If you happen to needed handy somebody an inventory together with each automaker producing V10s for the mass market proper now, it might be a clean sheet of paper. The ten-cylinder engine was at all times a little bit of an oddity within the automotive scene, solely catching on as a really area of interest choice. The V10 already did not exist as a mainstream, mass-market engine in recent times, and with the tip of the Audi R8 and the Huracan, even the area of interest market is drying up.
Eventually verify, there have been solely three automakers nonetheless carrying V10s in 2024 and solely two firms constructing them. And none of those engines are present in automobiles you possibly can simply go choose up on the native dealership. Here is all the pieces you could know in regards to the rise and fall of the V10 engine and the place to look if you wish to drive one in 2024.
Associated
The V10-powered supercar has lastly reached its finish after two generations.
A Transient Historical past of the V10
Probably the most iconic automobile geared up with a V10 often is the Dodge Viper, launched in 1991 with the bottom engine being a 488 cubic-inch 8.0-liter ten-cylinder cranking out 400 horsepower and 465 lb-ft of torque, exhibiting the world what you would obtain by merely including two extra cylinders than any affordable automaker would ever suppose so as to add to an engine. The Viper was removed from the primary V10, being predated by varied diesel-powered locomotives, army automobiles, industrial vehicles, and Daimler-Benz buses, however Dodge’s two-door convertible helped to popularize the V10 street automobile, being the primary of its sort to run on gasoline, not diesel.
Associated
From the merely unbalanced to the actually deranged.
V10s had been interesting as a result of they had been extra highly effective than a V8 however did not demand as a lot house as a V12. This made it simpler to supply V10s as an choice in the identical automobiles you’ll supply a V6 or a V8.
The V10 kind of had its second within the 2000s. A couple of decade after the launch of the primary Dodge Viper, you had an entire vary of luxurious and sports activities automobiles packing ten cylinders, just like the Volkswagen Touareg in 2002, the Lamborghini Gallardo in 2003, and the Audi R8 coupe in 2006. The Lexus LFA was additionally famously geared up with a V10 that revved so rapidly it needed to have a digital instrument cluster. Nevertheless, the format by no means turned greater than a distinct segment product throughout the automotive trade.
Ford Triton V10
Capability
6.8-Liter
Energy
362 hp
Torque
460 lb-ft
For many drivers, the one likelihood you are ever going to get to personal a ten-cylinder auto goes to be a Ford Triton V10. It is a 6.8-liter crate engine at present obtainable in sure Ford industrial vehicles just like the F-650 and F-750 and huge car purposes just like the Blue Fowl Imaginative and prescient faculty bus and the F53 motorhome chassis. If you wish to drive one in every of these brand-new monsters, you are in all probability going to wish a CDL.
Associated
For some individuals, regular vehicles usually are not sufficient and 4 doorways are too few.
However, if you happen to’re wanting on the used market, you would preserve an eye fixed out for a Ford Tour. We have noticed listings for ten-cylinder Excursions for as little as $7,500. That is a fantastic worth, however you may make it up on the pump, as you possibly can count on a mixed common gasoline economic system of round 12 MPG in a 2000 mannequin. The excellent news is that it shares many elements with Ford’s 5.4-liter V8, and the Triton is understood for its easy, dependable construct, so you will not be spending as a lot on repairs as you would possibly count on.
Judd V10 For The McLaren Solus GT
Capability
5.2-Liter
Energy
829 hp
Torque
479 lb-ft
If you happen to’re on the lookout for one thing a little bit sportier than a faculty bus, you possibly can nonetheless get your arms on a McLaren Solus GT, a supercar with a 5.2-liter Judd Energy V10 able to hitting a 0-60 in simply 2.5 seconds. Judd’s web site lists a handful of V10s, together with the 5.0-liter GV used to put the Pescarolo workforce in fourth on the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2004, and second in 2005. However these are one-offs and competitors engines. If you’d like one thing you possibly can personal as a civilian with out a racing workforce behind you, the Solus is it. And it is not street-legal. And it is a single-seater. And it prices three million {dollars}.
Associated
The unique V10-powered hypercar accomplished the climb in 45.34 seconds.
Judd V10 For The De Tomaso P900
Capability
4.2-Liter
Energy
888 hp
Torque
470 lb-ft
The De Tomaso P900 is a track-only racer made in a run of simply 18 fashions for 3 million bucks every. De Tomaso’s said finish aim is an environmentally pleasant V12 that runs on artificial fuels. Within the meantime, the automobile is at present obtainable with a Judd V10 based mostly on the one discovered within the 1997 Benetton B197 F1.
It ought to assist for instance our level that V10s are a dying breed when you think about that one of many few automobiles at present obtainable with a ten-cylinder engine is just carrying it as a placeholder for a extra highly effective twelve-cylinder.
Why Do not They Make V10s Anymore?
V10s are impractical, they’re arduous to push via emissions laws, they occupy a bizarre center floor the place they may not slot in a variety of street-legal automobiles, however they don’t seem to be as highly effective as bigger V12s, they’re very thirsty, and so they’re much less secure than V8s, working as a pair of inline-fives which creates an odd rocking impact. However that is all been true for a very long time. So, what’s modified within the final decade or so, that has primarily killed the V10 as a viable choice, even in supercars and additional large vehicles? The underside line is that they don’t seem to be vital anymore.
When Dodge constructed the primary Viper, they began with a Chrysler LA V8 engine, bumping the horsepower up by including two further cylinders, leading to one of many largest capability engines ever made. If you happen to needed to do the identical right now, you’d in all probability take a V6 or a V8 and equip it with a pair of electrical motors and twin turbos to realize the identical leads to a much less cumbersome means.
Associated
Electrical automobiles usually are not the one means ahead, and automakers have discovered methods to maintain our favourite engines working for longer.
In reality, that is precisely what Lamborghini is doing with the Huracan’s successor. The upcoming Lamborghini Temerario is a mid-engine bi-turbo V8 with a hybrid powertrain serving to it to stand up to 791 hp. New developments in engine expertise imply that the V10 is extra of a novelty than it’s a viable powerplant to construct a automobile round, whether or not it is for the mass-market or millionaire automobile collectors.
V10s create among the most beautiful engine notes you may ever hear, however on the finish of the day, automotive engineers are on the lookout for probably the most environment friendly solution to obtain distinctive energy output. Ten-cylinders simply do not make sense as a method of shaving milliseconds off your 0-60 dash when you would do the identical with an electrical motor and a turbocharger and never have the EPA respiratory down your neck over it.
