Items17The creator’s order
  1. 1Lexus LFALexus LFAThe benchmark most engine-sound lists are measured against. The bespoke 4.8-liter V10 uses a 72-degree bank angle and can run from idle to 9,000 rpm in about six-tenths of a second, so the note climbs faster than most cars can change pitch. Lexus also shaped the intake surge tank with tuned walls…0
  2. 2Porsche Carrera GTPorsche Carrera GTA race engine that never got its race. The Carrera GT's 5.7-liter V10 grew out of Porsche's LMP 2000 Le Mans prototype, which was shelved before it ever competed, and it still behaves like one: peak power arrives at 8,000 rpm, and the sound hardens into a hard-edged wail as it gets there, with very…0
  3. 3Mercedes-Benz SLS AMGMercedes-Benz SLS AMGThe low-frequency counterweight to all the screaming V10s and V12s here. The gullwing SLS uses a naturally aspirated 6.2-liter V8 (the 6.3 badge nods to AMG's first V8, not the real capacity), with dry-sump lubrication so it can sit low in the chassis. Its 563 horsepower made it the most powerful…0
  4. 4Alfa Romeo 156Alfa Romeo 156156 GTA, 2001 to 2005 The most affordable way into the Busso V6, Alfa Romeo's all-aluminum 60-degree six named after its engineer, Giuseppe Busso. In the 156 GTA it reached its largest size, 3,179 cc, making 247 horsepower in a family sedan. The 60-degree layout is compact and naturally well…0
  5. 5Ferrari 458Ferrari 458458 Italia The last naturally aspirated mid-engine V8 Ferrari before the 488 switched to turbos, and for many listeners the high point of the breed. Its 4.5-liter V8 makes peak power at 9,000 rpm, and it pulls hard all the way there, so the note keeps rising long after most V8s would have run out…0
  6. 6Ferrari 812 SuperfastFerrari 812 SuperfastA front-engined grand tourer with a 6.5-liter V12 that behaves like a much smaller engine. It makes 789 horsepower at 8,500 rpm and keeps going to 8,900 before the limiter steps in, and the last 3,000 rpm are where its reputation was made: the note sharpens from a smooth hum into a full, layered…0
  7. 7Ferrari 12CilindriFerrari 12CilindriProof that the naturally aspirated V12 is not finished yet. The 812's successor keeps a 6.5-liter twelve with no hybrid help, now making 830 horsepower at 9,250 rpm, and it revs with an eagerness more like a superbike's than a big grand tourer's. What makes it worth hearing even if you know the…0
  8. 8Lamborghini AventadorLamborghini AventadorWhere the Ferraris here scream, the Aventador howls. Its 6.5-liter V12 sits right behind your head with no turbocharging, and in the final LP 780-4 Ultimae it makes 780 horsepower at 8,500 rpm. Past that point the sound turns into a wail that recalls late-1980s V12 Formula One cars. Be clear about…0
  9. 9Pagani ZondaPagani ZondaOften named the best-sounding road car ever made, and the reason is the engine Pagani chose: a naturally aspirated 7.3-liter AMG V12, breathing out through a cluster of central exhaust pipes. The result is often compared to a V12 Formula One car, yet it carries more bass and menace than that…0
  10. 10McLaren F1McLaren F1The template the T.50 follows. Gordon Murray would only consider a big naturally aspirated engine, so BMW's motorsport department under Paul Rosche built a 6.1-liter V12 for it, making 627 horsepower at 7,500 rpm, with twelve individual butterfly valves on the intake. The F1 also pioneered the idea…0