Ten cylinders in a V is a rare layout, and it has powered everything from American roadsters to Italian supercars. The group below spans a pickup truck, a sport sedan and an SUV that pulled an airliner. Here are ten V10 vehicles, led by a Porsche rated at 205 mph.
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1. 1992 Dodge Viper RT/10: The Roadster That Started It
The original Viper from Dodge paired an enormous 8.0-liter V10 engine with 400 horsepower and a roadster body. That recipe made the car a blunt, large-displacement alternative to the more delicate sports cars of its era.
The RT/10 name carries the cylinder count in plain sight, and the ten-cylinder layout became the identity of every Viper that followed. Open-top seating and a long hood completed a formula built around the engine rather than around refinement. Later versions of the model would grow in displacement and output, but the first one established the template.
2. 1996 Dodge Viper GTS: A Coupe With More Power
With the GTS, the Viper gained a coupe body and a more powerful ten-cylinder engine. Output rose to 450 horsepower, a clear step beyond the roadster that had introduced the model.
The fixed roof gave the Viper a different character from the open-top original, aimed at buyers who wanted the same brute-force engine with a more enclosed cabin. Keeping the ten-cylinder layout while raising power showed how Dodge intended to develop the car: by extracting more from the same basic idea instead of replacing it.
3. Dodge Ram SRT-10: A Pickup With Viper Power
Dodge dropped a Viper V10 into a pickup, producing 500 bhp, and the result earned a Guinness World Record for the world’s fastest production truck in 2004. Both the Guinness organization and the Sports Car Club of America recognized the mark.
The SRT-10 is the odd one in this group because it is a full-size truck rather than a sports car. Its appeal rested on the contrast between an everyday pickup shape and a powertrain borrowed from a two-seat sports car, a pairing that few manufacturers have attempted before or since.
4. Lamborghini Gallardo: A High-Revving Italian
Lamborghini built the Gallardo around a 5.0-liter V10, and a modern rebuild shows what the layout can do: revving to 8,500 rpm and 540 horsepower in GT trim or 560 horsepower in Performance trim. That rebuild goes by the name HOMMAGE 26.
The Gallardo served as the more approachable Lamborghini, a mid-engine coupe that carried the brand’s V10 for years. The updated version, reworked by the car’s original designer, highlights how well the shape and the high-revving engine have aged and why the model still draws attention from enthusiasts.
5. Lamborghini Huracán: The Gallardo Successor
When the Huracán replaced the Gallardo, the V10 carried on, and the original version made 602 horsepower. Production ran from 2014 to 2024, a decade-long span for a single generation of Lamborghini supercar.
Over those years the Huracán appeared in many variants, from road-focused coupes to track-oriented specials such as the STO shown here. Throughout, the ten-cylinder engine remained central to the car’s appeal, linking it directly to its predecessor. Buyers who knew the Gallardo could recognize the lineage immediately, even as the newer car moved the performance figures well ahead.
6. Audi R8 V10: Supercar Bound For Everyday Use
The V10 version of the Audi R8 arrived in December 2008 with 518 horsepower and a top speed of 196 mph. It added ten cylinders to a mid-engine coupe that had originally launched with a smaller engine.
Sharing its architecture with the Lamborghini Gallardo, the R8 V10 gave Audi a car that could be driven as a daily coupe as readily as it could be driven hard. Its arrival lifted the R8 from an appealing sports car to a genuine supercar contender, and it became one of the best-known V10 cars of its generation.
7. Lexus LFA: Rare Japanese Exotic
Toyota’s luxury division limited the Lexus LFA to only 500 cars, built between 2010 and 2012. It produced 553 horsepower and reached a top speed of 202 mph, figures that placed it among the quickest cars of its time.
Production that small means the LFA is rarely seen on the road, which has made it one of the more sought-after Japanese exotics. Its V10 layout is the reason it earns a place on this list, and the car remains the most exotic model the Lexus brand has produced to date.
8. Porsche Carrera GT: The Headline Act
The Porsche Carrera GT delivered 603 horsepower and an official top speed of 205 mph, the figure behind this list’s headline. Porsche built 1,270 of them from 2003 to 2006.
A mid-engine V10 supercar with a distinctly motorsport character, the Carrera GT stood apart from the rear-engine 911 that defines the brand. Its limited run and demanding driving manner have made it one of the most respected Porsches of the modern era, and it still anchors discussion of the best V10 road cars.
9. BMW M5 (E60): A V10 Sport Sedan
Few sedans have used a V10, and the E60-generation BMW M5 is the clearest example. Its 5.0-liter S85 V10 made 500 horsepower, and 20,589 units were built during a five-year production run.
The engine gave a family-sized four-door the sound and character of a racing powertrain. Production in the tens of thousands makes the E60 far more common than the exotic cars on this list, which lets the V10 layout be experienced in an everyday sedan body instead of a two-seat coupe.
10. Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI: The Diesel That Pulled A Jumbo Jet
In a 2006 stunt, a stock V10 TDI Touareg towed a decommissioned jetliner, a 155-ton Boeing 747-200, for 150 meters. The truck was a stock example, with no special preparation described.
The Touareg is the only diesel in this group, and its V10 TDI badge identifies the engine layout. The feat showed off torque rather than speed, a different way of making the case for ten cylinders, and it remains one of the more memorable promotional stunts staged around a sport utility vehicle, and a fitting use for a diesel with this many cylinders.
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