What makes the V10 so great?
Want the crazy revs of a V12 in a more compact package with lower reciprocating masses? Of course you do. By Ben Miller
1807 Single-cylinder genesis
Every mighty oak starts with an acorn. Mankind makes several early stabs at a combustion engine during the 18th century but only one, a ‘dust engine’ (it runs on various dry fuels, including ground coal) created by two French brothers is good enough for a patent from Napoleon in 1807. Presumably the compact warmonger’s already dreaming of a big-capacity V10 with a sky-high rev ceiling…
1989 Honda knocks up a 700bhp ten
Having wiped the floor with everyone in 1988, Honda is forced to engineer an all-new F1 engine for 1989 – turbos are out, so its V6 must go in the bin. Fortunately Honda’s engineers have been working on a 3.5-litre V10 with a 72° vee angle since 1987. Initially good for 500bhp, the balance shaft-smoothed V10 kicks out 700bhp when it first hits the track in anger. Belt cam drive is switched to gears at the eleventh hour.
2004 Montoya monsters Monza
As if aware that YouTube will be founded the following year by three PayPal employees, and that the video platform will be hollow without an onboard video of Juan Pablo Montoya smashing around Monza in a hysterical Williams, BMW ups its F1 engine ante for 2004 with a 3.0-litre V10 capable of cranking out 900bhp at an astonishing 19,000rpm.
2020 First customers get their Audi GT2 R8s
Audi and Lambo’s ongoing support of the V10 cannot go on much longer. But while it lasts Audi’s wild GT2 R8 is the engine at its most compelling. Engine management tweaks and that roof scoop take the 5.2-litre unit to 631bhp – pushing a car weighing just 1350kg via the rear axle only, naturally. Customer deliveries (the price is £288k plus taxes) began in December.
1986 V8 or V12? Alfa splits the di erence
Pre-dating both Honda and Renault, Alfa gets busy designing a V10 for F1 in the mid-’80s. It’s a 3.5-litre unit able to spin to 12,000rpm thanks to massively over-square bore and stroke dimensions; 88mm by just 57.5 (a shorter stroke lowers the mean piston speed for a given rpm). Conrods are titanium, also to boost revs, while magnesium cam covers help reduce weight. Valve control at high revs is an issue, hence rival Renault’s development of pneumatic valve control.
2000 A race engine on the road
There are many theories as to why Porsche didn’t race its V10 sports car engine. Maybe it was busy with the first Cayenne. Maybe an in-house rival to Audi’s then new R8 racer made no sense. Whatever, the V10 finally sees the light of the day in the Carrera GT, first shown at the Paris show in 2000. The engine uses a compact 68° vee angle, a race-style dry sump and no cylinder liners – the bores are instead coated in a nickel and silicon solution.
2010 You beauty!
Lexus marks the turn of the decade with a car developed with a single purpose: to be the first Lexus the world might care about. The LFA’s 4.8-litre V10 is made of aluminium and titanium (valves and conrods), does without turbos and spins to its 9500rpm redline so quickly an analogue tacho couldn’t hope to keep up. Where most see a V8 as more economical than a V10, and a V12 as smoother, Lexus opts for the 10: higher rev ceiling than a V8, lower reciprocating masses than a V12.