10 Best-Sounding Cars Built This Millennium

Given we’re in an age of ever-more stringent emissions regulations, a switch to electrification, and wide-scale turbocharging, it’s not hard to argue we’re beyond the peak of engine sounds.

Yet, since the turn of the millennium, some cars have managed to buck the trend and deliver orchestral notes that will forever ring in our ears.

We’ve picked out the 10 production cars built since 2000 that we think are the best. Feel free to tell us what we missed on socials, too.

Porsche Carrera GT

When your new halo hypercar uses a V10 engine originally conceived for Formula 1, then adapted for a stillborn Le Mans prototype, you can pretty much guarantee it’s going to sound special.

That was indeed the case with the Porsche Carrera GT and its 5.7-litre M80/01 V10. The naturally-aspirated engine redlines at 8400rpm, and we’re considerably jealous of anyone with the keys to do that on a daily basis.

GMA T.50

Gordon Murray’s T.50 could be one of the most exciting cars to come out… well, ever. There’s obviously the whole ‘being a modern, fan-assisted interpretation of the McLaren F1 from the man who made the original’ thing, but also the glorious powerplant.

As with the F1, the T.50 uses a naturally aspirated V12. Rather than BMW-sourced, though, this 3.9-litre unit has been developed by Cosworth and screams all the way to 12,100rpm.

Porsche 718 Spyder RS

We could’ve listed anything using a Porsche 4.0-litre flat-six on this list, honestly. There’s the glorious unit in the 911 GT3, the RS, the S/T, or the 718 GT4’s unit and all its variants, too.

It’s the 718 Spyder RS we’re choosing, though, and for a very specific reason. If you’re driving it with the fabric roof up but without the rear window panel, induction noise is directly fed into your ears. An utterly sublime experience.

Ferrari 812 Competizione

While the Ferrari 6.5-litre V12 may continue on with the 12Cilindri, emissions regulations mean it doesn’t sound quite as good as it once did. A real first-world problem, mind you.

But we came for aural pleasure, so for that alone, we’re picking the 812 Competizione here. With a 9500rpm redline, the lump is backed by meatier exhaust outlets over the standard car, and the result is a symphony.

Caterham Super Seven 600

Ok, there may be ‘What’s a polar bear doing in Arlington, Texas?’ vibes by putting a Suzuki 660c three-cylinder powered Caterham on this list, but hear us out.

With the originally Kei-spec unit unhinged in the tiny tub of the Super Seven 600, it’s a surprisingly throaty noise and comes with the utterly hilarious backing of “woooosh psshwhwhwhw” from the turbo wastegate making it one of the most enjoyable sounds in production right now. We’d urge you to give it a go.

Lexus LFA

Yamaha-tuned, 4.8-litre V10? You knew it was going to be on this list, and you don’t need us to tell you why we’ve put it here. Just any excuse to enjoy it.

Jaguar F-Type R

Bad guys drive Jaguar F-Types. Bad guys cackle angrily and hauntingly. You know what else cackles angrily and hauntingly? V8-powered Jaguar F-Types.

It’s best enjoyed in supercharged F-Type R form, with its 5.0-litre supercharged V8 delivering a rapture of thunder every time you pin the throttle. We’re very, very sad it’s no more.

Lamborghini Aventador SVJ

Although Lamborghini isn’t done with V12s, the hybrid-assisted unit in Revuelto certainly doesn’t sound quite as magnificent as those that came before it.

At full chat and its 8500rpm redline, an Aventador SVJ and its 6.5-litre naturally-aspirated V12 is almost impossible to match.

8V Audi RS3

You can still get an Audi RS3 with a 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine, but it sounded best before the days of a petrol particulate filter.

The burble of the unit did a decent job of giving a bit of Quattro rally car DNA into the RS3, and we’d go as far as to suggest it’s the best-sounding hot hatch built in our living memories as a result.

Pagani Zonda Cinque Roadster

We could’ve put any variation of Pagani Zonda on this list. If we hadn’t restricted ourselves to road cars, the R or Revolucion would surely have been here.

As the road-legal equivalent of the R, we’re giving it to the Cinque – and specifically the Roadster, just as you could take in all of that 7.3-litre, AMG-sourced V12 goodness in open air.