2018
Ford
Mustang
Shelby GT350
A flat-plane crank in a Mustang — Ferrari's firing order wearing a pony badge. Sounds wrong in the best way.
Sound: @carlifestyle·Photo: @Car&Driver
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2016
Audi
TT
RS
Five cylinders means an uneven, loping warble no V-engine can fake. Direct descendant of the Group B Quattro.
Sound: @carlifestyle·Photo: Unsplash
2016
Porsche
Panamera
Turbo
Deliberately buttoned-up. The turbos eat the top end and leave a deep, expensive hum.
Sound: @carlifestyle·Photo: Unsplash
2017
Toyota
86
GT
A boxer four with nothing to hide behind. Coarse, buzzy, and completely honest about its 205hp.
Sound: @carlifestyle·Photo: Unsplash
2018
BMW
M4
Textbook inline-six smoothness, partially piped through the speakers. Purists have opinions.
Sound: @carlifestyle·Photo: Unsplash
2017
Chevrolet
Camaro
ZL1
Cross-plane V8 rumble with a supercharger whine laid over the top like a second instrument.
Sound: @carlifestyle·Photo: Unsplash
2017
Lamborghini
Huracán
Ten cylinders, no turbos, 8,500rpm. The last generation of Lamborghini that screams instead of thumps.
Sound: @carlifestyle·Photo: Unsplash
2016
Volkswagen
Golf
GTI
Modest and a little synthetic — but the benchmark everyone else's hot hatch gets measured against.
Sound: @carlifestyle·Photo: @Car&Driver
2017
Nissan
GT-R
More machinery than music. Turbo whoosh, transmission clatter, and a V6 that sounds like it has a job to do.
Sound: @carlifestyle·Photo: @Car&Driver
2018
Lexus
LC
500
Lexus tuned this one by ear, with acoustic engineers. A naturally aspirated V8 held onto long after everyone else quit.
Sound: @carlifestyle·Photo: Unsplash
2018
Chevrolet
Corvette
Stingray
Pushrod V8, two valves per cylinder, technology from another era — and a burble nothing modern replicates.
Sound: @carlifestyle·Photo: Unsplash
2018
Dodge
Challenger
SRT Hellcat
The supercharger whine is the whole personality. 707hp of deliberately unsubtle theatre.
Sound: @carlifestyle·Photo: @Car&Driver
2018
Mercedes-AMG
E63
S
Hot-V turbos tucked inside the vee. A four-door that overruns and crackles like it's getting away with something.
Sound: @carlifestyle·Photo: @Car&Driver
2017
Ford
GT
A twin-turbo V6 in a car whose ancestor had a 7-litre V8. It won Le Mans anyway. Listen before you judge.
Sound: @carlifestyle·Photo: @Car&Driver
2018
Kia
Stinger
GT
The one nobody expected on this list. A Kia with a proper twin-turbo six and a genuinely good voice.
Sound: @carlifestyle·Photo: @Car&Driver
2018
McLaren
720S
Flat-plane V8 spinning to 8,200 with turbos muting it. Hollow, mechanical, more spaceship than car.
Sound: @carlifestyle·Photo: Jeff Ludes
2015
Audi
R8
V10
The Huracán's engine with German manners. Same ten cylinders, less hysteria, cleaner edges.
Sound: @carlifestyle·Photo: Motor1
2013
Maserati
GranTurismo
A Ferrari-derived V8 with a cross-plane crank and an exhaust tuned like an instrument. Widely considered the best-sounding GT ever built.
Sound: @carlifestyle·Photo: WhichCar
2016
Alfa Romeo
Giulia
Quadrifoglio
Essentially a Ferrari V8 with two cylinders removed. Hard-edged and slightly unhinged for a sedan.
Sound: NM2255·Photo: GearPatrol
2015
Ferrari
458
Italia
The last naturally aspirated mid-engine Ferrari V8. 9,000rpm. This is the reference recording on this site.
Sound: AutomannTV·Photo: Zadart
2016
Cadillac
CTS-V
Corvette supercharged V8 in a Cadillac suit. Deep, blown, and faintly menacing.
Sound: Matt Moran·Photo: MotorTrend
2015
Jaguar
F-Type
R
Jaguar aimed the exhaust valves at drama and let it crackle on overrun. Deeply un-British behaviour.
Sound: Marchettino·Photo: RaY29rus
2010
Aston Martin
V8 Vantage
Not the fastest car here and it doesn't matter. A naturally aspirated British V8 with a bypass valve and perfect timing.
Sound: AutomannTV·Photo: JLSTMS
2018
Porsche
911
GT2 RS
Flat-six architecture buried under two turbos. Thin, hard, and slightly frightening — as intended.
Sound: NM2255·Photo: Kyle Fletcher
2016
Ford
Focus
RS
A four-cylinder with a mischief mode. The overrun pops are pure calibration, and pure fun.
Sound: AutoTopNL·Photo: Justin Chan