuned version of the S6’s 5.2-litre naturally-aspirated V10. It’s safe to say, even more than a decade after it was launched, we absolutely love it.