The 14 best naturally-aspirated cars of the 21st century
What a can of worms a discussion on the best naturally-aspirated cars is. So many candidates from so many eras. Early on we decided to split up pre-2000 and post-2000 cars, with the latter being listed below.
Even then, with some notable exclusions, we’re up to 13 entries, with the caveat that many of these cars are representing truly mighty engine builders, engine families or lines of car. As an example, we have the brand new Porsche 718 Spyder RS very much flying the flag for the Porsche 4.0.
These cars have to be good independent of their engines – they’re excellent as well as having the best free-breathing motors. They also have to have been built in (relative) numbers. Because let’s face it, the GMA T.50 and Aston Martin Valkyrie probably wipe them all away. So with all this in mind, let’s get into it, in broadly chronological order.
1. BMW M3 E46 (S54)
Seen by many as the ultimate M car and unbeaten since its release 23 years ago, the E46 BMW E46 M3 is considered to be the perfect size and weight and have the perfect power and performance for a car of its type. It looks great, is just modern enough to feel fresh today and frankly, has aged like a fine scotch. Everything about it is very, very good but its defining feature, is that S54 3.2-litre straight-six engine. With more than a few echoes of the McLaren F1 in its soundtrack, the S54 is basically what you get when you halve the heart of the world’s greatest hypercar and keep feeding it through individual throttle bodies. As for other family members? They deserve a shoutout. The E92 M3 and E60 M5 are great, with truly epic motors, but they’re pipped to the punch in this case.
2. Honda Civic Type R (K20A)
The EP3 ‘breadvan’ Civic Type R could easily be considered one of the best hot hatches of all time without even talking about its engine. Its handling and gearshift humbled most rivals when new. Then you have to consider its VTEC-equipped K20A naturally-aspirated four-cylinder engine, that can rev to a giddy 8,800rpm on a wave of motorsport-esque induction roar. That mill made what was a spectacular car already feel like a genuine touring car for the road. The best bit? They’re extremely reliable, even when taking a kicking. They like a sniff of oil, sure, and the arches had a tendency to bubble over time but there’s a reason so many are still kicking about, even into the 200,000 miles range, today. Great car, greater engine. Why not the S2000? Because it debuted in 1999, silly.
3. Porsche Carrera GT (M80/01)
From a humble hot hatch, to one of the all-time great hypercars, we now find ourselves discussing the Porsche Carrera GT. What is there left to say about what is one of the most beautiful, elegant supercars ever created? A perfect amalgam of classic and modern, a carbon tub and sophisticated inboard pushrod suspension were paired perfectly with a manual gearbox, on/off traction control and good old-fashioned rear-wheel drive. Add then into the mix, the piece de resistance, its motorsport-derived M80/01 5.7-litre V10 engine. This howling machine is a bonafide refugee of the racetrack. Having started life as a Porsche-designed mill for F1, the shelved project was revived and reworked for an LMP programme, which itself faltered. Not to waste a good motor, it was heavily adapted for use in Porsche’s seminal hypercar, which proved to be a defining moment in the history of the marque.
4. Audi R8 (V8 FSI)
Back down in the realms of somewhat more accessible machinery, is the Audi R8 V8. It arrived at a time when the definition of 'supercar' was soon to change, we’d now more define the first-gen V8 as a sportscar, and that’s no shade to it whatsoever. Because it was so well-rounded, with the style and charisma of more exotic machinery, paired with the dynamics, performance and comparable price point to humble the Porsche 911. It would have been a great car without it – as all of the entries are on this list – but its effervescent 4.2-litre V8 FSI engine is the cherry on the cake. Yes the RS4 – which also ran this engine – is also amazing but we had to shout out the R8, the car that Audi knocked out of the park on the first swing.
5. Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera (V10)
Here is where we get a bit dicey with our own rules, but this is a discrepancy of passion. Is the Gallardo, in any form, as good as even the middle-best Huracan? Probably not. But that pre-update engine, with its blood-curdling V10 howl, cannot be ignored. In Superleggera form the Gallardo was both at its best and most aggressive-sounding. The LP560 and Huracans that followed might have been as much as 20 per cent cleaner in terms of CO2 and they might have still sounded great, but they just don’t sound anywhere near as alive as the early Gallardo V10.
6. Mercedes-AMG C63 507 Estate (M156)
The M156 Mercedes-AMG 6.2-litre V8 is a tower of power with a barrel chest of burbling bravado that goes exactly like it sounds: like someone shoved a German brass band in a washing machine with a brick. It was a titan in every car it powered but there’s just something delightfully naughty about that engine being in an estate, so while we love the SLS and all the other cars in which it served, it’s being represented here by the C63 Estate, in tuned 507 form. Packing 507PS (373kW) (who would have guessed), it turned what was already a monster machine into something that felt like it ought to be illegal. The M156 turned everything it powered into a hot rod with a warranty and that’s a beautiful thing. Of every car on this list, we also reckon the C63 wagon is the one most-shamed by its modern equivalent, too. Boo to four-cylinder 63-badged AMGs…
7. Ferrari 458 Speciale (F136)
You didn’t think we’d be celebrating naturally-aspirated engines of the last 23 years without mentioning Ferrari, did you? They tried to make me choose between the V8 and the V12 too. Not happening, so first, the F136 V8, which debuted in the simply fabulous Ferrari F430 and rung out Ferrari’s naturally-aspirated V8 era in the screaming 458 Speciale, which we’ve chosen here. Why? Firstly, because engine and car were incredible in equal measure, and secondly, because the F136 was immortalised as one of the greats in its 9,000rpm-revving, 605PS (445kW), 4.5-litre ‘F’ form, as used in the Speciale.
8. Lexus LFA
Like the Ferrari above, the LFA is probably about as rare as we’d dare go on this list, lest we tempt a list full of even more unobtainable exotica than what we already have. But there was no escaping the LFA’s incredible bespoke naturally-aspirated 4.8-litre Yamaha-developed 560PS (412kW) V10 that needed a digital tacometer because it revved so fast, on the way to a 9,000rpm redline. Musical as that engine was (it was literally tuned like a piano to sound the way it does), it was also paired with a meticulously developed supercar platform, to make for a truly outstanding driving experience. One and done from Lexus: We knew it then and we certainly know it now, its like will never be seen again.
9. Aston Martin V12 Vantage S (AML V12)
Before we get to the Ferrari mill, we must first celebrate its always-present underdog rival. Aston Martin’s Cosworth-developed 6.0-litre V12 was never the powerhouse that Maranello’s 12-banger was, but it always oozed personality. Living through from the DB7 Vantage of 1997, to the Vantage V600 of 2018, it probably shone the brightest in the V12 Vantage S manual, with 570PS (419kW) going to the rear wheels via a dog-legged seven-speed manual transmission. This growling lump turned Aston’s sportscar into a gargling muscle car, with an intangible forbidden fruit, skunkworks feel, that you just can’t synthesise. God we miss that engine and that car.
10. Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 (LS7)
We simply have to give a nod to some of the greats to come out of the US over the past few years, starting with the Chevrolet Camaro Z/28. This track-prepared muscle car is GM’s answer to the 911 GT3 RS and received high praise from critics the world over for its joyous driving dynamics. Providing the power and panache to complement the chassis was the LS7, GM’s high-performance 7.0-litre small-block V8 good for over 500PS. The mill debuted in the C6 Corvette Z06 but was arguably put to the best use in this most exteme of Camaros.
11. Ford Mustang GT350 (Voodoo)
So good in fact was the LS7 as a naturally-aspirated high-performance V8, that Ford saw fit to develop a bespoke version of its own V8 to compete. With a flat-plane crank and an extra 0.2 litres, the 5.2-litre Voodoo was a Mustang heart capable of 8,250rpm and 530PS (390kW). Paired with the excellent S550 Mustang, fettled for even better dynamics in GT350 form, the Voodoo was a truly spectacular thing. The best thing about the GT350 and that engine, though? The noise. Good lord, the noise. The rasp and howl they put out could wake the dead and get them brake dancing.
12. Lexus LC500 (2UR GSE)
We’ve said it before and we will say it again, the Yamaha-fettled 5.0-litre 2UR-GSE V8 is, as comparable engines go, quite underrated. Everyone crows on about the BMW M S65, or the Mercedes-AMG M156 (see above), but the howler used in Lexus performance models for the last 15 years really is a peach. From the IS-F to the LC500, it’s the star of the show. The reason we’ve picked the LC to represent it, however, is because of just how good that car is. The consummate GT, beautifully built and with perfect styling and proportions, the V8 is just the cherry on the top. We’d honestly take one of these over most super GTs costing twice as much. A great car that we’re so glad Lexus built, and is still building. Buy one, before you can’t.
13. Ferrari 812 GTS
It’s been teased and here it is: the Ferrari F140 V12. Talk about great naturally-aspirated engines of the modern era, like the F136, this thing has been around for over 20 years. First appearing in the Enzo hypercar, it’s since powered everything from the 599 GTB, to the latest SP3 Daytona hypercar special. What is it best in, though? The series production pop-top that is the 812 GTS. Why? Because it perfectly encapsulates the engine’s two personalities, of long-legged mile-muncher and screaming tyre-slaying hypercar humbler. Cruise along the riviera? Perfect. Pop the top. Smoking lap of Silverstone? No problem, 800PS (588kW) to the rear wheels as it spins up to 8,900rpm will commit those 315-section tyres to the atmosphere with a shrill scream. Perfection.
14. Porsche 718 Spyder RS (MA2.75)
We conclude with the latest addition to the NA heroes fold, the Porsche 718 RS Spyder. The trumpet intakes on its flanks are probably a clue, but this elegant soft top features the rasping howling flat-six from the Cayman GT4 RS and 911 GT3. The induction noise of the former is enough to reconfigure your inner ear and then your grey matter, and make you enjoy it. We expect nothing different from the Spyder RS, only with more exposure to the elements and no wing. Sing for us you 500PS (368kW), 9,000rpm beauty…
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