For many, the V10 remains the best-sounding machine ever made. We’re not here to judge and we won’t give a final say, although we have to admit that the 10 cylinder mills are indeed some of the best-sounding in the entire industry. There aren’t many of them left but luckily, models like the Lexus LFA and Porsche Carrera GT will forever be good examples of V10 engineering in the supercar segment. Which sounds better and runs faster? Finally it’s time to find out.
Hagerty lined up the two supercars in a direct drag battle and decided the Audi RS3 would be a good addition to the V10 tandem. The hot hatch from Ingolstadt has twice as few cylinders, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t deserve a place in this race. However, let’s focus on the V10 competitor.
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The LFA was produced between December 2010 and December 2012 and during this limited production period only 500 units were released. Powering the Japanese supercar is one of the best naturally aspirated engines in history – a 4.8 liter bank angle 72 degree V10 mill with a dual VVT-i system. Its maximum output is 553 horsepower (412 kilowatts) and 354 pound-feet (480 Newton-meters) of torque. The engineers in charge of the LFA engine decided not to use a V8 or V12 engine with equivalent displacement.
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The Porsche Carrera GT was sold even before the LFA – between 2004 and 2006 with a total of 1,270 copies shipped. It had a good 5.7 liter 68-degree edge-angle engine for 603 hp (450 kW) and 435 lb-ft (590 Nm) of rev. It had a redline at 8,400 rpm versus 9,000 rpm for the LFA. The Porsche can reach 62 miles per hour (100 kilometers per hour) in just 3.9 seconds, while the Lexus is 0.2 seconds faster. Of course, these are official figures.
So how do the two greatest supercars ever made in live drag racing compare? The video at the top of this article goes beyond that – including comparisons to the five-cylinder Audi – but if you want to jump right into drag racing, it starts at the nine-minute mark.
