Not long ago, a ten-cylinder engine didn't seem like something exclusively for collectors. V10s were installed in quite common sports cars: Lamborghini Gallardo and Huracan, Audi R8, BMW M5 and M6 generations E60 and E63, Porsche Carrera GT, Lexus LFA, and other models. Moreover, this architecture was chosen by manufacturers with completely different engineering approaches.
Today, finding a new production car with a V10 is much harder. Even in the supercar segment, ten cylinders have gradually given way to compact turbocharged V8s, hybrid powertrains, and electric motors. The V10 itself didn't become a bad engine — it's just that its advantages are now increasingly difficult to justify against demands for fuel consumption, emissions, packaging, and development costs.
Why does a car even need ten cylinders?
By its architecture, the V10 occupies an intermediate position between the V8 and V12. Additional cylinders allow for a smaller volume per individual cylinder for a comparable displacement, resulting in an engine well-suited for high revs. At the same time, such an engine remains more compact and, as a rule, lighter than a V12 with comparable characteristics.
This combination was particularly well-suited for naturally aspirated sports engines. Manufacturers could achieve high power without turbochargers, maintain immediate throttle response, and simultaneously give the car its own character.
The Lamborghini Huracan Tecnica remains a prime example. Its naturally aspirated 5.2-liter V10 developed 640 hp at 8000 rpm. The Porsche Carrera GT's engine was even more unusual: a naturally aspirated 5.7-liter V10 produced 612 hp at the same 8000 rpm, and the design itself had ties to a Porsche racing project.
However, additional cylinders come at a price. The more complex the engine, the more parts it has, the higher its mass and larger its dimensions, and the more expensive its production and development. As long as the V10 provided characteristics that were difficult to achieve by other means, this compromise made sense.
How the Turbocharger Changed the Game
One of the main factors that changed the V10's position was the development of turbocharging. To increase power, a naturally aspirated engine must draw more air through its cylinders, which can be achieved by increasing displacement, raising revs, and improving valve timing.
Each of these solutions has its limits. A turbocharger solves the problem differently: it forcibly increases the mass of air entering the cylinders, allowing a relatively small engine to develop very high power and significant torque.
A modern V8 with two turbochargers can therefore not only approach a naturally aspirated V10 in maximum power but also significantly surpass it in torque across a wide rev range. Moreover, such an ICE can be combined with a hybrid system.
The change that occurred with Lamborghini is very telling. The Huracan used a naturally aspirated 5.2-liter V10, while its successor, the Temerario, received a 4.0-liter V8 with two turbochargers and three electric motors. The total power of the powertrain reaches 920 hp.
This creates a seemingly paradoxical situation: reducing the number of cylinders no longer necessarily means a decrease in performance. Modern technologies allow for significantly more power and torque from a smaller engine.
Fuel Consumption Became Part of the Design
For a naturally aspirated V10, high performance is inevitably linked to high fuel consumption. And the more fuel burned, the more carbon dioxide is produced.
For manufacturers, this has long ceased to be just a matter of individual model characteristics. Major automotive markets have requirements for vehicle efficiency and emissions, and the European Union has set CO₂ targets for a manufacturer's fleet of new cars.
Therefore, a powerful car with a large naturally aspirated engine becomes part of the company's overall environmental and economic system. Even if a specific supercar is sold in small numbers, its engine still has to be developed and certified in accordance with current requirements.
The data for the latest Audi R8s is indicative. Depending on the version, official emissions were approximately around 300 g CO₂ per kilometer, and for the R8 V10 GT RWD, they exceeded 330 g/km according to the WLTP cycle.
Thus, a large naturally aspirated engine turns out to be not the most convenient tool for a manufacturer who must simultaneously increase the efficiency of the entire model range and reduce average fuel consumption and CO₂ figures.
What About Exhaust Toxicity?
The disappearance of the V10 cannot be explained solely by carbon dioxide limitations. CO₂ and toxic exhaust components relate to different environmental challenges.
Separate regulations govern nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and particulate matter. Catalytic converters, mixture control systems, and other exhaust gas treatment elements are used to reduce them.
Technically, a large gasoline engine can be adapted to strict environmental requirements. The mere presence of ten cylinders does not make certification impossible.
But developers have to solve many more problems. They need to consider cold starts, the warm-up speed of catalytic converters, exhaust composition in different modes, transient processes, and the operation of electronic control systems.
For a mass-produced engine, such investments are distributed across a large number of vehicles. A specialized V10 is produced in significantly smaller numbers, so the cost of developing and upgrading each such powertrain becomes much more noticeable.
Why the V10 is Expensive
A ten-cylinder engine has more parts than a comparable V8: cylinders, pistons, connecting rods, valves, and valve train components. The block and cylinder heads increase in size, and the intake, exhaust, and cooling systems become more complex.
However, not only the cost of the components themselves is particularly important. The cost of development plays a major role.
A modern engine must undergo extensive testing for durability, temperature regimes, emissions, electronic system operation, and compliance with the requirements of different markets. When an engine is produced in hundreds of thousands of units, the costs can be spread over a huge production run.
With the V10, the situation is different. Such an engine has historically been used primarily in expensive and specialized models. Therefore, its production never offered the economies of scale available to mass-produced V6s or V8s.
This is why, even during its popularity, the V10 did not become a universal engine for passenger cars. The V8 remained a more flexible architecture, and ten cylinders appeared where a manufacturer needed a special powertrain for a sports or flagship model.
A Long Engine Takes Up Too Much Space
The V10 also has a purely physical disadvantage. Such an engine occupies a significant amount of space, especially when mounted longitudinally.
The engine compartment needs to accommodate not only the cylinder block itself. Nearby are the intake system, exhaust manifolds, catalytic converters, radiators, and other auxiliary equipment.
A modern hybrid powertrain further complicates the task. Engineers now need to find space for electric motors, a high-voltage battery, power electronics, and additional cooling circuits.
Each element competes for space, mass, and the cooling system. Therefore, engine compactness is becoming an increasingly valuable property.
A shorter V8 can free up space for hybrid system components, improve weight distribution, or allow designers to more easily meet other vehicle requirements. The question now is not just whether a V10 can be accommodated, but whether the resulting performance justifies the structural niche it occupies.
The Electric Motor Took Over Some of the V10's Work
Previously, to achieve high power, quick response, and impressive dynamics, manufacturers largely had to solve all these problems using the internal combustion engine itself. A large naturally aspirated engine was one way to achieve the desired result.
The electric motor changed the situation. It can generate thrust almost instantly and supplement the internal combustion engine precisely where it needs time to build revs or change load.
Therefore, a modern supercar can distribute tasks among several power sources. The ICE ensures operation in the optimal range, turbocharging increases output, and electric motors add thrust where needed.
At the same time, the hybrid system itself increases the car's mass and complexity. One way to compensate for these additional components is to reduce the size and mass of the internal combustion engine.
As a result, the naturally aspirated V10 is increasingly losing not to one specific competitor, but to a whole combination of modern technologies.
Why the V10 is Still Loved
If comparing solely power, dynamics, and efficiency, ten cylinders are no longer a prerequisite for creating a fast car. But an engine is not judged only by numbers.
The V10 has a distinctive sound, formed by a combination of firing order, high rotational speed, exhaust system design, and the engine's own characteristics. This is especially pronounced in high-revving naturally aspirated engines.
Moreover, even two engines of the same architecture can sound completely different. The final result is influenced by exhaust manifolds, the length and configuration of channels, the connection of exhaust tracts, resonators, mufflers, and valves.
It turns out that the number of cylinders only sets the basic character. The engine's final 'voice' is formed by the entire system — from processes inside the cylinders to the moment exhaust gases exit the tailpipes.
This is why old naturally aspirated V10s are of particular interest to automotive enthusiasts today. Their design emerged in an era when high power, quick response, and a distinctive sound were primarily sought through the engine itself.
Modern technology has learned to solve the same problems differently. Turbocharging, electronic control, hybrid systems, and electric motors allow for high output from a smaller ICE. And in this new engineering reality, ten cylinders turned out not to be useless, but simply too expensive and complex a way to achieve what can now be done with several other technologies.